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| The Heresiarchs of that Age. PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP
Chapter
XI.—The Heresiarchs of that
Age.
1. “For Valentinus came to Rome under Hyginus, flourished
under Pius, and remained until Anicetus.1065
1065 Valentinus is the best known of the Gnostics. According to
Epiphanius (Hær. XXXI. 2) he was born on the coast of
Egypt, and studied Greek literature and science at Alexandria. The same
writer, on the authority of the lost Syntagma of Hippolytus,
informs us that he taught in Cyprus, and this must have been before he
went to Rome. The direct statement of Irenæus as to the date of
his activity there is confirmed by Tertullian, and perhaps by Clement
of Alexandria, and is not to be doubted. Since Hyginus held office in
all probability from 137–141, and Anicetus from 154 or 155 to 166
or 167, Valentinus must have been in Rome at least thirteen years. His
chronological position between Basilides and Marcion (as given by
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. VII. 17) makes it probable that he
came to Rome early in Antoninus’ reign and remained there during
all or the most of that reign, but not longer. Valentinus’
followers divided into two schools, an Oriental and an Italian, and
constituted by far the most numerous and influential Gnostic sect. His
system is the most profound and artistic of the Gnostic systems, and
reveals great depth and power of mind. For an excellent account of
Valentinus and Valentinianism, see Lipsius’ article in the
Dict. of Christ. Biog. Vol. IV. Valentinus occupies a prominent
place in all works on Gnosticism. |
Cerdon1066
1066 Cerdon is best known as the teacher of Marcion. Epiphanius
(Hær. XLI.) and Philaster (Hær. XLIV.) call him
a native of Syria. Epiphanius speaks of a sect of Cerdonians, but there
seems never to have been such a sect, and his disciples probably early
became followers of Marcion, who joined Cerdon soon after reaching
Rome. It is not possible to distinguish his teachings from those of his
pupil, Marcion. Hippolytus (X. 15) treats Cerdon and Marcion together,
making no attempt to distinguish their doctrines. Irenæus, in the
passage quoted, and the lost Syntagma of Hippolytus (represented
by Pseudo-Tertullian’s Adv. Hær. and by Epiphanius)
distinguish the two, treating Cerdon separately but very briefly. The
doctrines of Cerdon, however, given by them, are identical with or at
least very similar to the known views of Marcion. If they were really
Cerdon’s positions before Marcion came to him, then his influence
over Marcion was most decided. | also, Marcion’s1067
1067 On
Marcion, see below, note 24. | predecessor, entered the Church in the
time of Hyginus, the ninth1068
1068 The Latin text of Irenæus here reads “eighth”
instead of “ninth.” See below, note 7. | bishop, and made
confession, and continued in this way, now teaching in secret, now
making confession again, and now denounced for corrupt doctrine and
withdrawing1069
1069 ἐφιστ€μενος. This is commonly taken to mean that Cerdon was
excommunicated. But as Valesius remarks, the participle is strictly
middle, not passive. The distinction, however, cannot be insisted upon
in the present case, and therefore we cannot determine decisively
whether Cerdon was excluded by the congregation or excluded
himself. | from the assembly of the
brethren.”
2. These words are found in the
third book of the work Against Heresies. And again in the first book he
speaks as follows concerning Cerdon:1070
1070 Irenæus, Adv. Hær. I. 27. 1–2. | “A
certain Cerdon, who had taken his system from the followers of Simon,
and had come to Rome under Hyginus, the ninth in the episcopal
succession from the apostles,1071
1071 Hyginus is here called the ninth bishop, and the reading is
confirmed by a passage in Cyprian’s epistle to Pompey (Ep.
LXXIII. 2 in the Ante-Nicene Fathers), and also by Epiphanius
(Hær. LXI. 1). In the passage quoted just above, however,
from the third book of Irenæus, although Eusebius calls Hyginus
the “ninth,” the Latin text of Irenæus makes him the
“eighth,” and according to Salmon in the Dict of Christ.
Biog.: “The ms. evidence is decisive
that Irenæus here [in the passage quoted above from III. 4. 3]
describes Hyginus as the eighth bishop, and this agrees with the list
of Roman bishops given in the preceding chapter (Adv. Hær.
III. 3. 3), and with the description of Anicetus as the tenth bishop a
couple of chapters further on. Lipsius hence infers that Irenæus
drew his account of Cerdon from two sources in which Hyginus was
differently described, but this inference is very precarious. In the
interval between the composition of the first and third books,
Irenæus may have been led to alter his way of counting by
investigations concerning the succession of the Roman bishops, which he
had in the meantime either made himself, or adopted from Hegesippus. As
for the numeration ‘ninth,’ we do not venture to pronounce
whether it indicates a list in which Peter was counted first bishop, or
one in which Cletus and Anacletus were reckoned as distinct.”
According to Eusebius’ own reckoning up to the present chapter,
Hyginus was the eighth, not the ninth, from the apostles, for in chap.
5, above, he calls Telesphorus (Hyginus’ predecessor) the
seventh, in chap. 1, Alexander (the predecessor of Xystus, who preceded
Telesphorus) the fifth, and so on. Why, in the passage quoted at the
beginning of this chapter, he should change his reckoning, and call
Hyginus the ninth if the original list of Irenæus from which he
drew said eighth is difficult to see. It is possible that he made the
change under the influence of the “ninth,” in the present
passage, which certainly stood in the original text. It would be easier
to think this if the order in which the passages are quoted were
reversed, but it may be that Eusebius had the present quotation in mind
when making the first, or that he went back afterward and corrected
that to correspond. If he ventured to change the text of Irenæus
in that passage, he must have done it in all good faith, assuming a
mistake in transcription, where the contradiction was so glaring. It
still remains to me inexplicable, however, why he did not change the
“ninth” of the second passage to “eighth”
instead of the “eighth” of the first passage to
“ninth.” He would thus have gotten rid of all
contradictions, and have remained consistent with himself. I am
tempted, in fact, to believe that Eusebius found “ninth” in
the original of both passages quoted, and copied just what he found. At
the same time, I do not feel disposed in the face of what Lipsius and
Salmon say as to the original text of Irenæus to claim that
Irenæus himself wrote “ninth” at that
point. | taught that the
God proclaimed by the law and prophets was not the father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. For the former was known, but the latter unknown; and the
former was just, but the latter good.1072
1072 Marcion drew this same distinction between the strictly just God
of the Old Testament and the good or merciful God of the New, and the
distinction was a fundamental one in his system. It is noticeable that
Pseudo-Tertullian (Adv. Omnes Hær. chap 6) says that Cerdon
taught two Gods, one good, the other cruel (sævum); the
good being the superior God,—the latter, the cruel one, being the
creator of the world. |
Marcion of Pontus succeeded Cerdon and developed his doctrine, uttering
shameless blasphemies.”
3. The same Irenæus unfolds
with the greatest vigor the unfathomable abyss of Valentinus’
errors in regard to matter, and reveals his wickedness, secret and
hidden like a serpent lurking in its nest.
4. And in addition to these men
he says that there was also another that lived in that age, Marcus by
name,1073
1073 Irenæus gives an account of Marcus and the Marcosians in I.
13–21. He was a Gnostic of the sect of Valentinus. Jerome calls
him a Basilidian (Ep. LXXV. 3), but he was mistaken. Hippolytus
and Epiphanius (Hær. 34) copy their accounts from
Irenæus, and probably had no direct knowledge of the works of
Marcus, or of his sect. Clement of Alexandria, however, knew and used
his writings. It is probable that Asia Minor was the scene of his
labors. He is spoken of in the present tense by Irenæus, and hence
seems to have been alive when he wrote; that is, in the latter part of
the second century. His additions to Valentinianism lay chiefly,
perhaps solely, in the introduction of worthless magic rites. He seems
to have lowered greatly the tone of the philosophical Gnosticism of
Valentinus. See Salmon’s article in the Dict. of Christ.
Biog. | who was remarkably skilled in magic arts.
And he describes also their unholy initiations and their abominable
mysteries in the following words:1074
1074 Irenæus, Adv. Hær. I. 21. 3. |
5. “For some of them
prepare a nuptial couch and perform a mystic rite with certain forms of
expression addressed to those who are being initiated, and they say
that it is a spiritual marriage which is celebrated by them, after the
likeness of the marriages above. But others lead them to water, and
while they baptize them they repeat the following words: Into the name
of the unknown father of the universe, into truth, the mother of all
things, into the one that descended upon Jesus.1075
1075 εἰς τὸν
κατελθόντα
εἰς τὸν
᾽Ιησοῦν.
Taking the Greek simply as it stands, we should naturally put a comma
before the second εἰς, and translate
“into the one that descended, into Jesus,” identifying the
“one that descended” with Jesus. But the Gnostics in
general taught that Jesus was only a man, upon whom descended one of
the æons, or higher spiritual powers, and hence it is plain that
in the present case the “one that descended upon [or literally
“into”] Jesus” is referred to here as the third
person of the baptismal Trinity. |
Others repeat Hebrew names1076
1076 The
Greek and Latin texts of Irenæus add at this point widely variant
lists of these words, but in both lists the words are quite
meaningless. | in order the
better to confound those who are being initiated.”
6. But Hyginus1077
1077 On
Hyginus, see the previous chapter, note 3. | having died at the close of the fourth
year of his episcopate, Pius1078
1078 Eusebius states, just below, that Pius held office fifteen years,
and in his Chronicle he gives the same figure. In that work
(Armen. version) he places his accession in the first year of Antoninus
Pius, though the version of Jerome assigns it to the fifth year, and
with this Eusebius agrees in his History, for in the previous
chapter he puts the accession of Hyginus in the first year of Antoninus
Pius, and here tells us that Hyginus held office four years. Lipsius
assigns Pius’ episcopate to the years 139–154, as the
earliest possible termini; the years 141–156 as the latest. But
since we learn from chapter 14, below, that Polycarp was in Rome during
the episcopate of Anicetus, and from other sources (see chapter 15,
note 2) that he was martyred in Asia Minor in 155 or 156, we may assume
it as certain that Pius cannot have held office as late as 156. The
earlier date for his death (154) may therefore be accepted as more
probable. The Liberian and Felician Catalogues put Anicetus between
Hyginus and Pius; but that is certainly incorrect, for, in support of
the order given here by Eusebius, we have the testimony both of
Hegesippus, quoted below, in chap. 22, and of Irenæus (III. 3).
Pius is commonly regarded as the first monarchical bishop in the strict
sense, the so-called bishops before his time having been simply leading
presbyters or presbyter bishops of the Roman church (see chap. 11, note
14). According to the Muratorian Fragment and the Liberian Catalogue,
Pius was the brother of Hermas, the author of the Shepherd. Upon
this alleged relationship, see Bk. III. chap. 3, note 23. | succeeded him in the
government of the church of Rome. In Alexandria Marcus1079
1079 Of
Marcus we know only what Eusebius tells us here: that he succeded
Eumenes, after the latter had held office thirteen years, and that he
continued in office ten years. If Eumenes became bishop in 132 or 133
(see above, chap. 5, note 16), then Marcus must have succeeded him in
145 or 146, and this agrees with the Armenian Chron. of
Eusebius, which, while it does not mention the accession of Marcus, yet
puts the accession of his successor Celadin in the eighteenth year of
Antoninus Pius, which would make the beginning of his own episcopate
the eighth year of the same ruler. Jerome’s version of the
Chron., however, puts it in the sixth year. Little reliance is
to be placed upon any of the dates of the Alexandrian bishops during
the first two centuries. | was appointed pastor, after Eumenes1080
1080 On
Eumenes, see above, chap. 5, note 14. | had filled the office thirteen years in
all. And Marcus having died after holding office ten years was
succeeded by Celadion1081
1081 Of
Celadion we know only what Eusebius tells us here, and in chap. 19,
where he gives fourteen years as the duration of his episcopate. As
mentioned in the previous note, the Armenian Chron. of Eusebius
puts his accession in the eighteenth year of Antoninus Pius, i.e. 155
or 156, while the version of Jerome puts it in the sixteenth
year. | in the government
of the church of Alexandria.
7. And in Rome Pius died in the
fifteenth year of his episcopate, and Anicetus1082
1082 Anicetus, according to the Armenian Chron. of Eusebius,
succeeded Pius in the fifteenth year of Antoninus Pius; according to
Jerome’s version, in the eighteenth year (i.e. 155 or 156), which
is more nearly correct. Lipsius puts his accession between 154 and 156
(see note 14, above). According to chap. 19, below, with which both
versions of the Chron. agree, Anicetus held office eleven years;
i.e. until 165 to 167, when he was succeeded by Soter. Irenæus (as
quoted by Eusebius in Bk. V. chap. 24) informs us that Polycarp was in
Rome in the time of Anicetus, and endeavored to induce him to adopt the
Quartodeciman practice of celebrating Easter; but that, while the two
remained perfectly friendly to one another, Anicetus would not change
the custom of the Roman church (see the notes on the chapter referred
to). As stated in note 13, the Liberian and Felician Catalogues
incorrectly insert the name of Anicetus between those of Hyginus and
Pius. |
assumed the leadership of the Christians there. Hegesippus records that
he himself was in Rome at this time, and that he remained there until
the episcopate of Eleutherus.1083
1083 Eusebius evidently makes a mistake here. That Hegesippus remained
so long in Rome (Anicetus ruled from 154–168 (?), and Eleutherus
from 177–190) is upon the face of it very improbable. And in this
case we can see clearly how Eusebius made his mistake. In chap. 22 he
quotes a passage from Hegesippus in regard to his stay in Rome, and it
was in all probability this passage from which Eusebius drew his
conclusion. But Hegesippus says there that he “remained in Rome
until the time of Anicetus,” &c. It is probable, therefore,
that he returned to the East during Anicetus’ episcopacy. He does
not express himself as one who had remained in Rome until the reign of
Eleutherus; but Eusebius, from a hasty reading, might easily have
gathered that idea. According to Hegesippus’ account in chap. 22,
he must, then, have come to Rome before Anicetus, i.e. during
the reign of Pius, and this Eusebius does not here contradict, though
he is said to do so by Reading, who translates the Greek words,
ἐπιδημῆσαι
τῇ ῾Ρώμῃ, “came to the city” (so, also, Closs, Stigloher, and
Crusè). But the words properly mean “to be in Rome,”
not “to come to Rome,” which would require, rather,
ἐπιδημῆσαι
εἰς τὴν
῾Ρώμην, as in
§2, above, where the words are used of Cerdon. Jerome, to be sure
(de vir. ill. 22), says that Hegesippus came to Rome in the time
of Anicetus; but his account rests solely upon Eusebius, whom he
mistranslated. The tradition, therefore, that Hegesippus came to Rome
in the time of Anicetus has no foundation; he was already there, as he
himself informs us, in chap. 22, below. Cf. the note on this passage,
in chap. 22. |
8. But Justin1084
1084 Eusebius here puts Justin in his proper place, in the time of
Antoninus Pius. The date of his birth is unknown, though it cannot have
been far from the beginning of the second century. He was born in
Flavia Neapolis, a Roman town built close by the ruins of the ancient
Sychem, in Samaria. He was of heathen parentage, and received a
thoroughly Greek education. He became an earnest student of philosophy,
and after turning to many different systems in his search for truth, he
was at last converted to Christianity, where he found that for which he
had been searching; and his whole conception of Christianity shows the
influence of the manner in which he accepted it. The date of his
conversion is unknown, but it seems (from Dial. I. 1) to have
taken place at least before the close of the Barcochba war (135 a.d.). He died as a martyr at Rome. The date of his
death is difficult to determine, but it probably took place under
Marcus Aurelius, in 163+. Upon his death, see below, chap. 16, note 4.
Upon Justin, see Semich’s Justin der Märtyrer,
Otto’s edition of the Greek Apologists, von Engelhardt’s
article in Herzog, 2d ed., Holland’s article in Smith and
Wace’s Dict. of Christ. Biog., and finally Schaff’s
Ch. Hist. II. p.110 sq., where the most important literature is
mentioned. Upon his theology, see especially von Engelhardt’s
masterly monograph, Das Christenthum Justins des Märtyrers
(Erlangen, 1878). A recent and interesting discussion of Justin’s
testimony to early Christianity is found in Purves’ work on that
subject (New York, 1889). | was especially prominent in those days.
In the guise of a philosopher1085
1085 ἐν
σχήματι
φιλοσόφου. The reference here is to the distinctive cloak or mantle
of the Greek philosophers, which was called the pallium, and to
which Justin refers in his Dial. c. Trypho, §1. The wearing
of the mantle was an advantage to the philosophers, inasmuch as it gave
them peculiar opportunities to engage in philosophic discourse in the
street or market, or other public places, which they could not
otherwise so easily have enjoyed. Perhaps it was this fact which led
Justin to continue wearing the cloak, and we see from the introduction
to his Dialogue that it was the wearing of it which was the immediate
occasion of his conversation with Trypho and his friends. Heraclas, the
friend of Origen, also continued to wear the philosopher’s cloak
after his conversion, as we learn from Bk. VI. chap. 19. | he preached the
divine word, and contended for the faith in his writings. He wrote also
a work against Marcion,1086
1086 This work against Marcion is also mentioned by Irenæus, who
quotes from it in his Adv. Hær. IV. 16. 2 (see below, chap.
18), and by Photius, Cod. 125. The work is lost, and we have
only the single brief fragment preserved by Irenæus. It is
possible that it formed a part of the larger Syntagma contra omnes
Hæreses, mentioned by Justin in his Apol. I. 26 (see
below), and it has been urged in support of this possibility that
Irenæus nowhere mentions a work of Justin’s Against all
Heresies, although it is highly probable that he made use of such a
work (see Lipsius’ Quellen der ältesten Ketzergesch.
and Harnack’s Zur Quellenkritik des Gnosticismus). It
would seem that Irenæus is referring to this work when he mentions
the Syntagma contra Marcionem. On the other hand, Photius
mentions the work against Marcion and the one against all heresies as
two separate works. He does not seem, however, to have had a personal
knowledge of them, and is possibly only repeating Eusebius (Harnack
says he is certainly doing so, Ueberlieferung d. griech. Apol.
p. 150; but in view of the fact that he omits two works mentioned by
Eusebius, this seems to be somewhat doubtful); and if this is so, no
reliance is to be placed upon his report, for it is evident that
Eusebius himself knew neither of the two works, and hence the fact that
he distinguishes them has no significance. Although, therefore, it
cannot be determined whether Justin wrote two separate works against
heretics, it is quite probable that he did not.
The conduct of Eusebius
in this connection is very peculiar. After mentioning the work against
Marcion, he at once gives a quotation in such a way as to convey the
impression that the quotation is taken from this work, but it is really
taken from the first Apology. This makes it very probable that
he had not seen this work against Marcion, a conclusion which is
confirmed by its omission from the list of Justin’s writings
given in chap. 18. It is claimed by many that Eusebius practices a
little deception here, wishing to convey the impression that he knew a
book which he did not know. This is not in accord with his usual
conduct (as he seldom hesitates to confess his ignorance of any
matter), and his general character for candor and honesty must be taken
into account in deciding the case. He does not state directly that the
quotation is taken from the work against Marcion, and it is possible
that the seeming reference of it to that source was an oversight on his
part. But it must be acknowledged, if that be the case, that he was
very careless in making the quotation. | in which he
states that the latter was alive at the time he wrote.
9. He speaks as follows:1087
1087 Justin, Apol. I. 26. | “And there is a certain Marcion1088
1088 Marcion cannot be called a Gnostic in the strict sense of the
term. He was rather an anti-Jewish reformer. He had much in common with
the Gnostics, but laid stress upon belief rather than upon knowledge.
He developed no complete system as did the extreme and perverted
Paulinism, considering Paul the only true apostle and rejecting the
others as Judaizing teachers. He cut the Gospel away from its
historical connections, repudiating the Old Testament and all of the
New except a mutilated Gospel of Luke and the Epistles of Paul, and
denying the identity of the God of the Old Testament with the Supreme
God, and the identity of Jesus with the promised Jewish Messiah. He
magnified the mercy of God in redemption at the expense of creation,
which he attributed to the demiurge, and in which he saw nothing good.
He was an extreme anti-metaphysician, and the first Biblical critic. He
was born in Pontus, was the son of a bishop, went to Rome about 135
a.d., and endeavored to carry out his reforms
there, but was unsuccessful, and very soon broke with the Church. He
traveled extensively and disseminated his doctrines very widely. The
sect existed well on into the Middle Ages, and some of his opinions
have never been completely eradicated. In Rome the Gnostic Cerdon
exercised great influence over him, and to him are doubtless due many
of Marcion’s Gnostic traits. The dualism which he held in common
with the Gnostics arose rather from practical than speculative
considerations; but his followers in the fourth and fifth centuries,
when they had lost his practical religious spirit and yet retained his
dualism, passed over quite naturally into Manicheeism. He was attacked
by Justin, Irenæus, Tertullian, and all the anti-heretical writers
of the early Church, and was considered one of the most dangerous of
heretics. A complete monograph upon Marcion is still a desideratum, but
he is discussed in all the general accounts of Gnosticism; see
especially the brief but excellent account by Harnack,
Dogmengeschichte, I. 197–214. | of Pontus,1089
who is even now still teaching his followers to think that there is some other God
greater than the creator. And by the aid of the demons1090
1090 Justin
here agrees with Eusebius in his transcendental theory of heresy,
looking upon it not as a natural growth from within, but as an
infliction upon the Church from without, through the agency of demons.
Indeed, this was the prevailing notion of the early Church. | he has persuaded many of every race of men1091
1091 The
extent of Marcion’s influence referred to here is very
significant. Gnosticism was not intended for common people, and never
spread among the masses, but on the contrary was confined to
philosophers and speculative thinkers. In this respect, Marcion, whose
sect included multitudes of all classes, was distinguished most sharply
from them, and it was because of the popularity of his sect that his
heresy appeared so dangerous to the early Church. | to utter blasphemy, and to deny that the
maker of this universe is the father of Christ, and to confess that
some other, greater than he, was the creator.1092
1092 ἄλλον
δέ τινα ὡς,
ὄντα μείζονα
παρὰ τοῦτον
ὁμολογεῖν
πεποιηκέναι. The sentence as it thus stands is very difficult to
construe, for we are compelled to take the last verb without an object,
in the sense of create. Our mss. of
Justin Martyr insert after the ὡςὄντα
μείζονα the
words τὰ
μείζονα,
and the sentence then reads, “some other one, greater than he,
has done greater works.” It is plain that this was the original
form of the sentence, and that the harsh construction found in Eusebius
is a result of defective transcription. It was very easy for a copyist
to drop out the second μείζονα. |
And all who followed them are, as we have said,1093
1093 Justin refers here to Apol. I. 7. He wishes to have it
clear that not all that call themselves Christians are really such.
From chaps. 26–29, we see that in Justin’s time the
Christians were accused of great immoralities, and in this same chapter
(chap. 26) he is rather inclined to throw the guilt upon heretics,
although he does not expressly accuse them of it (“whether they
perpetrate these shameful deeds—we know not”). See
above.
His mention of philosophers
here in his appeal to the philosophical emperors is very
shrewd. |
called Christians, just as the name of philosophy is given to
philosophers, although they may have no doctrines in
common.”
10. To this he adds:1094
“And we have also written a work
against all the heresies that have existed,1095
1095 This
work is not mentioned by Eusebius in the list of Justin’s works
which he gives in chap. 18. He had, therefore, undoubtedly never seen
it. Irenæus nowhere mentions it under this title, though he seems
to have made extensive use of it, and he does mention a work,
Against Marcion, which is very likely to be identified with the
work referred to here (see Harnack’s Zur Quellenkritik des
Gnosticismus). The work, which is now lost, is mentioned by Photius
(Cod. 125), but he evidently had never seen it, and is simply
copying some earlier list, perhaps that of Eusebius. His testimony to
the work, therefore, amounts to little. Compare note 22,
above. |
which we will give you if you wish to read it.”
11. But this same Justin
contended most successfully against the Greeks, and addressed
discourses containing an apology for our faith to the Emperor
Antoninus, called Pius, and to the Roman senate.1096
1096 On
Justin’s Apology and his work Against the Greeks,
see below, chap. 18, notes 3 and 4. As shown in note 3 of that chapter,
he really wrote only one Apology. | For he lived at Rome. But who and whence he
was he shows in his Apology in the following words.1097
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