Hippolytus, Refutatio V.7.11-21: The Gospel of Thomas Testimonium
Refutatio omnium haeresium · the Naassene report
Ἔλεγχος κατὰ πασῶν αἱρέσεων
This edition presents the verbatim Hebrew of the passage beside a fresh English rendering and a critical apparatus. It is a provisional scholarly draft, released openly for correction and not yet reviewed by a credentialed editor.
The apparatus carries a running commentary, notes on the controlled vocabulary and the rendering chosen for each term, any doctrinally-live ambiguity preserved with both readings, and cross-references to the lexicon. The Hebrew is reproduced verbatim from the Hebrew Wikisource transcription; the standard modern English translation (Kaplan, 1979) is under copyright.
ἡ δὲ προσθήκη τροφὴ τοῦ τρεφομένου. πᾶσα οὖν φύσις »ἐπουρανίων«, φησί, καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων« ψυχῆς ὀρέγεται. καλοῦσι δὲ Ἀσσύριοι τὸ τοιοῦτον Ἄδωνιν ἢ Ἐνδυμίωνα· καὶ ὅταν μὲν Ἄδωνις καλῆται, Ἀφροδίτη, φησίν, ἐρᾷ καὶ ἐπιθυμεῖ τῆς ψυχῆς τοῦ τοιούτου ὀνόματος· Ἀφροδίτη δὲ ἡ γένεσίς ἐστι κατ’ αὐτούς. ὅταν δὲ ἡ Περσεφόνη ἡ καὶ Κόρη ἐρᾷ τοῦ Ἀδώνιδος, θνητή, φησί, τὶς τῆς Ἀδροδίτης κεχωρισμένη τῶν γενέσεών ἐστιν ἡ ψυχή. ἐὰν δὲ ἡ Σελήνη Ἐνδυμίωνος εἰς ἐπιθυμίαν ἔλθῃ καὶ ἔρωτα μορφῆς, ἡ τῶν ὑψηλοτέρων, φησί, κτίσις προσδεῖται καὶ <αὐτὴ> ψυχῆς. ἐὰν δέ, φησίν, ἡ μήτηρ τῶν θεῶν ἀποκόψῃ τὸν Ἄττιν κοὶ αὐτὴ τοῦτον ἔχουσα ἐρώμενον, ἡ τῶν ὑπερκοσμίων, φησί, καὶ αἰωνίων ἄνω μακαρία φύσις τὴν ἀρρενικὴν δύναμιν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀνακαλεῖται πρὸς αὑτήν. ἔστι γάρ, φησίν, ἀρρενόθηλυς ὁ ἄνθρωπος. κατὰ τοῦτον οὖν αὐτοῖς τὸν λόγον πάνυ πονηρὸν καὶ κεκωλυμένον κατὰ τὴν διδασκαλίαν ἡ γυναικὸς πρὸς ἄνδρα δεδειγμένη καθέστηκεν ὁμιλία. ἀπεκόπη γάρ, φησίν, ὁ Ἄττις, τοῦτ᾿ ἔστιν ἀπὸ τῶν χοϊκῶν τῆς κτίσεως κάτωθεν μερῶν, καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν αἰωνίαν ἄνω μετεληλυθεν οὐσίαν, ὅπου, φησίν, οὐκ ἔστιν οὔτε θῆλυ οὔτε ἄρσενι ἀλλὰ καινὴ κτίσις, καινὸς ἄνθρωπος., ὁ ἐστιν ἀρεσενόθηλυς. ποῦ δἒ ἄνω λέγουσι, κατὰ τὸν οἰκεῖον ἐλθὼν δείξω τόπον. Μαρτυρεῖν δέ φασιν αὑτῶν τῷ λόγῳ οὐχ ἁπλῶς μόνην τὴν Ῥέαν, ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ὅλην τὴν κτίσιν. καὶ τοῦτο εἶναι τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου διασαφοῦσι· »τά γὰρ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς κτίσεως τοῦ κόσμου τοῖς ποιήμασιν αὐτοῦ νοούμενα καθορᾶται, ἥ τε ἀΐδιος αὐτοῦ δύναμις καὶ θειότης, πρὸς τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἀναπολογήτους· διότι γνόντες τὸν θεὸν οὐχ ὡς θεὸν ἐδόξασαν ἢ ηὐχαρίστησαν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐματαιώθη ἡ ἀσύνετος αὐτῶν καρδία· φάσκοντες γὰρ εἶναι σοφοὶ ἐμωράνθησαν καὶ ἤλλαξαν τὴν δόξαν τοῦ ἀφθάρτου θεοῦ ἐν ὁμοιώμασιν εἰκόνος φθαρτοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ πετεινῶν καὶ τετραπόδων καὶ ἑρπετῶν. διὸ καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς εἰς πάθη ἀτιμίας· αἴ τε γὰρ θήλειαι αὐτῶν μετήλλαξαν τὴν φυσικὴν χρῆσιν εἰς τὴν παρὰ φύσιν‘ — τί δέ ἐστιν ἡ φυσικὴ κατ᾿ αὐτοὺς χρῆσις, ὕστερον ἐροῦμεν — ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ οἱ ἄρρενες ἀφέντες τὴν φυσικὴν χρῆσιν τῆς θηλείας ἐξεκαύθησαν ἐν τῇ ὀρέξει αὐτῶν εἰς ἀλλήλους, ἄρρενες ἐν ἄρρεσι τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην κατεργαζόμενοι« — ἀσχημοσύνη δὲ ἐστιν ἡ πρώτη καὶ μακαρία κατ᾿ αὐτοὺς ἀσχημάτιστος οὐσία, ἡ πάντων σχημάτων τοῖς σχηματιζομένοις αἰτία — »καὶ τὴν ἀντιμισθίαν ἣν ἔδει τῆς πλάνης αὐτῶν ἐν ἐαυτοῖς ἀπολαμβάνοντες.« ἐν γὰρ τούτοις τοῖς λόγοις, οἷς εἴρηκεν ὁ Παῦλος, ὅλον φασὶ συνέχεσθαι τὸ κρύφιον αὐτῶν καὶ ἄρρητον τῆς μακαρίας μυστήριον ἡδονῆς. ἡ γὰρ ἐπαγγελία τοῦ λουτροῦ οὐκ ἄλλη τίς ἐστι κατ᾿ αὐτούς, ἢ τὸ εἰσαγαγεῖν εἰς τὴν ἀμάραντον ἡδονὴν τὸν λουόμενον κατ᾿ αὐτοὺς ζῶντι ὕδατι καὶ χριόμενον ἀλάλῳ χρίσματι. Οὐ μόνον <δ’> αὑτῶν ἐπιμαρτυρεῖν φασι τῷ λόγῳ τὰ Ἀσσυρίων μυστήρια καὶ Φρυγῶν >ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ Αἰγυπτίων> περὶ τὴν καὶ γινομένων καὶ ἐσομένων ἔτι μακαρίαν κρυβομένην ὁμοῦ καὶ φανερουμένην φύσιν, ἥνπερ φησὶ <τὴν> ἐντὸς ἀνθρώπου οὐρανῶν ζητουμένην, περὶ ἡς διαρρήδην ἐν τῷ κατὰ Θωμᾶν ἐπιγραφομένῳ εὐαγγελίῳ παραδιδόασι λέγοντες οὕτως· »ἐμὲ ὁ ζητῶν εὑρήσει ἐν παιδίοις ἀπὸ ἐτῶν ἑπτά· ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἐν τῷ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῳ αἰῶνι κρυβόμενος φανεροῦμαι«. τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν Χριστοῦ, ἀλλὰ Ἱπποκράτους λέγοντος· »ἑπτὰ ἐτῶν παῖς πατρὸς ἥμισυ«· ὅθεν οὗτοι τὴν ἀρχέγονον φύσιν τῶν ὅλων ἐν ἀρχεγόνῳ τιθέμενοι σπέρματι, τὸ Ιπποκράτειον ἀκηκοότες, ὅτι ἔστιν ἥμισυ πατρὸς παιδίον ἑπτὰ ἐτῶν, ἐν τοῖς τέσσαρσι <καὶ δέκα> φασὶν ἔτεσι, κατὰ τὸν Θωμᾶν, εἶναι φανερούμενον.
And the addition is nourishment for the thing nourished. Every nature, then, “of things in heaven,” he says, “and things on earth and things under the earth” reaches after soul. And the Assyrians call such a thing Adonis, or Endymion; and when it is called Adonis, Aphrodite, he says, loves and desires the soul of that name — and Aphrodite, according to them, is coming-to-be.
But when Persephone, who is also Kore, loves Adonis, then there is, he says, a mortal soul separated from Aphrodite, that is, from the comings-to-be. And if Selene comes into desire of Endymion and love of form, then the creation of the higher things, he says, itself also stands in need of soul.
But if, he says, the Mother of the gods cuts off Attis — she herself having him as her beloved — then the blessed nature above, he says, of the supercosmic and eternal things calls back to itself the male power of the soul.
For the Man, he says, is male-female. According to this account of theirs, therefore, the intercourse of woman with man is shown by their teaching to be exceedingly wicked and forbidden.
For Attis, he says, was cut off — that is, from the earthy parts of the creation below — and has gone over to the eternal substance above, where, he says, there is neither female nor male, but a new creation, a new Man, who is male-female. What they call “above” I shall show when I come to the proper place.
And they say that not Rhea alone bears witness to their account, but, so to speak, the whole creation. And they make plain that this is what is said by the word: “For his invisible things, from the creation of the world, being understood by the things he has made, are clearly seen, both his eternal power and divinity, so that they are without excuse; because, knowing God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but their senseless heart was made futile;
for claiming to be wise they were made fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for likenesses of an image of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed things and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them over to passions of dishonour; for their females exchanged the natural use for that against nature” —
and what the natural use is, according to them, we shall say later — “and likewise the males also, leaving the natural use of the female, were inflamed in their appetite toward one another, males with males working the shapelessness” — and shapelessness, according to them, is the first and blessed substance without shape, the cause of all shapes to the things that are shaped — “and receiving in themselves the recompense that was due for their error.”
For in these words which Paul has spoken, they say, the whole of their hidden and unspeakable mystery of blessed pleasure is held together. For the promise of the washing is nothing else, according to them, than to bring the one who is washed, according to them, with living water, and anointed with the speechless anointing, into unfading pleasure.
And they say that not only the mysteries of the Assyrians and the Phrygians bear witness to their account, <but also those of the Egyptians>, concerning the blessed nature — at once hidden and made manifest — of the things that are coming to be and that shall yet be, which he says is the ⟨…⟩ of heaven sought within a man; concerning which they hand down expressly in the gospel entitled According to Thomas, saying thus: “The one who seeks me will find me in children from seven years old; for there, hidden in the fourteenth aeon, I am made manifest.”
But this is not Christ’s, but Hippocrates’ saying: “a child of seven years is half a father.” So that these people, placing the primordial nature of all things in primordial seed, and having heard the Hippocratic saying that a child of seven years is half a father, say that at fourteen years, according to Thomas, it is made manifest.
But when Persephone, who is also Kore, loves Adonis, then there is, he says, a mortal soul separated from Aphrodite, that is, from the comings-to-be. And if Selene comes into desire of Endymion and love of form, then the creation of the higher things, he says, itself also stands in need of soul.
But if, he says, the Mother of the gods cuts off Attis — she herself having him as her beloved — then the blessed nature above, he says, of the supercosmic and eternal things calls back to itself the male power of the soul.
For the Man, he says, is male-female. According to this account of theirs, therefore, the intercourse of woman with man is shown by their teaching to be exceedingly wicked and forbidden.
For Attis, he says, was cut off — that is, from the earthy parts of the creation below — and has gone over to the eternal substance above, where, he says, there is neither female nor male, but a new creation, a new Man, who is male-female. What they call “above” I shall show when I come to the proper place.
And they say that not Rhea alone bears witness to their account, but, so to speak, the whole creation. And they make plain that this is what is said by the word: “For his invisible things, from the creation of the world, being understood by the things he has made, are clearly seen, both his eternal power and divinity, so that they are without excuse; because, knowing God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but their senseless heart was made futile;
for claiming to be wise they were made fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for likenesses of an image of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed things and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them over to passions of dishonour; for their females exchanged the natural use for that against nature” —
and what the natural use is, according to them, we shall say later — “and likewise the males also, leaving the natural use of the female, were inflamed in their appetite toward one another, males with males working the shapelessness” — and shapelessness, according to them, is the first and blessed substance without shape, the cause of all shapes to the things that are shaped — “and receiving in themselves the recompense that was due for their error.”
For in these words which Paul has spoken, they say, the whole of their hidden and unspeakable mystery of blessed pleasure is held together. For the promise of the washing is nothing else, according to them, than to bring the one who is washed, according to them, with living water, and anointed with the speechless anointing, into unfading pleasure.
And they say that not only the mysteries of the Assyrians and the Phrygians bear witness to their account, <but also those of the Egyptians>, concerning the blessed nature — at once hidden and made manifest — of the things that are coming to be and that shall yet be, which he says is the ⟨…⟩ of heaven sought within a man; concerning which they hand down expressly in the gospel entitled According to Thomas, saying thus: “The one who seeks me will find me in children from seven years old; for there, hidden in the fourteenth aeon, I am made manifest.”
But this is not Christ’s, but Hippocrates’ saying: “a child of seven years is half a father.” So that these people, placing the primordial nature of all things in primordial seed, and having heard the Hippocratic saying that a child of seven years is half a father, say that at fourteen years, according to Thomas, it is made manifest.
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
An orientation
This edition sets the verbatim original-language text beside a fresh English rendering and a critical apparatus: a running commentary on the passage, notes on the controlled vocabulary and the rendering chosen for each term, and cross-references to the lexicon and to related sections. It is a provisional scholarly draft, released openly for correction and not yet reviewed by a credentialed editor.