§25Inerat autem in Achamoth ex substantia Sophiae matris peculium quoddam seminis spiritalis, sicut et ipsa Achamoth in filio Demiurgo sequestrauerat, ne hoc quidem gnaro.
But there was in Achamoth, from the substance of her mother Sophia, a certain private property of spiritual seed, just as Achamoth herself had deposited it in her son the Demiurge, without his even knowing of this.
accipe industriam clandestinae prouidentiae huius.
Receive the industrious design of this clandestine providence.
ad hoc enim et deposuerat et occultauerat, ut, cum Demiurgus animam mox de suo adflatu in Adam communicaret, pariter et semen illud spiritale quasi per canalem animam deriuaretur in choicum, atque ita, feturatum in corpore materiali uelut in utero et adultum illic, idoneum inueniretur suscipiendo quandoque sermoni perfecto.
For she had both deposited and hidden it for this purpose, so that, when the Demiurge should presently communicate the soul from his own breath into Adam, that spiritual seed likewise might, as if through the soul as a conduit, be derived into the clay-made, and thus, having been gestated in the material body as if in a womb and grown up there, it might be found fit for receiving some day the perfect Word.
itaque dum Demiurgus traducem animae suae committit in Adam, latuit homo spiritalis flatui eius insertus et pariter corpori inductus, quia non magis semen nouerat matris Demiurgus quam ipsam.
And so, while the Demiurge commits the graft of his soul into Adam, the spiritual man lay hidden, inserted into his breath and likewise introduced into the body, because the Demiurge knew the seed of his mother no more than he knew her herself.
hoc semen Ecclesiam dicunt, Ecclesiae supernae speculum et hominis (spiritalis) censum, proinde eum ab Achamoth deputantes, quemadmodum animalem a Demiurgo, choicum substantia aparjc, carne materialem.
This seed they call the Church, the mirror of the church above, and the status of the (spiritual) man, accordingly deputing him to Achamoth, just as they do the animal man to the Demiurge, the clay-made to the substance of aporia, and the material man to the flesh.
habes nouum, id est quadruplum Geryonem.
You have a new, that is, a fourfold Geryon.
§26Sic et exitum singulis diuidunt: materiali quidem, id est carnali, quem et sinistrum uocant, indubitatum interitum: animali uero, quem et dextrum appellant, dubitatum euentum, utpote inter materialem spiritalemque nutanti et iliac debito, qua plurimum adnuerit.
In this way they also divide the end for each: to the material indeed, that is the carnal, which they also call the left, undoubted destruction; to the animal indeed, which they also call the right, a doubted outcome, as fluctuating between the material and the spiritual, and owing to that side to which he has mostly inclined.
ceterum spiritalem emitti in animalis comparationem, ut erudiri cum eo et exerceri in conuersationibus possit.
But the spiritual is sent forth in partnership with the animal, so that he may be educated with him and exercised in life's intercourses.
indiguisse enim animalem etiam sensibilium disciplinarum.
For the animal stood in need even of sensible disciplines.
in hoc et paraturam mundi prospectam, in hoc et Soterem in mundo repraesentatum, [in salutem scilicet animalis] alia adhuc compositione monstruosum.
For this purpose also the preparation of the world was foreseen, and for this the Savior was represented in the world, namely for the salvation of the animal, monstrous in still another composition.
uolunt illum prosicias earum substantiarum induisse, quarum summam saluti esset redacturus, ut spiritalem quidem susceperit ab Achamoth, animalem uero a Demiurgo, quem mox induerit Christum: ceterum corporalem, ex animali substantia sed miro et inenarrabili rationis ingenio constructam, administrationis causa interim tulisse, quo congressui et conspectui et contactui et defunctui ingratis subiaceret; materiale autem nihil in illo fuisse, utpote salutis alienum.
They will have it that he put on the first-fruits of those substances whose sum he was to restore to salvation, so that he received the spiritual indeed from Achamoth, and the animal indeed from the Demiurge, whom he presently put on as Christ; but the corporeal, although from animal substance, yet constructed with a wonderful and inexpressible ingenuity of design, he bore meanwhile for the sake of administration, whereby he might be subject to meetings, and sight, and contact, and death, though unwillingly; but that there was nothing material in him, as being alienated from salvation.
quasi alii fuerit necessarius quam egenti salutem.
As if he were necessary for any other than for the one needing salvation!
et totum hoc, ut carnis nostrae habitum alienando a Christo a spe etiam salutis expellant.
And all this, so that by alienating the condition of our flesh from Christ, they may expel us also from the hope of salvation.
§27Nunc reddo de Christo, in quem tanta licentia legum inserunt quidam, quanta spiritale semen animali cum inflatu infulciunt, fartilia nescio quae commenti et hominum et deorum suorum: esse etiam Demiurgo suum Christum, filium naturalem eundemque animalem, prolatum ab ipso, promulgatum prophetis, in praepositionum quaestionibus positum, id est per uirginem, non ex uirgine editum, quia delatus in uirginem transmeatorio potius quam generatorio more processerit, per ipsam, non ex ipsa, non matrem eam sed uiam passus.
Now I return to Christ, into whom some introduce elements with as much lawless license as they stuff the spiritual seed along with the animal breath, having devised some kind of stuffings of both men and their own gods: that the Demiurge also has his own Christ, a natural son and likewise animal, produced by him, proclaimed by the prophets, placed in the questions of prepositions, that is, brought forth through a virgin, not out of a virgin, because, having been introduced into the virgin, he proceeded by a transmigratory rather than a generative manner, through her, not out of her, having experienced her not as a mother but as a way.
super hunc itaque Christum deuolasse tunc in baptismatis sacramento Iesum per effigiem columbae.
And so upon this Christ, at that time in the sacrament of baptism, Jesus flew down in the likeness of a dove.
fuisse autem et in Christo etiam ex Achamoth spiritalis seminis condimentum, ne marcesceret scilicet reliqua farsura.
But there was also in Christ a seasoning of the spiritual seed from Achamoth, so that indeed the rest of the stuffing might not spoil.
nam in figuram principalis tetradis quatuor eum substantiis stipant, spiritali Achamothiana, animali Demiurgina, corporali inenarratiua et illa Sotericiana, id est columbina.
For, into the figure of the primal tetrad, they pack him with four substances: the spiritual of Achamoth, the animal of the Demiurge, the inexpressible corporeal, and that of the Savior, that is, the dove-like.
et Soter quidem permansit in Christo impassibilis inlaesibilis inadprehensibilis.
And the Savior indeed remained in Christ impassible, inviolable, incomprehensible.
denique cum ad prehensiones uenitur, discessit ab illo, in cognitione Pilati.
Finally, when it comes to the arrest, he departed from him during the inquiry of Pilate.
proinde nec matris semen admisit iniurias, aeque insubditiuum et ne ipsi quidem Demiurgo compertum.
Likewise, the seed of the mother did not admit injuries, being equally insubmissive and not even known to the Demiurge himself.
patitur uero animalis et carneus Christus in deliniationem superioris Christi, qui Achamoth formando substantiuali non agnitionali forma, Cruci, id est Horo, fuerat innixus.
But the animal and fleshly Christ suffers, as a sketch of the higher Christ, who, in forming Achamoth by a substantial, not a cognitive form, had leaned upon the Cross, that is, Horos.
ita omnia in imagines urgent, plane et ipsi imaginarii Christiani.
Thus they force all things into images, clearly being themselves also imaginary Christians.