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Against the Valentinians

Tertullian

Chapter 35

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Chapter XXXV.—Yet More Discrepancies. Just Now the Sex of Bythus Was an Object of Dispute; Now His Rank Comes in Question. Absurd Substitutes for Bythus Criticised by Tertullian.

There are some who do not claim the first place

‹ Chapter 34 Chapter 36 ›

for

Bythus

,

but

only

a

lower

one

.

They

put

their

Ogdoad

in

the

foremost

rank

;

itself

,

however

,

derived

from

a

Tetrad

,

but

under

different

names

.

For

they

put

Pro

-

arche

(

Before

the

Beginning

)

first

,

Anennœtos

(

Inconceivable

)

second

,

Arrhetos

(

Indescribable

)

third

,

Aoratos

(

Invisible

)

fourth

.

Then

after

Pro

-

arche

they

say

Arche

(

Beginning

)

came

forth

and

occupied

the

first

and

the

fifth

place

;

from

Anennœtos

came

Acataleptos

(

Incomprehensible

)

in

the

second

and

the

sixth

place

;

from

Arrhetos

came

Anonomastos

(

Nameless

)

in

the

third

and

the

seventh

place

;

from

Aoratos

came

Agennetos

(

Unbegotten

)

in

the

fourth

and

the

eight

place

.

Now

by

what

method

he

arranges

this

,

that

each

of

these

Æons

should

be

born

in

two

places

,

and

that

,

too

,

at

such

intervals

,

I

prefer

to

be

ignorant

of

than

to

be

informed

.

For

what

can

be

right

in

a

system

which

is

propounded

with

such

absurd

particulars

?

Notes

1
Tertullian, however, here gives the Latin synonyme, Invisibilis.