A large heresiological work tracing contested Christian teachings to Greek philosophy, mystery traditions, astrology, and magic, then setting them against the author’s account of apostolic truth.
Author
Authorship uncertain
Traditional attribution
Hippolytus of Rome
Date
Early 3rd century, probably c. AD 220s
Origin
Rome (traditional)
Genre
Heresiology
Traditional attribution to Hippolytus remains disputed, and the author is often called the Refutator.
Some hiatus at the beginning of this sentence is apparent.
2
An elaborate defence of this position forms the subject of Cudworth’s great work, The True Intellectual System of the Universe.
3
This statement has been urged against Origen’s authorship, in favour of Epiphanius, who wrote an extended treatise on the Heresies, with an abridgment.
4
That is, their esoteric mysteries, intended only for a favoured few, as contrasted with the exoteric, designed for more general diffusion.
5
One ms. has—“the profane opinion and unreasonable attempt.”
6
“To learn” (Roeper).
7
“And those that are irrational animals do not attempt,” (or) “because irrational,” etc. The last is Sancroft’s reading; that in the text, Roeper’s.
8
“Ascend up to” (Roeper).
9
This passage is quoted by those who impugn the authorship of Origen on the ground of his never having been a bishop of the Church. It is not, however, quite certain that the words refer to the episcopal office exclusively.
10
The common reading is in the future, but the present tense is adopted by Richter in his Critical Observations, p. 77.
11
It might be, “any opinion that may be subservient to the subject taken in hand.” This is Cruice’s rendering in his Latin version. A different reading is, “we must not be silent as regards reasons that hold good,” or, “as regards rational distinctions,” or, “refrain from utterances through the instrument of reasoning.” The last is Roeper’s.
12
Another reading is, “bringing into a collection.”
13
Or, “the Spirit.”
14
Or, “indicating a witness;” or, “having adduced testimony.”
15
Or, “a starting-point.”
16
Or, “devoting his attention to;” or, “having lighted upon.”
17
The chief writers on the early heresies are: Irenæus, of the second century; Hippolytus, his pupil, of the third; Philastrius, Epiphanius, and St. Augustine, of the fourth century. The learned need scarcely be reminded of the comprehensive digest furnished by Ittigius in the preface to his dissertation on the heresies of the apostolic and post-apostolic ages. A book more within the reach of the general reader is Dr. Burton’s Inquiry into the Heresies of the Apostolic Age.
