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The Refutation of All Heresies
Authorship uncertain
Book 5 · Chapter 4 About this work 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.
Chapter IV.—Further Use Made of the System of the Phrygians; Mode of Celebrating the Mysteries; The Mystery of the “Great Mother;” These Mysteries Have a Joint Object of Worship with the Naasseni; The Naasseni Allegorize the Scriptural Account of the Garden of Eden; The Allegory Applied to the Life of Jesus. The Phrygians , however , further assert
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that
the
father
of
the
universe
is
“
Amygdalus
,
”
not
a
tree
,
he
says
,
but
that
he
is
“
Amygdalus
”
who
previously
existed
;
and
he
having
in
himself
the
perfect
fruit
,
as
it
were
,
throbbing
and
moving
in
the
depth
,
rent
his
breasts
,
and
produced
his
now
invisible
,
and
nameless
,
and
ineffable
child
,
respecting
whom
we
shall
speak
.
For
the
word
“
Amyxai
”
signifies
,
as
it
were
,
to
burst
and
sever
through
,
as
he
says
(
happens
)
in
the
case
of
inflamed
bodies
,
and
which
have
in
themselves
any
tumour
;
and
when
doctors
have
cut
this
,
they
call
it
“
Amychai
.
”
In
this
way
,
he
says
,
the
Phrygians
call
him
“
Amygdalus
,
”
from
which
proceeded
and
was
born
the
Invisible
(
One
)
,
“
by
whom
all
things
were
made
,
and
nothing
was
made
without
Him
.
”
And
the
Phrygians
say
that
what
has
been
thence
produced
is
“
Syrictas
”
(
piper
)
,
because
the
Spirit
that
is
born
is
harmonious
.
“
For
God
,
”
he
says
,
“
is
Spirit
;
wherefore
,
”
he
affirms
,
“
neither
in
this
mountain
do
the
true
worshippers
worship
,
nor
in
Jerusalem
,
but
in
spirit
.
For
the
adoration
of
the
perfect
ones
,
”
he
says
,
“
is
spiritual
,
not
carnal
.
”
The
Spirit
,
however
,
he
says
,
is
there
where
likewise
the
Father
is
named
,
and
the
Son
is
there
born
from
this
Father
.
This
,
he
says
,
is
the
many
-
named
,
thousand
-
eyed
Incomprehensible
One
,
of
whom
every
nature
—
each
,
however
,
differently
—
is
desirous
.
This
,
he
says
,
is
the
word
of
God
,
which
,
he
says
,
is
a
word
of
revelation
of
the
Great
Power
.
Wherefore
it
will
be
sealed
,
and
hid
,
and
concealed
,
lying
in
the
habitation
where
lies
the
basis
of
the
root
of
the
universe
,
viz
.
Æons
,
Powers
,
Intelligences
,
Gods
,
Angels
,
delegated
Spirits
,
Entities
,
Nonentities
,
Generables
,
Ingenerables
,
Incomprehensibles
,
Comprehensibles
,
Years
,
Months
,
Days
,
Hours
,
(
and
)
Invisible
Point
from
which
what
is
least
begins
to
increase
gradually
.
That
which
is
,
he
says
,
nothing
,
and
which
consists
of
nothing
,
inasmuch
as
it
is
indivisible
—
(
I
mean
)
a
point
—
will
become
through
its
own
reflective
power
a
certain
incomprehensible
magnitude
.
This
,
he
says
,
is
the
kingdom
of
heaven
,
the
grain
of
mustard
seed
,
the
point
which
is
indivisible
in
the
body
;
and
,
he
says
,
no
one
knows
this
(
point
)
save
the
spiritual
only
.
This
,
he
says
,
is
what
has
been
spoken
:
“
There
is
no
speech
nor
language
where
their
voice
is
not
heard
.
”
They rashly assume in this manner , that whatsoever things have been said and done by all men , ( may be made to harmonize ) with their own particular mental view , alleging that all things become spiritual . Whence likewise they assert , that those exhibiting themselves in theatres , — not even these say or do anything without premeditation . Therefore , he says , when , on the people assembling in the theatres , any one enters clad in a remarkable robe , carrying a harp and playing a tune ( upon it , accompanying it ) with a song of the great mysteries , he speaks as follows , not knowing what he says : “ Whether ( thou art ) the race of Saturn or happy Jupiter , or mighty Rhea , Hail , Attis , gloomy mutilation of Rhea . Assyrians style thee thrice - longed - for Adonis , and the whole of Egypt ( calls thee ) Osiris , celestial horn of the moon ; Greeks denominate ( thee ) Wisdom ; Samothracians , venerable Adam ; Hæmonians , Corybas ; and them Phrygians ( name thee ) at one time Papa , at another time Corpse , or God , or Fruitless , or Aipolos , or green Ear of Corn that has been reaped , or whom the very fertile Amygdalus produced — a man , a musician . ” This , he says , is multiform Attis , whom while they celebrate in a hymn , they utter these words : “ I will hymn Attis , son of Rhea , not with the buzzing sounds of trumpets , or of Idæan pipers , which accord with ( the voices of ) the Curetes ; but I will mingle ( my song ) with Apollo’s music of harps , ‘ evoe , evan , ’ inasmuch as thou art Pan , as thou art Bacchus , as thou art shepherd of brilliant stars . ”
On account of these and such like reasons , these constantly attend the mysteries called those of the “ Great Mother , ” supposing especially that they behold by means of the ceremonies performed there the entire mystery . For these have nothing more than the ceremonies that are performed there , except that they are not emasculated : they merely complete the work of the emasculated . For with the utmost severity and vigilance they enjoin ( on their votaries ) to abstain , as if they were emasculated , from intercourse with a woman . The rest , however , of the proceeding ( observed in these mysteries ) , as we have declared at some length , ( they follow ) just as ( if they were ) emasculated persons . And they do not worship any other object but Naas , ( from thence ) being styled Naasseni . But Naas is the serpent from whom , i . e . , from the word Naas , ( the Naassene ) says , are all that under heaven are denominated temples ( Naous ) . And ( he states ) that to him alone — that is , Naas — is dedicated every shrine and every initiatory rite , and every mystery ; and , in general , that a religious ceremony could not be discovered under heaven , in which a temple ( Naos ) has no existence ; and in the temple itself is Naas , from whom it has received its denomination of temple ( Naos ) . And these affirm that the serpent is a moist substance , just as Thales also , the Milesian , ( spoke of water as an originating principle , ) and that nothing of existing things , immortal or mortal , animate or inanimate , could consist at all without him . And that all things are subject unto him , and that he is good , and that he has all things in himself , as in the horn of the one - horned bull ; so as that he imparts beauty and bloom to all things that exist according to their own nature and peculiarity , as if passing through all , just as ( “ the river ) proceeding forth from Edem , and dividing itself into four heads . ”
They assert , however , that Edem is the brain , as it were , bound and tightly fastened in encircling robes , as if ( in ) heaven . But they suppose that man , as far as the head only , is Paradise , therefore that “ this river , which proceeds out of Edem , ” that is , from the brain , “ is divided into four heads , and that the name of the first river is called Phison ; this is that which encompasseth all the land of Havilath : there is gold , and the gold of that land is excellent , and there is bdellium and the onyx stone . ” This , he says , is the eye , which , by its honour ( among the rest of the bodily organs ) , and its colours , furnishes testimony to what is spoken . “ But the name of the second river is Gihon : this is that which compasseth the land of Ethiopia . ” This , he says , is hearing , since Gihon is ( a tortuous stream ) , resembling a sort of labyrinth . “ And the name of the third is Tigris . This is that which floweth over against ( the country of ) the Assyrians . ” This , he says , is smelling , employing the exceedingly rapid current of the stream ( as an analogy of this sense ) . But it flows over against ( the country of ) the Assyrians , because in every act of respiration following upon expiration , the breath drawn in from the external atmosphere enters with swifter motion and greater force . For this , he says , is the nature of respiration . “ But the fourth river is Euphrates . ” This , they assert , is the mouth , through which are the passage outwards of prayer , and the passage inwards of nourishment . ( The mouth ) makes glad , and nurtures and fashions the Spiritual Perfect Man . This , he says , is “ the water that is above the firmament , ” concerning which , he says , the Saviour has declared , “ If thou knewest who it is that asks , thou wouldst have asked from Him , and He would have given you to drink living , bubbling water . ” Into this water , he says , every nature enters , choosing its own substances ; and its peculiar quality comes to each nature from this water , he says , more than iron does to the magnet , and the gold to the backbone of the sea falcon , and the chaff to the amber .
But if any one , he says , is blind from birth , and has never beheld the true light , “ which lighteneth every man that cometh into the world , ” by us let him recover his sight , and behold , as it were , through some paradise planted with every description of tree , and supplied with abundance of fruits , water coursing its way through all the trees and fruits ; and he will see that from one and the same water the olive chooses for itself and draws the oil , and the vine the wine ; and ( so is it with ) the rest of plants , according to each genus . That Man , however , he says , is of no reputation in the world , but of illustrious fame in heaven , being betrayed by those who are ignorant ( of his perfections ) to those who know him not , being accounted as a drop from a cask . We , however , he says , are spiritual , who , from the life - giving water of Euphrates , which flows through the midst of Babylon , choose our own peculiar quality as we pass through the true gate , which is the blessed Jesus . And of all men , we Christians alone are those who in the third gate celebrate the mystery , and are anointed there with the unspeakable chrism from a horn , as David ( was anointed ) , not from an earthen vessel , he says , as ( was ) Saul , who held converse with the evil demon of carnal concupiscence .
Notes 1 John i. 3.
2 John iv. 21.
3 ἐξ ἧς or ἑξῆς, i.e., next.
4 Matt. xiii. 31, 32 ; Mark iv. 31, 32 ; Luke xiii. 19.
5 Ps. xix. 3.
6 The passage following obviously was in verse originally. It has been restored to its poetic form by Schneidewin.
7 Deut. xxxiii. 17.
8 Gen. ii. 10.
9 Gen. ii. 11–14.
10 Or, “they say.”
11 Gen. i. 7.
12 John iv. 10.
13 κερκίς. This word literally means the rod; or, in later times, the comb fixed into the ἱστός (i.e., the upright loom), for the purpose of driving the threads of the woof home, thus making the web even and close. It is, among other significations, applied to bones in the leg or arm. Cruice and Schneidewin translate κερκίς by spina, a rendering adopted above. The allusion is made again in chap. xii. and chap. xvi. In the last passage, κέντρον (spur) is used instead of κερκίς
14 John i. 9 ; ix. 1.
15 Isa. xl. 15.
16 1 Sam. x. 1 ; xvi. 13.
17 1 Sam. xvi. 14.
