Sophia Scriptura

Against Heresies 1.30.1–2.1.5

Irenaeus of Lyons · Against Heresies · ca. 180–190 · Lyons · 25 passages

Latin text: Harvey 1857 (Latin text: Harvey (1857), transcribed from archive.org OCR of the printed volumes; section numbers checked against Stieren (1853)).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885), Irenaeus, Against Heresies.

Against 1, chapter 30

1.30.1Harvey 1:73

l. autem rursus portentuosa loquuntur, esse quoddam primum lumen in virtute Bythi, beatum, et incorruptibile, et interminatum: esse autem et hoc Patrem omnium, et vocari Primum Hominem. Enncam autem ejus progredientem, filium dicunt emittentis, et esse hunc Filium Hominis Secundum Hominem. Sub his autem Spiritum sanctum esse, et sub superiori spiritu segregata elementa, aquam, tenebras, abyssum, chaos, super que ferri Spiritum dicunt, primam foeminam eum vocantes. Postea, dicunt, exultante primo homine cum filio suo super formositate Spiritus, hoc est foemine, et illuminante eam, generavit ex ea lumen incorruptibile, tertium masculum, quem Christum vocant, filum Primi et Secundi Hominis et Spiritus sancti prims femine,

Others again tell of portents: that there is a certain first light in the power of Bythus, blessed, incorruptible and boundless; that this is the Father of all and is called the First Man. His Ennoia, going forth, they call the son of the one who emitted it, and this is the Son of Man, the Second Man. Beneath these is the Holy Spirit, and beneath the higher spirit the separated elements, water, darkness, abyss and chaos, over which, they say, the Spirit was borne; and they call her the First Woman. Afterwards, they say, the First Man with his son rejoiced over the beauty of the Spirit, that is, of the Woman, and shed light on her, and generated from her an incorruptible light, a third male, whom they call Christ, the son of the First and Second Man and of the Holy Spirit, the First Woman.

Gen 1:2 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Ophites teach a First Man, a Second Man (Son of Man), and the Spirit as First Woman, from whom Christ was generated.

  • The first word (“Others”) is damaged in the OCR. Allusion: Gen 1:2. Stray marks are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (stray marks): o.» primum → primum.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.1 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.30.2Harvey 1:73

concumbentibus autem patre et filio foemine, quam et matrem viventium dicunt. Cum autem non potuisset portare nec capere magnitudinem luminum, superrepletam et superebullientem secundum sinisteriores partes dicunt: et sic quidem filium eorum solum Christum, quasi dextrum, et in superiora allevatitium, arreptum statim cum matre in incorruptibilem /Eonem. Esse autem hane et veram, et sanctam Ecclesiam, qua fuerit appellatio et conventio et adunatio Patris omnium, Primi Hominis, et Filii, Secundi Hominis, et Christi, filii eorum, et praedictae foemine.

When the Father and the Son lay with the Woman, whom they also call the Mother of the living, she could not bear or contain the greatness of the lights, and, they say, was over-filled and boiled over on the left side; and so their son Christ alone, being on the right and borne up to the higher regions, was at once caught up with his mother into the incorruptible Aeon. This is the true and holy Church, which was the naming, assembling and union of the Father of all, the First Man, and of the Son, the Second Man, and of Christ their son, and of the Woman mentioned.

Gen 3:20 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ and his mother are caught up into the incorruptible Aeon, which the Ophites call the true Church.

  • Allusion: Gen 3:20 (mother of the living).

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.2 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.30.3Harvey 1:73

Virtutem autem que superebulliit ex foemina, habentem humectationem luminis, a patribus decidisse deorsum docent, sua autem voluntate habentem humectationem luminis: quam et Sinistram, et Prunicon, et Sophiam, et masculo-fceminam vocant. Et descendentem simpliciter in aquas, cum essent immobiles, et movisse quoque eas, petulanter agentem usque ad abyssos: et assumpsisse ex els corpus. Humectationi enim luminis ejus omnia accurrisse et adhesisse dicunt. et circumtenuisse eam: quam nisi habuisset, tota absorpta fortasse fuisset et demersa a materia. Deligatam igitur hanc a corpore, quod erat a materia, et valde gravatam repsisse [resipuisse] aliquando, et conatam esse fugere aquas, et ascendere ad matrem; non potuisse [eam] autem propter gravedinem circumpositi corporis. Valde autem male se habentem machinatam esse abscondere illud quod erat desuper lumen, timentem ne et ipsum lederetur ab inferioribus elementis, quemadmodum et ipsa. Et cum virtutem accepisset ab humectatione ejus quod erat secundum eam lumen, resiliit, et in sublimitatem elata est, et facta in alto dilatavit, et cooperuit, et fecit ccelum hoc quod apparet, a [e] corpore ejus; et remansit sub coelo quod fecit, adhuc habens aquatilis corporis typum. Cum accepisset concupiscentiam superioris luminis, et virtutem sumpsisset per omnia, deposuisse corpus et liberatam ab eo. Corpus autem hoc exuisse dicunt eam, foeminam a fcemina nominant.

The power that boiled over from the Woman, having a moisture of light, they teach fell down from the fathers, but having the moisture of light by its own will; and they call it Sinistra (Left), Prunicus, Sophia and male-female. Descending in her simplicity into the waters while they were motionless, she set them in motion too, playing wantonly down to the abysses, and took a body from them. For all things, they say, ran to the moisture of her light, clung to it and held her fast; and unless she had had it, she would perhaps have been wholly swallowed up and sunk in matter. Bound, then, by the body that came from matter and greatly weighed down, she at length came to her senses and tried to escape the waters and ascend to her mother; but she could not, because of the weight of the body around her. In great distress she contrived to hide the light that was from above, fearing that it too might be harmed by the lower elements, as she herself had been. And when she had received power from the moisture of the light that was with her, she sprang back and was borne up on high, and being on high she spread out and covered, and made this visible heaven from her body; and she remained under the heaven she had made, still having the form of a watery body. When she had conceived a desire for the light above and had taken power through all things, she laid down the body and was freed from it. This body which they say she put off they call a female from a female.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Notes and citation

Summary: In the Ophite myth, Sophia-Prunicus falls into the waters, takes a body, makes the visible heaven from it, and then casts it off.

  • Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. “Came to her senses” follows Harvey's bracketed reading resipuisse (the text has repsisse, “crept”).

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (hyphenated word split at a line end; stray mark): masculo-fcemi- nam → masculo-fceminam; *[eam] → [eam].

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.3 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.30.4Harvey 1:73

Et filium autem ejus dicunt habuisse et ipsum aspirationem quandam in se incorruptele a matre relictam ei, per quam operatur, et potens factus emisit et ipse, ut dicunt, ab aquis filium sine matre: neque enim cognovisse matrem eum volunt. Et filium ejus secundum patris imitationem alterum emisisse filium. — Hio quoque tertius quartum generavit, et quartus et ipse generavit filum; de quinto sextum filium generatum dicunt: et sextus septimum generavit. Sic quoque hebdomas perfecta est apud eos, octavum matre habente locum: et quemadmodum generationibus, sic et dignitatibus, et virtutibus prsecedere eos ab invicem..

Her son too, they say, had in himself a certain breath of incorruption left to him by his mother, through which he works; and having become powerful, he too emitted from the waters, as they say, a son without a mother, for they will not have him know a mother. And his son, imitating his father, emitted another son; this third generated a fourth, and the fourth too generated a son; from the fifth, they say, a sixth son was generated, and the sixth generated a seventh. So the Hebdomad was completed among them, the mother holding the eighth place; and as in generations, so in dignities and powers they precede one another.

Notes and citation

Summary: Sophia's son generates a line of sons, forming a Hebdomad with the mother as the eighth.

  • A margin reference is removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (margin reference): et sextus 109. septimum → et sextus septimum.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.4 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-4).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.30.5Harvey 1:73

Et nomina autem mendacio suo talia posuerunt: eum enim qui à matre primus sit, Jaldabaoth vocari: eum autem qui sit ab eo,Iao; et qui ab eo, Sabaoth [magnum;] quartum autem Adoneum, et quintum Eloeum, et sextum Oreum, septimum autem et novissimum omnium Astapheum. Hos autem caelos et areothas et virtutes et angelos, et conditores subjiciunt per ordinem sedentes in colo secundum generationem ipsorum, non apparentes, regere quoque coelestia et terrestria; primo ipsorum laldabaoth contemnente matrem, in eo quod filios et nepotes sine ullius permissu fecerit, adhuc etiam angelos, et archangelos, et virtutes, et potestates, et dominationes. Quibus factis ad litem et jurgium adversus eum conversos esse filios ejus de principatu: propter quse contristatum Ialdabaoth, et desperantem, conspexisse in subjacentem faecem materie, et consolidasse concupiscentiam suam in eam, unde natum filium dicunt. Hunc autem ipsum esse Nun in figura serpentis contortum, dehino et Spiritum, et animam, et omnia mundialia: inde generatam omnem oblivionem, et malitiam, et zelum, et invidiam, et mortem. Hunc autem serpentiformem et contortum Nun eorum adhuc magis evertisse Patrem dicunt tortuositate, cum esset cum Patre ipsorum in caelo et in paradiso.

And they have given such names in their lie: the first from the mother is called Ialdabaoth; the one from him, Iao; the one from him, Sabaoth [the great]; the fourth Adoneus, the fifth Eloeus, the sixth Oreus, and the seventh and last of all Astapheus. These heavens, and areothae, and virtues, angels and creators they place sitting in order in heaven according to their generation, unseen, ruling things heavenly and earthly. The first of them, Ialdabaoth, despised his mother, in that he made sons and grandsons without anyone's permission, and also angels, archangels, virtues and powers and dominions. When these things had been done, his sons turned against him in strife and quarrel over the rule. Ialdabaoth, grieved and despairing at this, looked at the dregs of matter lying below and fixed his desire on it, from which, they say, a son was born. This, they say, is Nus himself, twisted in the form of a serpent; and from him came spirit and soul and all worldly things; from him were generated all forgetfulness and malice, jealousy, envy and death. This serpent-shaped and twisted Nus of theirs, they say, perverted their Father still more by his crookedness, when he was with their Father in heaven and in paradise.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Notes and citation

Summary: The Ophites name the seven powers from Ialdabaoth to Astapheus; Ialdabaoth's desire for matter produces the serpent-shaped Nus, source of all evil.

  • The bracketed “the great” is Harvey's supplement. Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. “Areothae” is unexplained (perhaps Greek aretai, “virtues”). Harvey's note on a reading and margin references are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR read in as Greek; margin debris; margin debris; margin reference; stray mark; stray mark and Harvey's note on a reading, removed): *[magnum;] → [magnum;]; *Ástapheum [/. Astanpheum] → Astapheum; colo 1 secundum → colo secundum; regere quoque 9E. 1 xxiv. coelestia → regere quoque coelestia; potestates, XXX. et dominationes → potestates, et dominationes; ἴῃ ΜΙ eam → in eam.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.5 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-5).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.30.6Harvey 1:73

Unde exsultantem Ialdabaoth in omnibus his quz sub eo essent, gloriatum, et dixisse: Ego Pater et Deus, et super me nemo. Audientem autem matrem clamasse adversus eum; Noli mentiri, Ialdabaoth: est enim super te pater omnium primus Anthropus, et Anthropus filius Anthropi. Conturbatis autem omnibus ad novam vocem, et inopinabili nuncupatione, et quaerentibus unde clamor, ad avocandos eos, et ad se seducendum, dixisse Ialdabaoth dieunt: Venite faciamus hominem ad imaginem nostram. Sex autem virtutes audientes hac, matre dante illis excogitationem hominis, uti per eum evacuet eos a principali virtute, convenientes formaverunt hominem immensum latitudine et longitudine: scarizante autem eo tantum, advexerunt eum patri suo, et hoc Sophia operante, uti et illum evacuet ab humectatione luminis, uti non posset erigi adversus eos qui sursum [sunt], habens virtutem. Illo autem insufflante in hominem spiritum vitae, latenter evacuatum eum a virtute dicunt: hominem autem inde habuisse Nun, et Enthymesin; et haec esse quae salvantur, dicunt: et statim gratias agere eum Primo Homini, relictis fabricatoribus.

Hence Ialdabaoth, exulting over all the things beneath him, boasted and said: “I am Father and God, and above me there is no one.” But his mother, hearing this, cried out against him: “Do not lie, Ialdabaoth; for above you is the Father of all, the First Anthropos, and Anthropos the son of Anthropos.” When all were troubled at the new voice and the unexpected name, and were asking where the cry came from, to call them away and draw them to himself, Ialdabaoth, they say, said: “Come, let us make man after our image.” The six powers, hearing this, while the mother gave them the idea of man so as to empty them through him of their original power, came together and formed a man immense in breadth and length; and since he could only wriggle, they brought him to their father, Sophia working this so that he too might be emptied of the moisture of light, and so might not, having power, rise against those above. And when he breathed the spirit of life into the man, they say, he was secretly emptied of his power; and from this the man had Nus and Enthymesis, and these, they say, are what is saved; and at once he gave thanks to the First Man, abandoning those who had fashioned him.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Isa 45:5 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 1:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 2:7 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Ialdabaoth boasts and is rebuked by his mother; the powers make man, and breathing life into him empties Ialdabaoth of his light.

  • Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Allusions: Isa 45:5; Gen 1:26; Gen 2:7. Stray marks and Greek letters misread for Latin are corrected.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR read a as Greek; OCR read et as Greek; stray mark): * Audientem → Audientem; σἱ Anthropus → et Anthropus; ἃ principali → a principali; ! posset → posset.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.6 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-6).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.30.7Harvey 1:73

Zelantem autem Ialdabaoth voluisse excogitare evacuare hominem per foeminam, et de sua Enthymesi eduxisse foeminam, quam illa Prunicos suscipiens invisibiliter evacuavit a virtute. Reliquos autem venientes et mirantes formositatem ejus, vocasse eam Evam, et concupiscentes hane, generasse ex ea filios, quos et angelos esse dicunt. Mater autem ipsorum argumentata est per serpentem seducere Evam et Adam, supergredi ase preceptum Ialdabaoth; Eva autem quasi a Filio Dei hoc audiens, facile credidit, et Adam suasit manducare de arbore, de qua dixerat Deus, non manducare. Manducantes autem eos cognovisse eam que est super omnia virtutem dicunt, et abscessisse ab his qui fecerant eos. Prunicum autem videntem, quoniam et per suum plasma victi sunt, valde gratulatam, et rursum exclamasse, quoniam, cum esset Pater incorruptibilis, olim hic semetipsum vocans Patrem, mentitus est: et cum Homo olim esset et Prima Foemina, et haec adulterans peccavit.

Ialdabaoth, jealous, wished to devise a way to empty the man by means of a woman, and brought forth a woman from his own Enthymesis; and Prunicus, taking her up, invisibly emptied her of power. The others, coming and admiring her beauty, called her Eve, and desiring her generated sons from her, whom they also say are angels. But their mother contrived to lead Eve and Adam astray through the serpent, to transgress the command of Ialdabaoth; and Eve, hearing this as though from a son of God, easily believed it, and persuaded Adam to eat of the tree of which God had said they should not eat. And when they ate, they say, they knew the power that is above all and broke away from those who had made them. Prunicus, seeing that the powers had been defeated even by their own creature, rejoiced greatly and cried out again that, since the Father was incorruptible, this one who once called himself Father had lied; and that, since Man and the First Woman existed of old, this woman too had sinned by adultery.

Gen 2:16–17 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:1–7 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: In the Ophite myth the serpent's counsel, prompted by Sophia, leads Adam and Eve to the knowledge of the higher power.

  • The last clause is obscure in the Latin; it is translated as ANF understands it. Allusions: Gen 2:16–17; Gen 3:1–7. A margin reference inside a word and stray marks are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; margin reference inside a word; stray marks): ex ea * (eibi | filios → ex ea filios; argumenOR xxxv. tata → argumentata; e& Adam → et Adam.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.7 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-7).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.30.8Harvey 1:73

dabaoth autem propter eam qus cirea eum erat oblivionem, ne quidem intendentem ad haec, projecisse Adam et Evam de paradiso, quoniam transgressi erant preceptum ejus. Voluisse enim filios ei ex Eva generari, et non adeptum esse, quoniam mater sua in omnibus contrairet ei, et latenter evacuans Adam et Evam ab humectatione luminis, uti neque maledictionem participaret, neque opprobrium, is qui esset a principalitate spiritus. Sie quoque vacuos a divina substantia factos, maledictos esse ab eo, et dejectos a caelo in hunc mundum docent. Sed et serpentem adversus patrem operantem dejectum ab eo in deoreum mundum: in potestatem autem suam redigentem angelos qui hic sunt, et ipsum sex filios generasse, septimo ipso exsistente ad imitationem ejus, quz circa Patrem est, hebdomadis. Et hos septem daemonas mundiales esse dicunt, adversantes et resistentes semper generi humano, quoniam propter eos pater illorum projectus est deorsum.

Ialdabaoth, because of the forgetfulness that surrounded him, paying no attention even to these things, cast Adam and Eve out of paradise because they had transgressed his command. For he wished sons to be generated for him from Eve, and did not achieve it, because his mother opposed him in everything and secretly emptied Adam and Eve of the moisture of light, so that what came from the principal spirit might share neither in the curse nor in the reproach. Being thus made empty of the divine substance, they were cursed by him, they teach, and cast down from heaven into this world. And the serpent too, working against the father, was cast down by him into the world below; but bringing the angels here under his power, he himself generated six sons, he himself being the seventh, in imitation of the Hebdomad around the Father. These seven, they say, are the worldly demons, always opposing and resisting the human race, because on its account their father was cast down below.

Gen 3:14–24 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Ialdabaoth expels Adam and Eve and casts down the serpent, who with his six sons forms the seven demons hostile to mankind.

  • Allusion: Gen 3:14–24. Margin references are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (margin reference; margin reference inside a word; stray Greek): ab {18.1. eo → ab eo; serpen6% I xxxiv. tem → serpentem; deoreum ὅπ ἢ mundum → deoreum mundum.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.8 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-8).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.30.9Harvey 1:73

Adam autem et Evam prius quidem habuisse levia et clara, et velut spiritalia corpora, quemadmodum et plasmati sunt; venientes autem huc, demutasse in obscurius, et pinguius, et pigrius; sed et animam dissolutam et languidam: quippe a factore tantummodo insufflationem mundialem habentes, quoadusque Prunicos miserata eorum, reddidit eis odorem suavitatis humectationis luminis: per quam in commemorationem venerunt suam ipsorum, et cognoverunt seipsos nudos et corporis materiam; et cognoverunt, quoniam mortem bajulant, et magnanimes exstiterunt, cognoscentes quoniam ad tempus corpus cireumdatum est eis: et escas quoque invenisse eos, praeeunte eis Sophia, et Baliatos coisse invicem carnaliter, et generasse Cain, quem dejectibilis serpens cum filiis suis statim suscipiens evertit, et adimplevit mundiali oblivione, in stultitiam et audaciam immittens, ita ut et dum fratrem suum Abel occideret, primus zelum et mortem ostenderit. Post quos secundum providentiam Prunici dicunt generatum Seth, post Noream: ex quibus reliquam multitudinem hominum generatam dicunt, et ab inferiori hebdomade in omnem malitiam immissam, et apostasiam superiori sancte hebdomade, et idolatriam, et reliquam universam contemtionem, cum contraria eis esset semper mater invisibiliter, et proprium salvaret, hoc est, humectationem luminis. Sanctam autem hebdomadam septem stellas, quas dicunt planetas, ease volunt, et projectibilem serpentem duo habere nomina, Michael et Samael, dicunt.

Adam and Eve at first had light, bright and as it were spiritual bodies, as they had been formed; but coming here, these changed into darker, grosser and more sluggish ones, and their soul too was slack and languid, since they had from their maker only a worldly breath; until Prunicus, pitying them, gave back to them the sweet savour of the moisture of light, through which they came to remember themselves, and knew that they were naked and the matter of the body, and knew that they carry death about; and they became patient, knowing that the body surrounds them only for a time. They also found food, Sophia guiding them, and when they were filled they came together carnally and generated Cain, whom the cast-down serpent with his sons at once took up and overthrew, filling him with worldly forgetfulness and driving him into folly and audacity, so that by killing his brother Abel he was the first to show jealousy and death. After them, they say, by the providence of Prunicus, Seth was generated, and after him Norea; from these, they say, the rest of the multitude of men was generated, and was driven by the lower Hebdomad into all wickedness and apostasy from the higher holy Hebdomad, and idolatry, and every other contempt, while the mother always invisibly opposed them and saved what was her own, that is, the moisture of light. The holy Hebdomad they will have to be the seven stars which they call planets; and the serpent cast down, they say, has two names, Michael and Samael.

Gen 3:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 4:1–8 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 4:25 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Ophites retell the story of Adam and Eve, Cain, Abel, Seth and Norea in terms of their myth.

  • Norea is a figure of Gnostic literature (wife or sister of Seth). Allusions: Gen 3:7, 21; Gen 4:1–8, 25. Margin references and stray marks are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (margin reference; margin reference inside a word; split word; stray mark): * insufflationem → insufflationem; 1.18. 1. &uam → suam; materiam; GT xxxiv. et → materiam; et; ' magnanimes exxxx.9 sgtiterunt → magnanimes exstiterunt; immitum tens → immittens; heb6.1 domade → hebdomade; * Michael → Michael.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.9 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-9).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.30.10Harvey 1:73

Iratum autem Ialdabaoth hominibus, quoniam eum non colebant, neque honorificabant, quasi Patrem et Deum diluvium eis immisisse, ut omnes simul perderet. Contra stante autem et hic Sophia, salvatos eos esse qui circa Noé erant in area, propter humectationem illius luminis quod ab ea erat, per quam iterum adimpletuin esse mundum hominibus: ex quibus quendam Abraham elegisse et ipsum Ialdabaoth, et testamentum posuisse ad eum, si perseveraverit semen ejus serviens ei, dare ei hereditatem terre. Post per Moysen eduxisse ex AUgypto eos qui ab Abraham essent, et dedisse eis legem, et fecisse eos Judsos, ex quibus elegisse septem dies, quos et sanctam hebdomadam vocant. Et unusquisque eorum suum praeconem assumit ad gloriandum, et Deum annunciandum, uti et reliqui audientes glorias, servirent et ipsi his qui a prophetis annunciantur dii.

Ialdabaoth, angry with men because they did not worship or honour him as Father and God, he sent the flood on them, to destroy them all together. But Sophia opposed him here too, and those with Noah in the ark were saved because of the moisture of that light which came from her, and through it the world was filled with men again. From these Ialdabaoth himself chose a certain Abraham and made a covenant with him, that if his seed continued serving him he would give him the inheritance of the earth. Afterwards through Moses he brought out of Egypt those who were from Abraham, gave them the law and made them Jews; from them he chose seven days, which they also call the holy Hebdomad. And each of them takes his own herald to glorify him and proclaim him God, so that the rest, hearing the praises, might also serve those who are proclaimed gods by the prophets.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Gen 7:1–23 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 15:18 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: In the Ophite myth Ialdabaoth sends the flood, chooses Abraham and gives the law through Moses.

  • Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Allusions: Gen 6–8; Gen 15:18; Exod 12–20. Margin references are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (margin reference; stray letters): GR, 1 xxziv. Contra → Contra; circa aein do Noé → circa Noé.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.10 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-10).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.30.11Harvey 1:73

Sic autem prophetas distribuunt: hujus quidem Ialdabaoth Moysen fuisse, et Jesum Nave, et Amos, et Abacuo: illius autem Iao, Samuel, et Nathan, et Jonam, et Micheam: illius autem Sabaoth, Heliam, et Joel, et Zachariam: illius autem Adonai, Esaiam, et Ezechiel, et Jeremiam, et Daniel: illius autem Eloi, Tobiam, et Aggeum: illius autem Orei, Michseam, et Nahum: illius autem? Astanfei, Hesdram, et Sophoniam. Horum igitur unusquisque glorificans suum patrem et Deum, Sophiam et ipsam per eos multa locutam esse de Primo Homine et incorruptibili Zone, et de illo Christo, qui sit sursum, dicunt, praemonentem et remorantem homines in incorruptibile lumen,et in Primum Hominem, et in descensionem Christi: in quibus conterritis principibus et admirantibus novitatem his que a prophetis annuntiabantur, operatam esse Prunicum per Ialdabaoth nescientem quid faciat, duorum hominum factas ease emissiones: alterum quidem de sterili Elizabeth, alterum autem ex Maria Virgine.

They distribute the prophets thus: to Ialdabaoth belonged Moses, Joshua son of Nun, Amos and Habakkuk; to Iao, Samuel, Nathan, Jonah and Micah; to Sabaoth, Elijah, Joel and Zechariah; to Adonai, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Daniel; to Eloi, Tobias and Haggai; to Oreus, Micaiah and Nahum; to Astanpheus, Ezra and Zephaniah. Each of these, then, glorified his own father and God; and Sophia herself, they say, also spoke many things through them about the First Man, the incorruptible Aeon, and the Christ who is above, forewarning men and keeping them mindful of the incorruptible light, the First Man and the descent of Christ. While the rulers were terrified at these things and marvelled at the novelty of the things announced by the prophets, Prunicus brought it about through Ialdabaoth, who did not know what he was doing, that emissions of two men took place, one from the barren Elizabeth and the other from the Virgin Mary.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Luke 1:7 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 1:27 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Ophites assign the prophets to their seven powers and say Sophia spoke through them; she brought about the births of John and Jesus.

  • Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Tobias is counted among the prophets here. Allusions: Luke 1:7, 36; Luke 1:27. Margin references are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (margin reference inside a word; running head): Primo LIBI. Homine → Primo Homine; surGR: I. xxxiv. gum → sursum; incorrupx1x.1,12 tibile → incorruptibile.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.11 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-11).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.30.12Harvey 1:73

Et quoniam non haberet eadem ipsa requiem neque in caelo neque in terra, contristatam invocasse in adjutorium matrem. Mater autem ejus, Prior Fomina, miserata est super poenitentia filie, et postulavit a Primo Homine adjutorium ei mitti Christum: qui et descendit emissus ad sororem suam, et ad humectationem luminis. Cognoscentem autem eam, quie deorsum est Sophiam, descendere ad fratrem ejus, et annuntiasse ejus adventum per Johannem, et preparasse baptismum paenitentie, et ante adaptasse Jesum, uti descendens Christus inveniat vas mundum, et uti per filium ejus Ialdabaoth foemina a Christo annuntiaretur. Descendisse autem eum per Septem caelos, assimilatum filiis eorum dicunt, et sensim eorum evacuasse virtutem. Ad ipsum enim universam humectationem luminis concurrisse dicunt, et descendentem Christum in hune mundum, induisse primum sororem suam Sophiam, et exultasse utrosque refrigerantes super invicem: et hoc esse sponsum et sponsam definiunt. Jesum autem quippe ex Virgine per operationem Dei generatum, sapientiorem, et mundiorem, et justiorem hominibus omnibus fuisse; in Christum perplexum Sophie descendisse, et sic factum esse Jesum Christum.

And since she herself had rest neither in heaven nor on earth, in her grief she called on her mother to help her. Her mother, the First Woman, took pity on her daughter's repentance and asked the First Man that Christ be sent to help her; and he was sent and came down to his sister and to the moisture of light. And the Sophia below, recognizing that her brother was coming down to her, announced his coming through John, prepared the baptism of repentance, and fitted Jesus beforehand, so that Christ on descending might find a clean vessel, and so that the Woman might be announced by Christ through the son of Ialdabaoth. He descended, they say, through the seven heavens, made like their sons, and gradually emptied them of their power. For all the moisture of light, they say, ran together to him; and Christ, descending into this world, first put on his sister Sophia, and both rejoiced, refreshing each other; and this they define as the bridegroom and bride. Jesus, since he was born of the Virgin by the working of God, was wiser, purer and more righteous than all men; Christ, intertwined with Sophia, descended into him, and so Jesus Christ came to be.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Mark 1:4 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 1:35 (allusion, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: In the Ophite myth Christ descends through the seven heavens, joins Sophia as bridegroom and bride, and enters Jesus, born of the Virgin.

  • Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Allusions: Mark 1:4 (baptism of repentance); Luke 1:35. A stray digit is removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR debris (digit) and Harvey's bracket): 5[in] Christum → in Christum.

Topics: Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.12 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-12).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.30.13Harvey 1:73

Multos igitur ex discipulis ejus non cognovisse Christi descensionem in eum dicunt; descendente autem Christo in Jesum, tuno coincepisse virtutes perficere, et curare, et annuntiare incognitum patrem, et se manifeste Filium Primi Hominis confiteri. In quibus irascentes principes et Patrem Jesu, operatos ad occidendum eum: et in eo cum adduceretur, ipsum quidem Christum cum Sophia abstitisse in incorruptibilem /Eonem dieunt; Jesum autem crucifixum: non autem oblitum suum Christum, sed misisse desuper virtutem quandam in eum, que excitavit eum in corpore, quod et corpus animale et spiritale vocant: mundialia enim remisisse eum in mundo. Videntes autem discipuli resurrexisse eum, non eum cognoverunt, sed ne ipsum quidem Jesum cujus gratia a mortuis resurrexit. Et hune maximum errorem inter discipulos ejus fuisse dicunt, quoniam putarent eum in corpore mundiali resurrexisse, ignorantes quoniam caro ei sanguis regnum Dei non apprehendunt.

Many of his disciples, then, did not know, they say, of Christ's descent into him; but when Christ descended into Jesus, he then began to work miracles, heal, proclaim the unknown Father and openly confess himself Son of the First Man. Angered at this, the rulers and the Father of Jesus worked to kill him; and while he was being led away, they say, Christ himself with Sophia departed into the incorruptible Aeon, and Jesus was crucified. But Christ did not forget his Jesus, and sent down into him from above a certain power, which raised him up in a body which they call both animal and spiritual; for he sent the worldly parts back into the world. When the disciples saw that he had risen, they did not recognize him, nor even Jesus himself, by whose grace he rose from the dead. And this, they say, was the greatest error among his disciples, that they thought he had risen in a worldly body, not knowing that “flesh and blood do not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

1 Cor 15:50 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Ophites say Christ left Jesus before the crucifixion and raised him in a non-worldly body, which the disciples misunderstood.

  • Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Quotation: 1 Cor 15:50. Margin references and stray marks are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR debris (digit); margin reference; running head inside a word; stray marks inside a word): annunLIB, tiare → annuntiare; Hominis 9R I xxxiv. confiteri → Hominis confiteri; ope*** ratos → operatos; 5cognoverunt → cognoverunt.

Topics: Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.13 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-13).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.30.14Harvey 1:73

Confirmare autem volunt descensionem Christi et ascensionem ex eo, quod neque ante baptismum, neque post resurrectionem a mortuis, aliquid magni fecisse Jesum dicant discipuli, ignorantes adunitum esse Jesum Christo, et incorruptibilem /Eonem autem eum post resurrectionem xviu mensibus, et sensibilitate in eum descendente quod liquidum est: et paueos ex discipulis suis, quos sciebat capaces tantorum mysteriorum, docuit haeo, et sic receptus est in ccelum, Christo sedente ad dexteram Patris Ialdabaoth, uti animas eorum, qui cognoverunt eos, post depositionem mundialis carnis recipiat in se, ditans semetipsum, patre ejus ignorante, sed ne vidente quidem eum, uti in quantum Jesus semetipsum ditat in sanctis retur, evacuatus a virtute sua per animas. Jam enim non habiturum eum animas sanctas, ut rursus demittat eas in saeculum, sed tantum eas que sunt ex substantia ejus, id est, qus sunt ex insufflatione. Consummationem autem futuram, quando tota humectatio spiritus luminis colligatur, et abripiatur in ZEonem incorruptibilitatis.

They try to confirm the descent and ascent of Christ from the fact that the disciples say Jesus did nothing great either before his baptism or after his resurrection from the dead, not knowing that Jesus was united with Christ, and the incorruptible Aeon with the Hebdomad. … after the resurrection for eighteen months, and when perception came down into him, … what is clear; and he taught these things to a few of his disciples whom he knew to be capable of such great mysteries, and so was received into heaven, Christ sitting at the right hand of his father Ialdabaoth, so that he may receive into himself the souls of those who have known them, after they have laid aside the worldly flesh, enriching himself while his father does not know, nor even see him; so that, as Jesus enriches himself with holy souls, … emptied of his power by the souls. For he will no longer have holy souls to send down again into the world, but only those which are of his own substance, that is, which come from his breathing. The consummation will come when all the moisture of the spirit of light is gathered together and carried off into the Aeon of incorruption.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Notes and citation

Summary: The Ophites say the risen Jesus stayed eighteen months teaching a few disciples, then took his seat to draw holy souls away from Ialdabaoth.

  • Lines are lost and garbled in the OCR, marked “…”; ANF's text has: “and they say his worldly body was like that of animals. But he remained”; “he learned”; and “so far does his father suffer loss and is diminished,”. Margin references, running heads and a garbled word are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (broken word and margin debris; garbled OCR; margin reference; margin reference inside a word; running head and margin references; running head inside a word; stray mark): Con1Cor xv. 60. firmare → Confirmare; Jesum ° Christo → Jesum Christo; *heb- 119. autem → autem; sensibiORT. litate → sensibilitate; ”010161886, → ; et xxx. 14. paueos → et paueos; in {1B 1 ZEonem incorruptibilitatis. GR L xxxiv. → in ZEonem incorruptibilitatis..

Topics: Christology, Heresy, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.14 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-14).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.30.15Harvey 1:73

Tales quidem secundum eos sententie sunt: a quibus, velut Lernaea hydra, multiplex capitibus fera de Valentini schola generata est. Quidam enim ipsam Sophiam serpentem factam dicunt: quapropter et contrariam exstitisse factori Ade, et agnitionem hominibus immisisse, et propter hoc dictum serpentem omnium sapientiorem. Sed et propter positionem intestinorum nostrorum per quz esca infertur, eo quod talem figuram habeant, ostendentem absconsam generatricem serpentis figurae substantiam in nobis.

Such are the opinions according to them, from which, like the Lernaean hydra, a many-headed beast has been generated from the school of Valentinus. For some say that Sophia herself became the serpent; that she therefore opposed the maker of Adam and put knowledge into men; and that for this reason the serpent was called wiser than all. And also because of the position of our intestines, through which food is carried, in that they have such a shape, showing the hidden generative substance, in the shape of a serpent, within us.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Gen 3:1 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Some of these Gnostics say Sophia became the serpent who gave knowledge, and see a serpent shape in the human intestines.

  • Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Allusion: Gen 3:1. Harvey's note on a reading is removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Harvey's note on a reading, removed): [7. et] → .

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.30.15 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-30-15).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

Against 1, chapter 31

1.31.1Harvey 1:73

Alii autem rursus Cain a superiore principalitate dicunt, et Esau, et Core, et Sodomitas, et omnes tales cognatos suos confitentur; et propter hoc a factore impugnatos, neminem ex els male acceptos [mala acceptasse]. Sophia enim illud, quod proprium ex ea erat, abripiebat ex eis ad semetipsam. Et hsec Judam proditorem diligenter cognovisse dicunt, et solum prae ezeteris cognoscentem veritatem, perfecisse proditionis mysterium: per quem et terrena et caelestia omnia dissoluta dicunt. Et confinctionem afferunt hujusmodi, Jude Evangelium illud vocantes.

Others again say that Cain was from the higher Principality, and confess Esau, Korah, the Sodomites and all such people to be their kin; and that for this reason they were attacked by the maker, but none of them came to harm. For Sophia took to herself from them what was her own. And they say that Judas the traitor knew these things exactly, and that he alone, knowing the truth above the others, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal, through whom all things earthly and heavenly were dissolved. And they bring forward a fabrication of this kind, calling it the Gospel of Judas.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Gen 4:1–16 (allusion, medium confidence) · Num 16:1–35 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 19:1–29 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Cainites honour Cain, Esau, Korah and the Sodomites, and say Judas alone knew the truth; they use a 'Gospel of Judas'.

  • Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Allusions: Gen 4:1–16; Gen 27; Num 16; Gen 19.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR debris inside a word): Evange1 lium → Evangelium.

Extrabiblical texts: Gos. Jud. (Gospel of Judas; allusion)

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.31.1 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-31-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.31.2Harvey 1:73

Jam autem et collegi eorum conscriptiones, in quibus dissolvere opera Hysters: adhortantur; Hysteram autem fabricatorem coeli et terrae vocant: nec enim aliter salvari eos nisi per omnia eant, quemadmodum et Carpocrates dixit. Et in unoquoque peccatorum et turpium operationum angelum assistere, et operantem audire audaciam et immunditiam inferre, id quod inest ei operationi, angeli nomine dicere: O tu angele, abutor opere tuo: O tu illa potestas, perficio tuam. operationem. Et hoc esse scientiam perfectam, sine tremore in tales abire operationes, quas ne nominare quidem fas est.

I have also collected their writings, in which they urge the destruction of the works of Hystera (the Womb); and Hystera they call the maker of heaven and earth. For they cannot be saved, they say, unless they pass through everything, as Carpocrates also said. And at every sin and shameful act an angel stands by, and the one who does it hears him urge audacity and impurity; and what belongs to that act they say in the angel's name: “O you angel, I use your work; O you power, I accomplish your operation.” And this, they say, is perfect knowledge: to go into such deeds without trembling, deeds which it is not lawful even to name.

Notes and citation

Summary: The Cainites teach that salvation requires passing through every shameful deed, done in the name of the angel who prompts it.

  • Digit debris is removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR debris inside a word; OCR digit for i; OCR digits for O; stray mark): «coeli → coeli; 50 tu angele → O tu angele; O tu 4lla potestas → O tu illa potestas; perx1 ficio → perficio.

Topics: Heresy, Ethics

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.31.2 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-31-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.31.3Harvey 1:73

A TALIBUS matribus, et patribus, et proavis eos qui a Valentino sint, sicut ipss sententie et regule ostendunt eos, necessarium fuit manifeste arguere, et in medium afferre dogmata ipsorum, si qui forte ex iis poenitentiam agentes, et convertentes ad unum solum conditorem et Deum factorem universitatis, salvari possint: reliqui autem non jam abstrahantur a prava quasi verisimili suasione eorum, putantes majus et aliquid altius ab iis scituros se mysterium; sed a nobis bene discentes qus ab illis male docentur, derideant quidem doctrinam eorum, illorum autem misereantur, qui adhuc in his tam miserrimis et instabilibus fabulis tantam elationem assumserunt, ut meliores semetipsos reliquis propter talem agnitionem, imo ignorantiam, arbitrentur. Delectatio autem eorum hec est; sive adversus eos victoria est sententie eorum manifestatio.

It was necessary to refute plainly the followers of Valentinus as descended from such mothers, fathers and ancestors, as their own opinions and rules show them to be, and to bring their doctrines into the open, in case some of them should repent and turn to the one only Founder, God the Maker of the universe, and be saved; and so that the rest may no longer be drawn away by their wicked but plausible persuasion, thinking they will learn from them some greater and loftier mystery, but, learning well from us what is badly taught by them, may laugh at their doctrine and pity those who in these most wretched and unstable fables have taken on such arrogance as to think themselves better than the rest because of such knowledge, or rather ignorance. This is their exposure: indeed, to make their opinion manifest is victory over them.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Notes and citation

Summary: Irenaeus has exposed the Valentinians' ancestry in the hope that some may repent and others be protected, since exposure is itself refutation.

  • The last sentence is corrupt in the Latin (Delectatio, probably for detectio, “exposure”); translated by sense, as in ANF. Harvey's chapter title (“At what times all these lived, and from whom they received their beginnings and doctrines”) is removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (editor's chapter title): Quibus temporibus fuerunt omnes, qui predicts sunt, et a quibus initia, et doctrinas acceperunt. → .

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.31.3 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-31-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

1.31.4Harvey 1:73

Quapropter conati sumus nos universum male compositum vulpeculse hujus corpusculum in medium producere, et aperte facere manifestum. Jam enim non multis opus erit sermonibus ad evertendum doctrinam eorum, manifestam omnibus factam. Quemadmodum bestise alicujus in sylva absconditae, et inde impetum facientis, et multos vastantis, qui segregat et denudat sylvam, et ad visionem perduxit ipsam feram, jam non elaboravit ad capiendam, videntes quoniam ea fera fera est: ipsis enim adest videre et cavere impetus ejus, et jaculari undique, et vulnerare, et interficere vastatricem illam bestiam. Sic et nobis, cum in manifestum redegerimus eorum abscondita et apud se tacita mysteria, jam non erit necessarium multis destruere eorum sententiam. Adest enim et tibi, et omnibus qui tecum sunt, ad hxc qu: praedicta sunt exerceri, et evertere nequam ipsorum doctrinas et inconditas, et apta veritati ostendere dogmata. Cum igitur hec sic se habeant, quatenus promisi, secundum nostram virtutem inferemus eversionem ipsorum, omnibus eis contradicentes in sequenti libro: (enarratio enim in longum pergit, ut vides) et viatica quoque dabimus ad eversionem ipsorum, occurrentes omnibus sententiis secundum narrationis ordinem, ut simus non tantum ostendentes, sed et vulnerantes undique bestiam.

For this reason we have tried to bring into the open and make plain the whole ill-composed little body of this little fox. For there will now be no need of many words to overthrow their doctrine, now that it has been made plain to all. It is as with a beast hidden in a wood, which rushes out from it and ravages many: whoever clears and strips the wood and brings the beast itself into view no longer needs to labour to capture it, for people see that the beast is a beast; they can see and avoid its attacks, throw darts at it from every side, wound it and kill that destructive beast. So with us: once we have brought into the open their hidden mysteries, kept silent among themselves, it will no longer be necessary to destroy their opinion at length. For you and all who are with you can now exercise yourselves on what has been said, overthrow their wicked and ill-made doctrines, and show the teachings that agree with the truth. Since this is so, as I promised, we shall bring their overthrow according to our ability, answering them all in the following book (for the account runs long, as you see); and we shall also give provisions for overthrowing them, meeting all their opinions in the order of the account, so that we may not only show the beast but wound it from every side.

Notes and citation

Summary: Having exposed the 'little fox', Irenaeus promises a full refutation in the next book.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 1.31.4 (Harvey 1:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-1-31-4).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

Against 2, chapter 0

2.0.1Harvey 1

In primo quidem libro, qui ante hunc est, arguentes falsi nominis agnitionem ostendimus tibi, dilectissime, omne ab his qui sunt a Valentino per multos et contrarios modos adinventum esse falsiloquium; etiam sententias exposuimus eorum qui priores exstiterunt, discrepantes eos sibimetipsis ostendentes, multo autem prius ipsi veritati. Et Marci quoque magi sententiam, cum sit ex his, cum operibus ejus omni diligentia exposuimus, et quanta ex Scripturis eligentes adaptare conantur fictioni suze, diligenter retulimus: et quonam modo per numeros, et per viginti quatuor elementa alphabeti veritatem affirmare conantur et audent, minutatim perexivimus. Et quemadmodum conditionem secundum imaginem invisibilis apud eos Pleromatis factam dicunt, et quanta de Demiurgo sentiunt aoc docent, renuntiavimus, et progenitoris ipsorum doctrinam Simonis magi Samaritani, et omnium eorum, qui successerunt ei, manifestavimus. Diximus quoque multitudinem eorum, qui sunt ab eo Gnostici, et differentias ipsorum, et doctrinas, et successiones annotavimus, quaeque ab eis haereses instituts sunt omnes exposuimus. Et quoniam omnes a Simone heretici initia sumentes, impia et irreligiosa dogmata induxerunt in hanc vitam, ostendimus; et redemtionem ipsorum, et quomodo initiant eos qui perficiuntur, et adfationes eorum, et mysteria manifestavimus; et quia unus Deus conditor, et quia non postremitatis fructus, et quia neque super illum, neque post eum est aliquid. In hoc autem libro instruemus, que nobis apta sunt, et qua permittit tempus, et evertemus per magna capitula omnem ipsorum regulam: quapropter quod sit detectio et eversio sententim ipsorum, operis hujus conscriptionem ita titulavimus. Oportet enim absconditas ipsorum conjugationes per manifestarum conjugationum indicium et eversionem Bythum dissolvere, et quoniam neque fuerit aliquando, neque sit, accipere ostensionem.

In the first book, which precedes this, exposing the knowledge falsely so called, we showed you, dearly beloved, that the whole was a falsehood invented in many contrary ways by the followers of Valentinus; we also set out the opinions of those who came before them, showing that they disagree among themselves and much earlier with the truth itself. And we set out with all diligence the opinion of Marcus the magician, since he is one of them, with his works; we reported carefully how much they pick out of the Scriptures and try to fit to their fiction; and we went through in detail how they try and dare to establish truth through numbers and the twenty-four letters of the alphabet. We reported how they say the creation was made after the image of the invisible Pleroma among them, and what they think and teach about the Demiurge; and we made known the doctrine of their forefather Simon the Samaritan magician and of all who succeeded him. We spoke too of the multitude of Gnostics who come from him, noted their differences, doctrines and successions, and set out all the heresies founded by them. And we showed that all the heretics, taking their beginnings from Simon, have brought impious and irreligious teachings into this life; we made known their redemption, how they initiate those who are made perfect, their invocations and their mysteries; and that there is one God the Founder, and that he is not the fruit of a deficiency, and that there is nothing above him or after him. In this book we shall set out what suits our purpose, as far as time allows, and overthrow their whole system under large heads; and so, since it is an exposure and overthrow of their opinion, we have so entitled the writing of this work. For their hidden conjunctions must be dissolved, and Bythus with them, by the disclosure and overthrow of the conjunctions now made plain, and so we must receive the demonstration that he neither ever was nor is.

1 Tim 6:20 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: In the preface to Book 2, Irenaeus sums up Book 1 and announces that he will now overthrow the heretics' system.

  • The full title of the work is “Exposure and Overthrow of the Knowledge Falsely So Called” (cf. 1 Tim 6:20). A garbled marginal repetition at the end and stray marks are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (marginal debris repeating the text; stray mark): arguentes ! falsi → arguentes falsi; quod sit ! detectio → quod sit detectio; 1 sem dissolvere, et Bythum quoniam etc., → .

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.0.1 (Harvey 1; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-2-0-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

Against 2, chapter 1

2.1.1Harvey 1:251

Benae igitur habet a primo et maximo capitulo inchoare “nos, a Demiurgo Deo, qui fecit ccelum et terram et omnia quse in eis sunt, quem ii blasphemantes extremitatis fructum dicunt: et ostendere, quod neque super eum neque post eum est aliquid: neque ab aliquo motus, sed sua sententia et libere fecit omnia, eum ait, solus Deus, et solus Dominus, et solus Conditor, et solus Pater, et solus continens omnia, et omnibus ut eint ipse prestans.

It is right, then, for us to begin from the first and greatest head, from God the Demiurge, who made heaven and earth and all that is in them, whom these men blasphemously call the fruit of the hindmost; and to show that there is nothing above him or after him, and that he made all things moved by no one, but by his own decision and freely, since he alone is God, alone Lord, alone Founder, alone Father, alone containing all things, and himself giving being to all.

Exod 20:11 (allusion, medium confidence) · Acts 4:24 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Irenaeus begins his refutation with the one God, Creator of all, above whom there is nothing.

  • Allusions: Exod 20:11; Acts 4:24. Harvey's chapter title (“Proof that the God of all is not outside the Pleroma, nor anything outside his fullness, nor are there two gods far apart, nor a world-making power separated from the Father and ignorant of him”) and stray marks are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR read a as Greek; editor's chapter title; stray mark): Ostensio quod neque extra pleroma sit universorum Deus, neque extra, plenitudinem ejus esse aliquid, neque quidem duos esse deos «mmenso intervallo ab invicem distantes, neque virtutem aliquam mundi fabricatricem in wmmensum, separatam a, Patre, et ignorantem eum. → ; ἃ Demiurgo → a Demiurgo; ! extremitatis → extremitatis.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.1.1 (Harvey 1:251; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-2-1-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.1.2Harvey 1:251–252

Quemadmodum enim poterit super hunc alia plenitudo, aut initium, aut potestas, aut alius Deus esse: cum oporteat Deum horum omnium pleroma in immenso omnia circumcontinere, et circumcontineri a nemine? Si autem extra illum est aliquid, jam non omnium est pleroma, neque continet omnia. Deerit enim pleromati, aut ei qui sit super omnia Deo, hoc quod extra eum dicunt. Quod autem deest, et delibatum est ab aliquo, hoc non est omnium pleroma. Et terminum autem et medietatem et finem habebit ad eos qui sunt extra eum. Si autem finis est in ea qure sunt deorsum, initium est in ea qui sunt sursum. Similiter autem et ex reliquis partibus necessitas est omnis id ipsum experiri, et ab eis qui foris sunt contineri et determinari et includi. Is enim qui est deorsum finis, necessario omni modo circumscribit et circumdat eum qui finiatur in eum. Et iterum secundum eos, Pater omnium, (quem videlicet et Proonta et Proarchen vocant,) cum pleromate ipsorum, et Marcionis benus Deus, in aliquo conditus et reclusus et foris circumdatus ab altera principalitate, quam necesse est majorem esse; quoniam id quod continet, eo quod continetur majus est: quod autem majus est, id et firmius est, et magis Dominus: et quod majus est et firmius et magis Dominus, hoc erit. Deus.

For how can there be above him another Fullness, or Beginning, or Power, or another God, since God, the Pleroma of all these, must contain all things in his immensity and be contained by none? But if there is anything outside him, he is no longer the Pleroma of all, nor does he contain all. For what they say is outside him will be lacking to the Pleroma, that is, to the God who is above all; and what is lacking and taken away by something is not the Pleroma of all. He will also have a limit, a middle and an end with respect to those outside him. And if he has an end towards the things below, he has a beginning towards the things above. Likewise on the other sides too he must necessarily experience the same thing, and be contained, bounded and enclosed by those outside. For what is the end below necessarily in every way circumscribes and surrounds what ends at it. And again, according to them, the Father of all (whom they call Proon and Proarche) with their Pleroma, and Marcion's good God, is placed and shut up in something and surrounded from outside by another Principality, which must be greater; since what contains is greater than what is contained; and what is greater is also stronger and more Lord; and what is greater, stronger and more Lord will be God.

Notes and citation

Summary: God must contain all things; if anything were outside him, he would be bounded by something greater, which would then be God.

  • Margin references and stray marks are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR debris (digit); margin references; stray mark): initium est et.1.1. MABS.II.L2. in ea → initium est in ea; ! Marcionis → Marcionis; et 8 foris → et foris.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.1.2 (Harvey 1:251–252; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-2-1-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.1.3Harvey 1:252–253

Cum enim sit secundum eos et aliud quid, quod quidem extra pleroma esse dicunt, in quod et superiorem erraticam virtutem descendisse opinantur, necesse est omni modo, aut continere id quod extra est, contineri autem pleroma; (alioquin non erit extra pleroma: si enim extra pleroma est aliquid, intra hoc ipsum, quod extra pleroma dicunt, erit pleroma, et continebitur pleroma ab eo quod est extra; cum pleromate autem subauditur et primus Deus), aut rursus in immensum distare et separata esse ab invicem, id est et pleroma et quod est extra illud. Si autem hoc dixerint, tertium quid erit, quod in immensum separat pleroma et hoc quod est extra illud; et hoc tertium circumfinit et continebit utraque, et erit majus tertium hoc et pleromate et eo quod est extra illud, sicut in suo sinu continens utraque: et in infinitum de his qu: continentur, et de his qua continent, incidet sermo. Si enim tertium hoc necessitas est et a lateribus definiri illud, vel inchoans vel desinens ad alia quedam: et illa rursus, et alia quae sunt sursum et que deorsum, ad alia quedam habebunt initia, et hoc usque in infinitum, ut nunquam stet eorum excogitatio in uno Deo, sed per occasionem plus quam est querendi in id quod non sit excidat, et absistat a vero Deo.

For since, according to them, there is also something else which they say is outside the Pleroma, into which they suppose the higher wandering power descended, it is necessary in every way either that what is outside contains and the Pleroma is contained (otherwise it will not be outside the Pleroma: for if there is something outside the Pleroma, the Pleroma will be inside this very thing they say is outside the Pleroma, and the Pleroma will be contained by what is outside; and with the Pleroma the first God is also understood), or else that they are infinitely distant and separated from each other, that is, the Pleroma and what is outside it. But if they say this, there will be a third thing which separates the Pleroma and what is outside it by an immense distance; and this third thing will bound and contain both, and will be greater than both the Pleroma and what is outside it, as containing both in its bosom; and the argument about what is contained and what contains will run on to infinity. For if this third thing has its beginning above and its end below, it must necessarily be bounded on the sides as well, beginning or ending at certain other things; and these again, and others above and below, will have their beginnings at certain other things, and so on to infinity; so that their thinking will never rest in one God, but, through seeking more than there is, will fall into what does not exist and depart from the true God.

Notes and citation

Summary: Anything outside the Pleroma leads to an infinite regress of containers, so that the mind never rests in the one God.

  • Margin references are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (margin reference inside a word; running head): vel LIB. IT i2. ! desinens → vel desinens; surMASS.ILis. sum → sursum.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.1.3 (Harvey 1:252–253; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-2-1-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.1.4Harvey 1:253

Similiter autem hec et adversus eos qui sunt a Marcione aptata sunt. Continebuntur enim et cireumfinientur et duo Dei ejus ab immenso intervallo, quod separat eos ab invicem. Sic autem ad excogitandum est necessitas secundum omnem partem multos deos immensa separatione distantes, ab invicem quidem inchoantes, ad invicem autem finientes: et illa ratione qua nituntur docere super fabricatorem caeli et terre esse aliquod pleroma aut Deum, eadem ratione utens quisque adstruet super pleroma alterum esse pleroma, et super illud rursus aliud, et super Bythum aliud pelagus Dei, et a lateribus autem similiter eadem esse: et sic in immensum excidente sententia, et semper necessitas erit excogitare altera pleromata, et alteros Bythos, et nunquam aliquando consistere, semper querentes alios prseter dictos. rit autem incertum, utrumnam hec sint deorsum, que sunt secundum nos, an haec ipsa superiora sint; et qux dieuntur ab eis sursum, utrumnam sursum an deorsum sint: et nullus status neque firmitas continebit sensum nostrum, sed in immensos mundos et indeterminatos deos excedere necessitas erit..

These arguments likewise fit those who follow Marcion. For his two Gods too will be contained and bounded by the immense interval that separates them from each other. And so one would have to imagine on every side many gods separated by immense distances, beginning from one another and ending at one another; and by the same reasoning by which they try to teach that there is a Pleroma or God above the Maker of heaven and earth, anyone using it will build another Pleroma above the Pleroma, and another again above that, and above Bythus another sea of God, and the same likewise at the sides; and so, the thought running out into immensity, it will always be necessary to imagine other Pleromas and other Bythi, and never to stop, always seeking others besides those mentioned. It will also be uncertain whether the things around us are below, or are themselves the higher ones; and whether what they call above is above or below; and no fixed state or certainty will hold our mind, but it will have to wander off into countless worlds and undefined gods.

Notes and citation

Summary: The same reasoning refutes Marcion's two Gods and leads to endless worlds and gods.

  • A margin reference is removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (margin reference): querentes M. 17. alios → querentes alios.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.1.4 (Harvey 1:253; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-2-1-4).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.1.5Harvey 1:253–254

Et cum hee sic se habeant, unusquisque Deus suis contentus erit, et non curiose aget de alienis: si quo minus, injustus erit et avarus et cessans esse quod Deus est. Et unaqueque econditio suum fabricatorem glorificabit, et ipso sufficiens erit, et alterum non cognoscet: si quo minus, apostata justissime ab omnibus judicata, dignissimam concipiet poenam. Oportet, enim aut unum esse qui omnia continet, et in suis fecit unumquodque eorum que facta sunt, quemadmodum ipse voluit, aut multos rursus et indeterminatos factores et deos, ab invicem quidem incipientes, ad invicem autem desinentes per omnem partem: et alios omnes a foris ab altero quodam majore contineri, et velut inclusos et manentes in suis unumquemque eorum confiteri necessitas erit, neminem autem horum omnium esse Deum. Deerit enim unicuique eorum partem minutissimam habenti ad comparationem omnium reliquorum, et solvetur Omnipotentis appellatio, et necessitas erit in impietatem cadere talem sensum.

And if this is so, each God will be content with his own and will not meddle with what belongs to others; otherwise he will be unjust and greedy and cease to be what God is. And each creation will glorify its own maker and be content with him, and will not know another; otherwise it will be most justly judged an apostate by all and will receive a most deserved punishment. For there must be either one who contains all things and made in his own domain each of the things that were made, as he willed; or else many undefined makers and gods, beginning from one another and ending at one another on every side; and then one must confess that all the others are contained from outside by some greater one, and each of them shut up and remaining within its own; and that none of them all is God. For each of them, having a very small part compared with all the rest, will be lacking, and the name of Almighty will be dissolved; and such a thought must fall into impiety.

Notes and citation

Summary: Either one God contains all, or there are many limited gods, none of whom is truly God or Almighty.

  • A fragment of Harvey's note and margin references are removed.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR debris (digit); fragment of Harvey's note intruded into the text; margin reference; margin references): 5judicata → judicata; poenam. 9.116. Oportet → poenam. Oportet; contineri, genuine having 4 ἱκανὸς, IY. Ruth i. 20. et velut → contineri, et velut; eorum.4.1. ΜΑΒΒ. 11.1.5, confiteri → eorum confiteri.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.1.5 (Harvey 1:253–254; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/1-30-1/#p-2-1-5).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).