10. Now, with respect to
paradise, it is not called a cosmos.1517
| 1517 But
the Latin has “qui vocatur,” etc. = which is called,
etc. And Routh thereof proposes ὃς
καλεῖται for
οὐ
καλεῖται. |
The
trees that are in it are
lust
and other seductions, which
corrupt the rational powers of those
men. And that
tree in
paradise, by which men know the good, is
Jesus Himself,
or1518
| 1518 The
text gives simply ἡ
γνῶσις. The Codex
Bobiensis has et scientia. Hence Routh would read
καὶ ἡ
γνῶσις, and the knowledge. |
the
knowledge of Him in the
world. He who partakes thereof
discerns the good and the
evil. The
world itself, however, is not
God’s
work; but it was the structure of a portion of
matter, and consequently all things
perish in it. And what the
princes took as
spoil from the first man, that is what makes the
moon
full, and what is being
purged day by day of the
world. And if
the
soul makes its exit without having
gained the
knowledge of the
truth, it is given over to the
demons, in order that they may
subdue it
in the Gehennas of
fire; and after that
discipline it is made to pass
into bodies with the purpose of being brought into subjection, and in
this manner it is cast into the mighty
fire until the
consummation. Again, regarding the
prophets amongst you,
1519
| 1519
Retaining the reading ὑμῖν, though Petavius would substitute
ἠμῖν, us. [Routh corrects
Petav., R. S., vol. v. pp. 63, 64.] |
he speaks
thus: Their spirit is one of impiety, or of the
lawlessness of
the
darkness which arose at the beginning. And being
deceived by
this spirit, they have not spoken
truth; for the
prince blinded
their
mind. And if any one follows their words, he
dies for ever,
bound to the clods of
earth, because he has not
learned the
knowledge
of the Paraclete. He also gave injunctions to his
elect alone,
who are not more than seven in number. And the charge was
this: “When ye cease eating,
pray, and put upon your head
an olive, sworn with the invocation of many names for the confirmation
of this
faith.” The names, however, were not made known to
me; for only these seven make use of them. And again, the name
Sabaoth, which is honourable and mighty with you, he declares to be the
nature of man, and the
parent of desire; for which reason the
simple
1520
| 1520
ἁπλάριοι, in the Latin
version Simpliciores, a name apparently given to the Catholics
by the Manichæans. See Ducangii Glossarium mediæ et
infimæ Græcitatis. [Routh, v. p. 65, worth
noting.] |
worship desire, and
hold it to be a
deity. Furthermore, as regards the manner of the
creation of
Adam, he tells us that he who said, “Come and let us
make man in our image, after our likeness,” or “after the
form which we have seen,” is the
prince who addressed the other
princes in terms which may be thus
interpreted: “Come, give
me of the
light which we have received, and let us make man after the
form of us
princes, even after that form which we have seen, that is to
say,
1521
| 1521 The
text gives ὁ ἐστὶ
πρῶτος
ἄνθρωπος. Routh
proposes ὃ ἐστὶ, etc. |
the first
man.” And in that manner he
1522
created the man. They
created Eve
also after the like fashion, imparting to her of their own lust, with a
view to the deceiving of Adam. And by these means the
construction of the world proceeded from the operations of the
prince.
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