Chapter 11

§ 1.

In course of preaching this faith, John the Disciple of the Lord, desirous by preaching of the Gospel to remove the error which Cerinthus had been sowing among men;¹ and long before him those who are called Nicolaitans, who are an offshoot of the knowledge falsely so called:—to confound them, and persuade men that there is but one God Who made all things by His Word, and not as they affirm that the Creator is one person, the Father of the Lord another: and that there is a difference of persons between the Son of the Creator, and the Christ from the higher Æons, who both remained impassible, descending on Jesus the Son of the Creator, and glided back again to his own Pleroma; and that the Beginning is the Only Begotten, but the Word, the true Son of the Only Begotten; and that the created system to which we belong was not made by the First Deity, but by some Power brought very far down below it, and cut off from communion in the things which are beyond sight and name:—All such things, I say, the Lord’s Disciple desiring to cut off, and to establish in the Church the rule of Truth, viz., that there is one God Almighty, Who by His Word made all things, both visible and invisible: indicating also, that by the Word whereby God wrought Creation, in the same also He provided salvation for the men who are part of Creation:—thus did he begin in that instruction which his Gospel contains,² In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God: the Same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made. That which was made, was in Him Life, and the Life was the Light of men; and the Light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. All things, saith he, were made by Him. In all things then is included also this creation which we are concerned with. For it will not be granted them that all means the things which are included in their Pleroma. For if their Pleroma contains the things here also, this so great system is not beyond its limits, as we have explained in the preceding book: but if things here are without the Pleroma (which however was seen to be impossible), then their Pleroma is not all, therefore this system so extensive, is not without it.

§ 2.

But John himself hath removed from us all disputations,³ saying, He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. Whereas according to Marcion and the like of him, neither was the World made by Him, nor did He come unto His own, but unto that which belonged to others. Again, according to some of the Gnostics, this world was made by Angels, and not by the Word of God. And according to those again who are of Valentinus, it was not made by Him, but by the Demiurge. For He [the Word] was active in causing such and such similitudes to be made, after the Pattern of things above, as they say; but the Demiurge finished making the creatures. Since by their account he emanated from the Mother, to be Lord and Framer of this Economy of Creation, he, I say, by whom they will have this world to be made: whereas the Gospel expressly says, that by the Word, Which was in the beginning with God, all things were made,⁴ which Word, it saith, was made Flesh, and dwelt among us.

§ 3.

But according to them neither was the Word made flesh, nor Christ, nor he who was made out of them all,⁵ the Saviour. For the Word and Christ they will not have so much as to have come into this world: and for the Saviour, that He neither was incarnate, nor suffered; but that He descended as a Dove upon that Jesus, who was made by special Economy, and that having announced the unknown Father, He ascended again into the Pleroma. As to the Incarnation and Passion, some attribute them to that Jesus who was made by special Economy, who they say passed through Mary, as water through a pipe; others again to the son of the Demiurge, on whom (they say) descended that Jesus who is made by Economy: others again say that Jesus indeed was born of Joseph and Mary, and that Christ descended upon Him, the Christ from the higher Æons, being without flesh and incapable of sufferings.

However, by no rule of the Heretics was the Word of God made flesh. For should any one examine the Rules of them all, he will find that they all bring in the Word of God as without flesh, and incapable of suffering; as also the Christ who is in the higher regions. For some think that He was manifested as a human being transfigured, while they deny both His Birth and His Incarnation: others again, that He assumed not even the figure of a man, but as a Dove came down upon that Jesus who was born of Mary. To shew then that all these are false witnesses, the Lord’s Disciple saith, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

§ 4.

And that we might make no question who the God is, whose Word was made flesh, he himself teaches us above, saying,⁶ There was a man sent from God, his name was John:⁷ he came for witness, to bear witness of the Light. He was not the Light, but to bear witness of the Light. John therefore, the Forerunner, who witnesses concerning the Light, by what God was he sent? of course by Him to Whom the Angel Gabriel belongs, who also brought the glad tidings of His Birth: that God Who promised by the Prophets to send His Angel before the face of His Son, and to prepare His way, i.e., to bear witness of the Light,⁸ in the spirit and power of Elias. And Helias again,⁹ of what God was he servant and prophet? of Him Who made Heaven and Earth, as himself also confesses.

John therefore, being sent by the Founder and Framer of this world, how could he bear witness of that light, which descended from among the things that are unnameable and invisible? since all the Heretics have laid it down, that the Demiurge knows not the Power which is above him, which John, we find, was to witness and indicate.

For this cause the Lord said that He counted him more than a Prophet.¹⁰¹¹ For all the other Prophets announced the coming of the paternal Light,¹² and longed to be worthy to see Him Whom they were preaching: but John both foretold Him even as the rest, and when He came saw Him and pointed Him out, and persuaded many to believe in Him: thus occupying himself the place both of a Prophet and of an Apostle. Thus he is more than a Prophet,¹³ since Apostles come first, Prophets second; but all things of one and the same, God Himself.

§ 5.

For that wine indeed was good, which by creation God formed in the vineyard,¹⁴ and which was drunk in the first place: for neither did any of those who drank of it find fault, and the Lord partook of it. But that wine was better,¹⁵ which was formed by the Word out of water, (a summary and simple process) for the use of those who had been called together to the marriage. Thus, although the Lord is able to furnish wine to the guests, and to satisfy the hungry with food, without any material to act among the creatures, yet He did not so, but rather He took such loaves as come of the earth, and gave thanks, and again He made water wine and so satisfied those who were set down, and gave drink to those who had been invited to the marriage: signifying that God, Who made the earth and commanded it to bear fruit, and established the waters, and poured forth the fountains, He in the last times by His Son bestows on the human race the Blessing of Meat and the Grace of Drink:—the Incomprehensible by One who can be comprehended, and the Invisible by One who can be seen: For He is not without the Father,¹⁶ but abideth in His Bosom.

§ 6.

For no man, it is said, hath seen God at any time, except that the Only begotten Son of God,¹⁷ Which is in the Bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. That is, the Father, Who is invisible, is set forth unto all by the Son, Who is in His Bosom. For this cause they know Him, to whom the Son hath revealed Him: and again the Father by the Son gives the knowledge of His own Son unto them who love Him. From Whom also Nathanael learned and knew Him: to whom the Lord Himself bare witness, that he is an Israelite indeed,¹⁸ in whom is no guile. The Israelite knew his own King,¹⁹ and saith to Him, Rabbi, Thou art, the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel. By Him again Peter being taught, knew the Christ the Son of the living God:—of Him Who saith,²⁰ Behold My Son, the most beloved, in Whom I am well pleased: I will put My spirit upon Him, and He will declare judgment unto the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry, neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets: a shaken reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, as long as He shall put forth His cause for controversy;²¹ and in His name shall the Gentiles trust.

§ 7.

And these, observe, are the beginnings of the Gospel:²² whereby is set forth One God the Maker of this universe,—He Whom the Prophets too announced, and Who by Moses formed the Economy of the Law,—as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: nor do they beside Him recognise any other God, or any other Father. Now so great is the stability of these Gospels, that the very Heretics also bear testimony unto them, and endeavour each one to establish his own doctrine, setting out from these.²³ Thus the Ebionites, using only the Gospel which is according to Matthew, are even by it convicted of wrong notions concerning the Lord.²⁴ And Marcion, while he mutilates that which is according to Luke, is proved a blasphemer of Him Who is the only God, by those passages which are still preserved in his writings. And those who separate Jesus from Christ, and say that Christ remained impassive, while Jesus suffered, while they allege the Gospel according to Mark; may be corrected if they read it with love of the Truth. Moreover the school of Valentinus, making very ample use of the Gospel according to John to demonstrate the combinations they talk of, will be from that very Gospel exposed as maintaining nothing right: as we have shewn in the first book. Since then our opponents bear testimony to us, in using these Gospels, our reasoning drawn from them is strong and correct.

§ 8.

For it is impossible that the Gospels should be in number either more or fewer than these.²⁵ For since there are four regions of the world wherein we are, and four principal winds, and the Church is as seed sown in the whole earth, and the Gospel is the Church’s pillar and ground, and the breath of life: it is natural that it should have four pillars, from all quarters breathing incorruption, and kindling²⁶ men into life. Whereby it is evident, that the Artificer of all things, the Word, Who sitteth upon the Cherubims, and keepeth all together, when He was made manifest unto men, gave us His Gospel in four forms, kept together by one Spirit.²⁷ As David, imploring His Presence, saith, Thou that sittest upon the Cherubims, shew Thyself. For indeed the Cherubim had four faces, and their faces are images of the dispensation²⁸ of the Son of God. For the first living creature,²⁹ it saith, was like a Lion, denoting His real efficiency, His guiding power, His royalty: and the second like a Calf, signifying His station as a Sacrificer and Priest: and the third having the face of a man, most evidently depicting His Presence as Man: and the fourth like an eagle in flight, declaring the gift of the Spirit flying down upon the Church.

Now then the Gospels are in unison with these, upon which Christ sitteth. For first,³⁰ that according to John relates His princely and efficacious, and glorious birth from the Father,³¹ saying, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, And,³² All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made. On this account this Gospel is also full of all confidence; for that is his Character.

But the Gospel of Luke;³³ as being of a priestly stamp, began from Zacharias the priest burning incense unto God. For now the fatted Calf was a preparing, about to be sacrificed for the finding of the younger Son.

Matthew for his part proclaims His Birth as a Man, saying,³⁴ The Book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:³⁵ and, Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise.³⁶ This Gospel therefore is of human form: wherefore also through the whole of it the character is kept up of a lowly minded and meek Man.

And Mark hath made his beginning from the prophetic Spirit,³⁷ which cometh upon men from on high, thus saying,³⁸ The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ … as it is written in the Prophet Esaias: implying the winged image of the Gospel. And for this cause he hath also made his narrative concise and rapid: for this is the stamp of Prophecy.

And the Word of God also Himself conversed with the Patriarchs before Moses according to His divine and glorious Being;³⁹ but to those in the Law He assigned His priestly and ministerial station: and afterwards having been made Man, He sent forth the free gift of the Holy Ghost into the whole earth, sheltering us with His own wings. Such, then, as were the dealings of the Son of God, such also is the form of the Living Creatures; and such as is the form of the Living creatures, such also is the stamp of the Gospel. For the living creatures are of four forms, of four forms also is the Gospel, and the dealing of the Lord. And therefore four general covenants were given unto mankind:⁴⁰ the first, of Noe’s deluge, on occasion of the Bow: and the second, Abraham’s, with the sign of Circumcision: and the third, the giving of the Law under Moses: and the fourth that of the Gospels, by our Lord Jesus Christ⁴¹.

§ 9.

Now such being the case, they are all vain and ignorant, and daring withal, who set at nought the true notion of the Gospel, and privily bring in either more or fewer individual Gospels⁴², than have been mentioned: the former, that they may have the credit of discovering more than the truth; the latter, that they may set at nought the dispensations of God.

Thus Marcion rejecting the whole Gospel,⁴³ nay rather cutting himself off from the Gospel, glories just as much in having the Gospel. Others again, to make void the gift of the Spirit, which in the last times at the Father’s good pleasure was poured out on mankind,⁴⁴ admit not the notion which properly belongs to John’s Gospel, viz., that in it the Lord promised He would send the Paraclete; but they drive from them at once both the Gospel and the Prophetic Spirit. Unhappy in truth are they, who while they desire to be false Prophets, drive away the grace of Prophecy from the Church. Their case resembles theirs, who because of such as come in hypocrisy, abstain even from communion with the brethren.

Further, we may understand,⁴⁵ that neither is the Apostle Paul received by these same persons. For in his Epistle to the Corinthians, he hath spoken accurately of prophetical gifts,⁴⁶ and recognises men and women as prophesying in the Church. In all these ways then sinning against the Spirit of God, they fall into the unpardonable sin.

But those who are of Valentinus’ side again,⁴⁷ being past all fear, produce certain compositions of their own, and boast to have more Gospels than actually exist. For indeed they have gone so far in effrontery, as to call something which they never wrote of old, The Gospel of Truth; in nothing agreeing with the Gospels of the Apostles: not even the Gospel, with them, being without blasphemy. For if what is put forward by these, be the Gospel of Truth, and yet this is unlike to what have been handed down to us by the Apostles: whoso please, may learn, as is shewn from the Scriptures themselves, that what has been handed down by the Apostles, is no more the Gospel of Truth.

However that those only are true and trustworthy, and that it is out of the question there being either more or fewer Gospels than were before-mentioned, we have shewn thus abundantly and convincingly. For as God made all things in order and fitness, the form also of the Gospel must needs be well arranged and compacted.

Having thus ascertained the opinion of those who delivered the Gospel to us, simply from their opening sentences; let us proceed to the remaining Apostles, and enquire into their doctrine concerning God: then afterwards let us hear the discourses of our Lord Himself.