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Against Heresies
Irenaeus of Lyons
Book 1 · Chapter 4 About this work A five-book account and refutation of competing Christian movements that also develops Irenaeus’s positive theology of creation, Scripture, apostolic tradition, incarnation, salvation, and recapitulation in Christ.
Author Irenaeus of Lyons
Date c. AD 175–185
Origin Lyons, Gaul
Genre Heresiology Account given by the heretics of the formation of Achamoth; origin of the visible world from her disturbances. Section 1 1 . The following are the transactions which they
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narrate
as
having
occurred
outside
of
the
Pleroma
:
The
enthymesis
of
that
Sophia
who
dwells
above
,
which
they
also
term
Achamoth
,
being
removed
from
the
Pleroma
,
together
with
her
passion
,
they
relate
to
have
,
as
a
matter
of
course
,
become
violently
excited
in
those
places
of
darkness
and
vacuity
[
to
which
she
had
been
banished
]
.
For
she
was
excluded
from
light
and
the
Pleroma
,
and
was
without
form
or
figure
,
like
an
untimely
birth
,
because
she
had
received
nothing
[
from
a
male
parent
]
.
But
the
Christ
dwelling
on
high
took
pity
upon
her
;
and
having
extended
himself
through
and
beyond
Stauros
,
he
imparted
a
figure
to
her
,
but
merely
as
respected
substance
,
and
not
so
as
to
convey
intelligence
.
Having
effected
this
,
he
withdrew
his
influence
,
and
returned
,
leaving
Achamoth
to
herself
,
in
order
that
she
,
becoming
sensible
of
her
suffering
as
being
severed
from
the
Pleroma
,
might
be
influenced
by
the
desire
of
better
things
,
while
she
possessed
in
the
meantime
a
kind
of
odour
of
immortality
left
in
her
by
Christ
and
the
Holy
Spirit
.
Wherefore
also
she
is
called
by
two
names
—
Sophia
after
her
father
(
for
Sophia
is
spoken
of
as
being
her
father
)
,
and
Holy
Spirit
from
that
Spirit
who
is
along
with
Christ
.
Having
then
obtained
a
form
,
along
with
intelligence
,
and
being
immediately
deserted
by
that
Logos
who
had
been
invisibly
present
with
her
—
that
is
,
by
Christ
—
she
strained
herself
to
discover
that
light
which
had
forsaken
her
,
but
could
not
effect
her
purpose
,
inasmuch
as
she
was
prevented
by
Horos
.
And
as
Horos
thus
obstructed
her
further
progress
,
he
exclaimed
,
Iao
,
whence
,
they
say
,
this
name
Iao
derived
its
origin
.
And
when
she
could
not
pass
by
Horos
on
account
of
that
passion
in
which
she
had
been
involved
,
and
because
she
alone
had
been
left
without
,
she
then
resigned
herself
to
every
sort
of
that
manifold
and
varied
state
of
passion
to
which
she
was
subject
;
and
thus
she
suffered
grief
on
the
one
hand
because
she
had
not
obtained
the
object
of
her
desire
,
and
fear
on
the
other
hand
,
lest
life
itself
should
fail
her
,
as
light
had
already
done
,
while
,
in
addition
,
she
was
in
the
greatest
perplexity
.
All
these
feelings
were
associated
with
ignorance
.
And
this
ignorance
of
hers
was
not
like
that
of
her
mother
,
the
first
Sophia
,
an
Æon
,
due
to
degeneracy
by
means
of
passion
,
but
to
an
[
innate
]
opposition
[
of
nature
to
knowledge
]
.
Moreover
,
another
kind
of
passion
fell
upon
her
(
Achamoth
)
,
namely
,
that
of
desiring
to
return
to
him
who
gave
her
life
.
Section 2 2 . This collection [ of passions ] they declare was the substance of the matter from which this world was formed . For from [ her desire of ] returning [ to him who gave her life ] , every soul belonging to this world , and that of the Demiurge himself , derived its origin . All other things owed their beginning to her terror and sorrow . For from her tears all that is of a liquid nature was formed ; from her smile all that is lucent ; and from her grief and perplexity all the corporeal elements of the world . For at one time , as they affirm , she would weep and lament on account of being left alone in the midst of darkness and vacuity ; while , at another time , reflecting on the light which had forsaken her , she would be filled with joy , and laugh ; then , again , she would be struck with terror ; or , at other times , would sink into consternation and bewilderment .
Section 3 3 . Now what follows from all this ? No light tragedy comes out of it , as the fancy of every man among them pompously explains , one in one way , and another in another , from what kind of passion and from what element being derived its origin . They have good reason , as seems to me , why they should not feel inclined to teach these things to all in public , but only to such as are able to pay a high price for an acquaintance with such profound mysteries . For these doctrines are not at all similar to those of which our Lord said , “ Freely ye have received , freely give . ” They are , on the contrary , abstruse , and portentous , and profound mysteries , to be got at only with great labour by such as are in love with falsehood . For who would not expend all that he possessed , if only he might learn in return , that from the tears of the enthymesis of the Æon involved in passion , seas , and fountains , and rivers , and every liquid substance derived its origin ; that light burst forth from her smile ; and that from her perplexity and consternation the corporeal elements of the world had their formation ?
Section 4 4 . I feel somewhat inclined myself to contribute a few hints towards the development of their system . For when I perceive that waters are in part fresh , such as fountains , rivers , showers , and so on , and in part salt ; such as those in the sea , I reflect with myself that all such waters cannot be derived from her tears , inasmuch as these are of a saline quality only . It is clear , therefore , that the waters which are salt are alone those which are derived from her tears . But it is probable that she , in her intense agony and perplexity , was covered with perspiration . And hence , following out their notion , we may conceive that fountains and rivers , and all the fresh water in the world , are due to this source . For it is difficult , since we know that all tears are of the same quality , to believe that waters both salt and fresh proceeded from them . The more plausible supposition is , that some are from her tears , and some from her perspiration . And since there are also in the world certain waters which are hot and acrid in their nature , thou must be left to guess their origin , how and whence . Such are some of the results of their hypothesis .
Section 5 5 . They go on to state that , when the mother Achamoth had passed through all sorts of passion , and had with difficulty escaped from them , she turned herself to supplicate the light which had forsaken her , that is , Christ . He , however , having returned to the Pleroma , and being probably unwilling again to descend from it , sent forth to her the Paraclete , that is , the Saviour . This being was endowed with all power by the Father , who placed everything under his authority , the Æons doing so likewise , so that “ by him were all things , visible and invisible , created , thrones , divinities , dominions . ” He then was sent to her along with his contemporary angels . And they related that Achamoth , filled with reverence , at first veiled herself through modesty , but that by and by , when she had looked upon him with all his endowments , and had acquired strength from his appearance , she ran forward to meet him . He then imparted to her form as respected intelligence , and brought healing to her passions , separating them from her , but not so as to drive them out of thought altogether . For it was not possible that they should be annihilated as in the former case , because they had already taken root and acquired strength [ so as to possess an indestructible existence ] . All that he could do was to separate them and set them apart , and then commingle and condense them , so as to transmute them from incorporeal passion into unorganized matter . He then by this process conferred upon them a fitness and a nature to become concretions and corporeal structures , in order that two substances should be formed , — the one evil , resulting from the passions , and the other subject indeed to suffering , but originating from her conversion . And on this account ( i . e . , on account of this hypostatizing of ideal matter ) they say that the Saviour virtually created the world . But when Achamoth was freed from her passion , she gazed with rapture on the dazzling vision of the angels that were with him ; and in her ecstasy , conceiving by them , they tell us that she brought forth new beings , partly after her own image , and partly a spiritual progeny after the image of the Saviour’s attendants .
Notes 57 This term, though Tertullian declares himself to have been ignorant of its derivation, was evidently formed from the Hebrew word חָכְמָה—chockmah, wisdom.
58 The reader will observe that light and fulness are the exact correlatives of the darkness and vacuity which have just been mentioned.
59 As above stated (ii. 3), the Gnostics held that form and figure were due to the male, substance to the female parent.
60 The Valentinian Stauros was the boundary fence of the Pleroma beyond which Christ extended himself to assist the enthymesis of Sophia.
61 The peculiar gnosis which Nous received from his father, and communicated to the other Æons.
62 Probably corresponding to the Hebrew יהוה, Jehovah.
63 This sentence is very elliptical in the original, but the sense is as given above. Sophia fell from Gnosis by degradation; Achamoth never possessed this knowledge, her nature being from the first opposed to it.
64 “The Demiurge derived from Enthymesis an animal, and not a spiritual nature.”—Harvey.
65 Matt. x. 8.
66 “Jesus, or Soter, was also called the Paraclete in the sense of Advocate, or one acting as the representative of others.”—Harvey.
67 Both the Father and the other Æons constituting Soter an impersonation of the entire Pleroma.
68 Col. i. 16.
69 That is, as in the case of her mother Sophia, who is sometimes called “the Sophia above,” Achamoth being “the Sophia below,” or “the second Sophia.”
70 Thus Harvey renders ἀσώματον ὕλην: so Baur, Chr. Gnos., as quoted by Stieren. Billius proposes to read ἐνσώματον, corporeal.
71 Though not actually, for that was the work of the Demiurge. See next chapter.
