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Against the Valentinians

Tertullian

Chapter 21

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Chapter XXI.—The Vanity as Well as Ignorance of the Demiurge. Absurd Results from So Imperfect a Condition.

Meanwhile you must believe that Sophia has the surnames of earth

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and

of

Mother

—

“

Mother

-

Earth

,

”

of

course

—

and

(

what

may

excite

your

laughter

still

more

heartily

)

even

Holy

Spirit

.

In

this

way

they

have

conferred

all

honour

on

that

female

,

I

suppose

even

a

beard

,

not

to

say

other

things

.

Besides

,

the

Demiurge

had

so

little

mastery

over

things

,

on

the

score

,

you

must

know

,

of

his

inability

to

approach

spiritual

essences

,

(

constituted

as

he

was

)

of

animal

elements

,

that

,

imagining

himself

to

be

the

only

being

,

he

uttered

this

soliloquy

:

“

I

am

God

,

and

beside

me

there

is

none

else

.

”

But

for

all

that

,

he

at

least

was

aware

that

he

had

not

himself

existed

before

.

He

understood

,

therefore

,

that

he

had

been

created

,

and

that

there

must

be

a

creator

of

a

creature

of

some

sort

or

other

.

How

happens

it

,

then

,

that

he

seemed

to

himself

to

be

the

only

being

,

notwithstanding

his

uncertainty

,

and

although

he

had

,

at

any

rate

,

some

suspicion

of

the

existence

of

some

creator

?

Notes

1
Tenendum.
2
Alioquin.
3
Adeo rerum non erat compos.
4
Censu.
5
Scilicet.
6
Isa. xlv. 5; xlvi. 9.