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Irenæus
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Introductory Note to Irenæus Against Heresies
[2729] The relation indicated seems to be as follows: Achamoth, after being formed “according to knowledge,” was outside of the Pleroma as the image of Propator, the Demiurge was as Nous, and the mundane angels which he formed corresponded to the other Æons of the Pleroma.
[2730] “Achamoth by these names must be understood to have an intermediate position between the divine prototypal idea and creation: she was the reflex of the one, and therefore masculo-feminine; she was the pattern to be realized in the latter, and therefore was named Earth and Jerusalem.” —Harvey.
[2731] But after the consummation here referred to, Achamoth regained the Pleroma: see below, chap. vii. 1.
[2732] Isa. xlv. 5, 6, Isa. xlvi. 9.
[2733] An account is here given of the infusion of a spiritual principle into mankind. The Demiurge himself could give no more than the animal soul; but, unwittingly to himself, he was made the instrument of conveying that spiritual essence from Achamoth, which had grown up within her from the contemplation of those angels who accompanied the Saviour.
[2735] “The doctrine of Valentinus, therefore,” says Harvey, “as regards the human nature of Christ, was essentially Docetic. His body was animal, but not material, and only visible and tangible as having been formed κατ’ οἰκονομίαν and κατεσκευασμένον ἀῤῥήτῳ τέχνῃ.”
[2736] [That is, carnal; men of the carnal mind, psychic instead of pneumatic. Rom. viii. 6.]
[2737] On account of what they had received from Achamoth.
[2739] Comp. Luke xix. 26.
[2740] Comp.John xvii. 16. The Valentinians, while in the world, claimed to be not of the world, as animal men were.
[2741] Their spiritual substance was received from Achamoth; their animal souls were created by the Demiurge. These are now separated; the spirit enters the Pleroma, while the soul remains in heaven.
[2742] Viz., Achamoth.
[2743] A Syriac fragment here reads, “He spake by the prophets through him.”
[2744] “Thus,” says Harvey, “we may trace back to the Gnostic period the Apollinarian error, closely allied to the Docetic, that the body of Christ was not derived from the blessed Virgin, but that it was of heavenly substance, and was only brought forth into the world through her instrumentality.”
[2745] By thus extending himself through Stauros, who bounded the Pleroma, the Christ above became the type of the Christ below, who was extended upon the cross.
[2746] Billius, following the old Latin version, reads, “They interpret many things, spoken by the prophets, of this seed.”
[2747] Such appears to be the meaning of this sentence, but the original is very obscure. The writer seems to refer to the spiritual, the animal, and the material classes of men, and to imply that the Demiurge supposed some prophecies to be due to one of these classes, and some to the others.
[2748] Matt. viii. 9; Luke vii. 8.
[2749] As was the case at first, in Adam.
Chapter VIII.—How the Valentinians pervert the Scriptures to support their own pious opinions.
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