§1Valentiniani, frequentissimum plane collegium inter haereticos, quia, plurimum ex apostatis ueritatis, et ad fabulas facile est et disciplina non terretur, nihil magis curant quam occultare quod praedicant; si tamen praedicant qui occultant.
The Valentinians, clearly the most numerous association among the heretics, because, being mostly from apostates of the truth, they are easily led to fables and are not frightened by discipline, care for nothing more than to conceal what they preach; if indeed they preach who conceal.
custodiae officium conscientiae offucium est.
The duty of safekeeping is a trickery of conscience.
confusio praedicatur, dum religio adseueratur.
Confusion is preached while religion is asserted.
nam et illa Eleusinia, haeresis et ipsa Atticae superstitionis, quod tacent, pudor est.
For even those Eleusinian mysteries, themselves a heresy of Attic superstition, are kept silent out of shame.
idcirco et aditum prius cruciant [diutius initiant] quam consignant,. cum epoptas ante quinquennium instituunt, ut opinionem suspendio cognitionis aedificent atque ita tantam maiestatem exhibere uideantur, quantam praestruxerunt cupiditatem.
Therefore, they torture the entrance before they seal [initiate longer], when they do not appoint them as epoptae before five years, in order to build up expectation by the suspension of knowledge and thus seem to exhibit as great a majesty as the desire they have pre-constructed.
sequitur iam silentii officium.
Now follows the duty of silence.
adtente custoditur quod tarde inuenitur.
What is found late is carefully guarded.
ceterum tota in adytis diuinitas, tota suspiria epoptarum, totum signaculum linguae simulacrum membri uirilis reuelatur.
But all the divinity in the shrines, all the sighs of the epoptae, all the sealing of the tongue, is that a representation of the male member is revealed.
sed naturae uenerandum nomen allegorica dispositio praetendens patrocinio coactae figurae sacrilegium obscurat et conuicium falsis simulacris excusat.
But an allegorical arrangement, putting forward the venerable name of nature, obscures the sacrilege under the protection of a forced figure and excuses the reproach with false images.
proinde quos nunc destinamus haereticos sanctis nominibus et titulis et argumentis uerae religionis uanissima atque turpissima figmenta configurantes, — facili t claritati ex diuinae copiae occasione, quia de multis multa succidere est — Eleusinia Valentiniana fecerunt, lenocinio sancta, silentio magna, sola taciturnitate caelestia.
Therefore, those whom we now target as heretics, shaping most vain and shameful fabrications with the holy names and titles and arguments of the true religion, — clarity being easy from the opportunity of divine abundance, because it is possible to reap many things from many — have made a Valentinian Eleusinia, made holy by enticement, great by silence, and heavenly by mere taciturnity.
si bona fide quaeras, concreto uultu, suspenso supercilio \'altum est\' aiunt. si subtiliter temptes, per ambiguitates bilingues communem fidem adfirmant.
If you ask in good faith, with a stiff face and raised eyebrows, they say 'it is deep.' If you try subtly, they affirm the common faith through bilingual ambiguities.
si scire te subostendas, negant quicquid agnoscunt; si cominus certes, fatua simplicitate suam caedem dispergunt.
If you hint that you know, they deny whatever they acknowledge; if you fight hand to hand, they scatter their own ruin with foolish simplicity.
ne discipulis quidem propriis ante committunt, quam suos fecerint.
They do not commit their secrets even to their own disciples before they have made them their own.
habent artificium, quo prius persuadeant quam edoceant.
They have a device by which they persuade before they teach.
ueritas autem docendo persuadet, non suadendo docet
Truth, however, persuades by teaching, it does not teach by persuading.
§2Ideoque simplices notamur apud illos, ut hoc tantum, non etiam sapientes; quasi statim deficere cogatur a simplicitate sapientia, domino utramque iungente: estote prudentes ut serpentes et simplices ut columbae.
And therefore we are marked as simple among them, as this only, and not also wise; as if wisdom were immediately forced to fail from simplicity, since the Lord joins both: "be prudent as serpents and simple as doves." Or if we are foolish because we are simple, are they therefore not simple because they are wise?
aut si nos propterea insipientes, quia simplices, num ergo et illi propterea non simplices, quia sapientes? nocentissimi autem qui non - simplices, sicut stultissimi qui non sapientes.
But those who are not simple are most harmful, just as those who are not wise are most foolish.
et tamen malim meam partem meliori sumi uitio, si forte: praestat minus sapere quam peius, errare quam fallere.
And yet I would prefer my part to be taken with the better fault, if indeed: it is better to know less than to know worse, to err than to deceive.
porro facies dei spectatur in simplicitate quaerendi, ut docet ipsa Sophia, non quidem Valentini, sed Solomonis.
Furthermore, the face of God is seen in the simplicity of seeking, as Sophia herself teaches—not indeed of Valentinus, but of Solomon.
deinde infantes testimonium Christi *** [sanguine litauerunt.
Then infants offered the testimony of Christ [with blood.
pueros uocem qui crucem clamant? nec pueri erant nec infantes, id est simplices non erant. ] repuerescere nos et apostolus iubens secundum dominum, ut malitia infantes per simplicitatem ita demum sapientes sensibus simu(s, seme)l dedit sapientiae ordinem de simplicitate manandi.
What of the voice of the boys crying out the cross? They were neither boys nor infants, that is, they were not simple.] The apostle also commanding us to become like children according to the Lord, so that we may be infants in malice and thus at last be wise in our senses through simplicity, once gave the order of wisdom to flow from simplicity.
in summa: columba demonstrare Christum solita est, serpens uero temptare; illa est a primordio diuinae pacis praeco, ille a primordio diuinae imaginis praedo.
In short: the dove is accustomed to show Christ, but the serpent to tempt; the former is from the beginning the herald of divine peace, the latter from the beginning the plunderer of the divine image.
ita facilius simplicitas sola deum et agnoscere poterit et ostendere prudentia sola. [concutere potius et prodere].
Thus, simplicity alone will be able both to recognize and to show God more easily than prudence alone [which rather shakes and betrays].