Tertullian, Against the Valentinians. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3 (Roberts and Donaldson, 1885), public domain.
Passages · 38
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 1 — These Heretics Brand the Christians as Simple Persons. The Charge Accepted, and Simplicity Eulogized Out of the Scriptures. Chapter II.—These Heretics Brand the Christians as Simple Persons. The Charge Accepted, and…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 2 — Chapter III.—The Folly of This Heresy. It Dissects and Mutilates the Deity. Contrasted with the Simple Wisdom of True Religion. To Expose the Absurdities of the Valentinian System is to Destroy It. Let, then, the…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 3 — Chapter IV.—The Heresy Traceable to Valentinus, an Able But Restless Man. Many Schismatical Leaders of the School Mentioned. Only One of Them Shows Respect to the Man Whose Name Designates the Entire School. We know,…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 4 — Many Eminent Christian Writers Have Carefully and Fully Refuted the Heresy. These the Author Makes His Own Guides. Chapter V.—Many Eminent Christian Writers Have Carefully and Fully Refuted the Heresy. These the…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 5 — Chapter VI.—Although Writing in Latin He Proposes to Retain the Greek Names of the Valentinian Emanations of Deity. Not to Discuss the Heresy But Only to Expose It. This with the Raillery Which Its Absurdity Merits.…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 6 — The First Eight Emanations, or Æons, Called the Ogdoad, are the Fountain of All the Others. Their Names and Descent Recorded. Chapter VII.—The First Eight Emanations, or Æons, Called the Ogdoad, are the Fountain of…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 7 — Chapter VIII.—The Names and Descent of Other Æons; First Half a Score, Then Two More, and Ultimately a Dozen Besides. These Thirty Constitute the Pleroma. But Why Be So Capricious as to Stop at Thirty? For, behold,…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 8 — Chapter IX.—Other Capricious Features in the System. The Æons Unequal in Attributes. The Superiority of Nus; The Vagaries of Sophia Restrained by Horos. Grand Titles Borne by This Last Power. But, further, there is…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 9 — Chapter X.—Another Account of the Strange Aberrations of Sophia, and the Restraining Services of Horus. Sophia Was Not Herself, After All, Ejected from the Pleroma, But Only Her Enthymesis. But some dreamers have…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 10 — Chapter XI.—The Profane Account Given of the Origin of Christ and the Holy Ghost Sternly Rebuked. An Absurdity Respecting the Attainment of the Knowledge of God Ably Exposed. Accordingly, after the banishment of the…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 11 — Chapter XII.—The Strange Jumble of the Pleroma. The Frantic Delight of the Members Thereof. Their Joint Contribution of Parts Set Forth with Humorous Irony. Thus they are all on the self-same footing in respect of…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 12 — Chapter XIII.—First Part of the Subject, Touching the Constitution of the Pleroma, Briefly Recapitulated. Transition to the Other Part, Which is Like a Play Outside the Curtain. In this series, then, is contained the…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 13 — Chapter XIV.—The Adventures of Achamoth Outside the Pleroma. The Mission of Christ in Pursuit of Her. Her Longing for Christ. Horos’ Hostility to Her. Her Continued Suffering. For Enthymesis, or rather…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 14 — Strange Account of the Origin of Matter, from the Various Affections of Achamoth. The Waters from Her Tears; Light from Her Smile. Chapter XV.—Strange Account of the Origin of Matter, from the Various Affections of…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 15 — Chapter XVI.—Achamoth Purified from All Impurities of Her Passion by the Paraclete, Acting Through Soter, Who Out of the Above-Mentioned Impurities Arranges Matter, Separating Its Evil from the Better Qualities. She,…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 16 — Achamoth in Love with the Angels. A Protest Against the Lascivious Features of Valentinianism. Achamoth Becomes the Mother of Three Natures. Chapter XVII.—Achamoth in Love with the Angels. A Protest Against the…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 17 — Blasphemous Opinion Concerning the Origin of the Demiurge, Supposed to Be the Creator of the Universe. Chapter XVIII.—Blasphemous Opinion Concerning the Origin of the Demiurge, Supposed to Be the Creator of the…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 18 — Palpable Absurdities and Contradictions in the System Respecting Achamoth and the Demiurge. Chapter XIX.—Palpable Absurdities and Contradictions in the System Respecting Achamoth and the Demiurge. And yet there is…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 19 — The Demiurge Works Away at Creation, as the Drudge of His Mother Achamoth, in Ignorance All the While of the Nature of His Occupation. Chapter XX—The Demiurge Works Away at Creation, as the Drudge of His Mother…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 20 — The Vanity as Well as Ignorance of the Demiurge. Absurd Results from So Imperfect a Condition. Chapter XXI.—The Vanity as Well as Ignorance of the Demiurge. Absurd Results from So Imperfect a Condition. Meanwhile you…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 21 — Chapter XXII.—Origin of the Devil, in the Criminal Excess of the Sorrow of Achamoth. The Devil, Called Also Munditenens, Actually Wiser Than the Demiurge, Although His Work. The odium felt amongst them against the…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 22 — Chapter XXIII.—The Relative Positions of the Pleroma. The Region of Achamoth, and the Creation of the Demiurge. The Addition of Fire to the Various Elements and Bodies of Nature. Their most eminent powers, moreover,…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 23 — The Formation of Man by the Demiurge. Human Flesh Not Made of the Ground, But of a Nondescript Philosophic Substance. Chapter XXIV.—The Formation of Man by the Demiurge. Human Flesh Not Made of the Ground, But of a…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 24 — Chapter XXV.—An Extravagant Way of Accounting for the Communication of the Spiritual Nature to Man. It Was Furtively Managed by Achamoth, Through the Unconscious Agency of Her Son. In Achamoth, moreover, there was…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 25 — Chapter XXVI.—The Three Several Natures—The Material, the Animal, and the Spiritual, and Their Several Destinations. The Strange Valentinian Opinion About the Structure of Soter’s Nature. In like manner they assign…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 26 — Chapter XXVII.—The Christ of the Demiurge, Sent into the World by the Virgin. Not of Her. He Found in Her, Not a Mother, But Only a Passage or Channel. Jesus Descended Upon Christ, at His Baptism, Like a Dove; But,…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 27 — The Demiurge Cured of His Ignorance by the Saviour's Advent, from Whom He Hears of the Great Future in Store for Himself. Chapter XXVIII.—The Demiurge Cured of His Ignorance by the Saviour’s Advent, from Whom He…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 28 — The Three Natures Again Adverted to. They are All Exemplified Amongst Men. For Instance, by Cain, and Abel, and Seth. Chapter XXIX.—The Three Natures Again Adverted to. They are All Exemplified Amongst Men. For…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 29 — The Lax and Dangerous Views of This Sect Respecting Good Works. That These are Unnecessary to the Spiritual Man. Chapter XXX.—The Lax and Dangerous Views of This Sect Respecting Good Works. That These are Unnecessary…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 30 — Chapter XXXI.—At the Last Day Great Changes Take Place Amongst the Æons as Well as Among Men. How Achamoth and the Demiurge are Affected Then. Irony on the Subject. It remains that we say something about the end of…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 31 — Indignant Irony Exposing the Valentinian Fable About the Judicial Treatment of Mankind at the Last Judgment. The Immorality of the Doctrine. Chapter XXXII.—Indignant Irony Exposing the Valentinian Fable About the…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 32 — Chapter XXXIII.—These Remaining Chapters an Appendix to the Main Work. In This Chapter Tertullian Notices a Difference Among Sundry Followers of Ptolemy, a Disciple of Valentinus. I shall now at last produce, by way…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 33 — Other Varying Opinions Among the Valentinians Respecting the Deity, Characteristic Raillery. Chapter XXXIV.—Other Varying Opinions Among the Valentinians Respecting the Deity, Characteristic Raillery. Others of purer…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 34 — Chapter XXXV.—Yet More Discrepancies. Just Now the Sex of Bythus Was an Object of Dispute; Now His Rank Comes in Question. Absurd Substitutes for Bythus Criticised by Tertullian. There are some who do not claim the…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 35 — Less Reprehensible Theories in the Heresy. Bad is the Best of Valentinianism. Chapter XXXVI.—Less Reprehensible Theories in the Heresy. Bad is the Best of Valentinianism. How much more sensible are they who,…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 36 — Other Turgid and Ridiculous Theories About the Origin of the Æons and Creation, Stated and Condemned. Chapter XXXVII.—Other Turgid and Ridiculous Theories About the Origin of the Æons and Creation, Stated and…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 37 — Diversity in the Opinions of Secundus, as Compared with the General Doctrine of Valentinus. Chapter XXXVIII.—Diversity in the Opinions of Secundus, as Compared with the General Doctrine of Valentinus. Secundus is a…vatican.va
- Against the Valentinians Chapter 38 — Chapter XXXIX.—Their Diversity of Sentiment Affects the Very Central Doctrine of Christianity, Even the Person and Character of the Lord Jesus. This Diversity Vitiates Every Gnostic School. Now, concerning even the…vatican.va
Scripture cited · 15 verses
Wisdom 1:1 · Isaiah 40:6 · Isaiah 45:5 · Isaiah 46:9 · Zechariah 3:8 · Zechariah 6:12 · Matthew 8:5 · Matthew 8:6 · Matthew 10:16 · Luke 1:78 · 1 Corinthians 11:19 · 1 Corinthians 14:20 · Ephesians 6:12 · Colossians 1:16 · 1 Timothy 1:4