Irenaeus: Against Heresies, Books I–V

1. Such, then, is the account they give of what took place within the Pleroma; such the calamities that flowed from the passion which seized upon the Æon who has been named, and who was within a little of perishing by being absorbed in the universal substance, through her inquisitive searching after the Father; such the consolidation ^{Edition note 1} [of that Æon] from her condition of agony by Horos, and Stauros, and Lytrotes, and Carpistes, and Horothetes, and Metagoges. ^{Edition note 2} Such also is the account of the generation of the later Æons, namely of the first Christ and of the Holy Spirit, both of whom were produced by the Father after the repentance ^{Edition note 3} [of Sophia], and of the second ^{Edition note 4} Christ (whom they also style Saviour), who owed his being to the joint contributions [of the Æons].

They tell us, however, that this knowledge has not been openly divulged, because all are not capable of receiving it, but has been mystically revealed by the Saviour through means of parables to those qualified for understanding it. This has been done as follows. The thirty Æons are indicated (as we have already remarked) by the thirty years during which they say the Saviour performed no public act, and by the parable of the labourers in the vineyard. Paul also, they affirm, very clearly and frequently names these Æons, and even goes so far as to preserve their order, when he says, “To all the generations of the Æons of the Æon.” ^{Edition note 5} Nay, we ourselves, when at the giving ^{Edition note 6} of thanks we pronounce the words, “To Æons of Æons” (for ever and ever), do set forth these Æons. And, in fine, wherever the words Æon or Æons occur, they at once refer them to these beings.

2. The production, again, of the Duodecad of the Æons, is indicated by the fact that the Lord was twelve ^{Edition note 7} years of age when He disputed with the teachers of the law, and by the election of the apostles, for of these there were twelve. ^{Edition note 8} The other eighteen Æons are made manifest in this way: that the Lord, [according to them,] conversed with His disciples for eighteen months ^{Edition note 9} after His resurrection from the dead.

They also affirm that these eighteen Æons are strikingly indicated by the first two letters of His name [᾽Ιησοῦς], namely Iota ^{Edition note 10} and Eta. And, in like manner, they assert that the ten Æons are pointed out by the letter Iota, which begins His name; while, for the same reason, they tell us the Saviour said, “One Iota, or one tittle, shall by no means pass away until all be fulfilled.” ^{Edition note 11}

3. They further maintain that the passion which took place in the case of the twelfth Æon is pointed at by the apostasy of Judas, who was the twelfth apostle, and also by the fact that Christ suffered in the twelfth month. For their opinion is, that He continued to preach for one year only after His baptism. The same thing is also most clearly indicated by the case of the woman who suffered from an issue of blood. For after she had been thus afflicted during twelve years, she was healed by the advent of the Saviour, when she had touched the border of His garment; and on this account the Saviour said, “Who touched me?” ^{Edition note 12} —teaching his disciples the mystery which had occurred among the Æons, and the healing of that Æon who had been involved in suffering.

For she who had been afflicted twelve years represented that power whose essence, as they narrate, was stretching itself forth, and flowing into immensity; and unless she had touched the garment of the Son, ^{Edition note 13} that is, Aletheia of the first Tetrad, who is denoted by the hem spoken of, she would have been dissolved into the general essence ^{Edition note 14} [of which she participated]. She stopped short, however, and ceased any longer to suffer. For the power that went forth from the Son (and this power they term Horos) healed her, and separated the passion from her.

4. They moreover affirm that the Saviour ^{Edition note 15} is shown to be derived from all the Æons, and to be in Himself everything by the following passage: “Every male that openeth the womb.” ^{Edition note 16} For He, being everything, opened the womb ^{Edition note 17} of the enthymesis of the suffering Æon, when it had been expelled from the Pleroma. This they also style the second Ogdoad, of which we shall speak presently. And they state that it was clearly on this account that Paul said, “And He Himself is all things;” ^{Edition note 18} and again, “All things are to Him, and of Him are all things;” ^{Edition note 19} and further, “In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead;” ^{Edition note 20} and yet again, “All things are gathered together by God in Christ.” ^{Edition note 21} Thus do they interpret these and any like passages to be found in Scripture.

5. They show, further, that that Horos of theirs, whom they call by a variety of names, has two faculties,—the one of supporting, and the other of separating; and in so far as he supports and sustains, he is Stauros, while in so far as he divides and separates, he is Horos. They then represent the Saviour as having indicated this twofold faculty: first, the sustaining power, when He said, “Whosoever doth not bear his cross (Stauros), and follow after me, cannot be my disciple;” ^{Edition note 22} and again, “Taking up the cross, follow me;” ^{Edition note 23} but the separating power when He said, “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” ^{Edition note 24} They also maintain that John indicated the same thing when he said, “The fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge the floor, and will gather the wheat into His garner; but the chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable.” ^{Edition note 25} By this declaration He set forth the faculty of Horos.

For that fan they explain to be the cross (Stauros), which consumes, no doubt, all material ^{Edition note 26} objects, as fire does chaff, but it purifies all them that are saved, as a fan does wheat. Moreover, they affirm that the Apostle Paul himself made mention of this cross in the following words: “The doctrine of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.” ^{Edition note 27} And again: “God forbid that I should glory in anything ^{Edition note 28} save in the cross of Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world.”

6. Such, then, is the account which they all give of their Pleroma, and of the formation ^{Edition note 29} of the universe, striving, as they do, to adapt the good words of revelation to their own wicked inventions. And it is not only from the writings of the evangelists and the apostles that they endeavour to derive proofs for their opinions by means of perverse interpretations and deceitful expositions: they deal in the same way with the law and the prophets, which contain many parables and allegories that can frequently be drawn into various senses, according to the kind of exegesis to which they are subjected.

And others ^{Edition note 30} of them, with great craftiness, adapted such parts of Scripture to their own figments, lead away captive from the truth those who do not retain a stedfast faith in one God, the Father Almighty, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.