§3Abscondat itaque se serpens, quantum potest, totamque prudentiam in latebrarum ambagibus torqueat; alte habitet, in caeca detrudat per amfractus seriem suam; (si) euoluat, tortuose procedat nec semel totus, lucifuga bestia.
Therefore, let the serpent hide himself as much as he can, and twist all his prudence in the labyrinth of his hiding places; let him dwell on high, and thrust his train into the dark through windings; if he extricates himself, let him proceed tortuously and not all at once, a beast that flees the light.
nostrae columbae etiam domus simplex, in editis semper et apertis et ad lucem.
Our dove's house is also simple, always in high and open places and toward the light.
amat figura spiritus sancti orientem, Christi figuram.
The figure of the Holy Spirit loves the east, the figure of Christ.
nihil ueritas erubescit nisi solummodo abscondi; quia nec pudebit ullum aures ei dedere, eum deum recognoscere, quem iam illi natura commisit, quem cotidie in operibus omnibus sentit, hoc solo minus notum, quod unicum non putauit, quod in numero nominauit, quod in aliis adorauit.
Truth blushes at nothing except only to be hidden; because no one will be ashamed to give ear to it, to recognize that God whom nature has already committed to him, whom he senses daily in all his works, less known in this alone, that he did not think him to be the only one, that he named him in a crowd, that he adored him in others.
alioquin a turba eorum et aliam frequentiam suadere, a domestico principatu ad incognitum transmouere, a manifesto ad occultum retorquere de limine fidem offendere est.
Otherwise, to persuade another multitude away from their crowd, to move from a domestic sovereignty to an unknown one, to twist faith back from the threshold from the manifest to the hidden, is to offend faith.
iam si et in totam fabulam initietur, nonne tale aliquid (recor)dabitur se in infantia inter somni difficultates a nutricula audisse. Lamiae turres et pectines Solis? sed qui ex aliqua conscientia uenerit fidei, si statim inueniat tot nomina Aeonum, tot coniugia, tot genimina, tot exitus, tot euentus felicitates infelicitates dispersae atque concisae diuinitatis, dubitabitne ibidem pronuntiare has esse fabulas et genealogias indeterminatas, quas apostoli spiritus, his iam tunc pullulantibus seminibus haereticis, damnare praeuenit? merito itaque non simplices, merito tantummodo prudentes, qui talia neque facile producunt neque exerte defendunt, sed nec omnes quos edocent perdocent; utique astute, ut pudenda; ceterum inhumane, si honesta.
Now if one is initiated even into the whole fable, will he not remember something of the sort that he heard in childhood from his nurse among the difficulties of sleep, like the towers of Lamia and the combs of the Sun? But he who comes with some consciousness of faith, if he should immediately find so many names of Aeons, so many marriages, so many offspring, so many ends, so many events, fortunes and misfortunes of a dispersed and minced divinity, will he hesitate to declare then and there that these are the fables and endless genealogies which the Spirit of the apostle, with these heretical seeds already then budding, anticipated and condemned? Rightly therefore they are not simple, rightly they are only prudent, who neither easily produce such things nor openly defend them, nor do they fully teach all whom they instruct; certainly craftily, as things to be ashamed of; otherwise inhumanly, if they are honorable.
et tamen simplices nos omnia scimus.
And yet we simple ones know all things.
denique hunc primum cuneum congressionis armabimus detectorem et designatorem totius conscientiae illorum, primamque hanc uictoriam auspicamur, quia quod tanto impendio absconditur, etiam solummodo demonstrare destruere est.
Finally, we shall arm this first column of conflict as the detector and designator of their whole secret, and we inaugurate this first victory, because that which is hidden at so great a cost, even merely to demonstrate it is to destroy it.
§4Nouimus, inquam, optime originem quoque ipsorum et scimus, cur Valentinianos appellemus, licet non esse uideantur.
We know, I say, best of all their origin also, and we know why we call them Valentinians, although they seem not to be so.
abscesserunt enim a conditore, sed minime origo deletur, et si forte mutatur; testatio est ipsa mutatio.
For they have departed from their founder, but the origin is by no means destroyed, even if by chance it is changed; the change itself is a testament.
sperauerat episcopatum Valentinus, quia et ingenio poterat et eloquio, sed alium ex martyrii praerogatiua loci potitum indignatus de ecclesia authenticae regulae abrupit, ut solent animi pro prioratu exciti praesumptione ultionis accendi.
Valentinus had hoped for the episcopate, because he was able both in talent and eloquence, but indignant that another had obtained the place by the prerogative of martyrdom, he broke away from the church of the authentic rule, as minds excited for primacy are accustomed to be inflamed by the presumption of vengeance.
ad expugnandam conuersus ueritatem et cuiusdam ueteris opinionis semen nactus colubro suo uiam delineauit.
Turning to destroy the truth, and having found the seed of a certain ancient opinion, he traced out the way for his serpent.
eam postmodum Ptolomaeus intrauit, nominibus et numeris Aeonum distinctis in personales substantias, sed extra deum determinatas, quas Valentinus in ipsa summa diuinitatis ut sensus et affectus (et) motus incluserat.
Ptolemy afterwards entered upon it, distinguishing the names and numbers of the Aeons into personal substances, but determined outside of God, which Valentinus had enclosed within the very sum of divinity as senses, affections, and movements.
deduxit et Heracleon inde tramites quosdam et Secundus et magus Marcus.
Heracleon also derived certain pathways from there, as did Secundus and Marcus the magician.
multum circa imagines legis Theotimus operatus est.
Theotimus worked much around the images of the law.
ita nusquam iam Valentinus, et tamen Valentiniani, qui per Valentinum.
Thus, Valentinus is now nowhere, and yet there are Valentinians, who exist through Valentinus.
solus ad hodiernum Antiochiae Axionicus memoriam Valentini integra custodia regularum eius consolatur.
Only Axionicus of Antioch to this day consoles the memory of Valentinus by the complete keeping of his rules.
alioquin tantum se huic haeresi suadere permissum est, quantum lupae feminae formam cotidie supparare sollemne est.
Otherwise, only so much is permitted to be persuaded in this heresy as is customary for a prostitute daily to counterfeit the form of a lady.
quidni, cum spiritale illud semen suum sic in unoquoque recenseant? si aliquid noui adstruxerint, reuelationem statim appellant praesumptionem et charisma ingenium, nec unitatem * sed diuersitatem.
Why not, since they so recount that spiritual seed of theirs in each one? If they have added anything new, they immediately call their presumption a revelation, and their talent a charisma, and not unity, but diversity.
ideoque prospicimus seposita illos sollemni dissimulatione sua, plerosque diuidi (de) quibusdam articulis, etiam bona fide dicturos \'hoc ita non est\' et \'hoc aliter accipio\' et \'hoc non agnosco! uarietate enim innouata regularum facies habet etiam colores ignorantiarum.
Therefore, we foresee that, their solemn dissimulation being set aside, most of them are divided on certain articles, and will say even in good faith, 'this is not so,' and 'I take this differently,' and 'I do not acknowledge this!' For when the variety of rules is innovated, the face of things also has the colors of ignorance.
§5Mihi autem cum archetypis erit limes principalium magistrorum, non cum adfectatis ducibus passiuorum discipulorum.
But my boundary will be with the archetypes of the principal masters, not with the affected leaders of the passive disciples.
nec utique dicemur ipsi nobis finxisse materias, quas tot iam uiri sanctitate et praestantia insignes, nec solum nostri antecessores sed ipsorum haeresiarcharum contemporales, instructissimis uoluminibus et prodiderunt et retuderunt, ut Iustinus, philosophus et martyr, ut Miltiades, ecclesiarum sophista, ut Irenaeus, omnium doctrinarum curiosissimus explorator, ut Proculus noster, uirginis senectae et Christianae eloquentiae dignitas, quos in omni opere fidei, quemadmodum in isto, optauerim adsequi.
Nor indeed shall we be said to have fashioned for ourselves the materials which so many men, distinguished for holiness and excellence, not only our predecessors but contemporaries of the heresiarchs themselves, have both exposed and refuted in highly learned volumes, such as Justin, philosopher and martyr, Miltiades, the sophist of the churches, Irenaeus, the most curious explorer of all doctrines, and our Proculus, the dignity of virgin old age and Christian eloquence, whom I would wish to follow in every work of faith, as in this one.
aut si in totum haereses non sunt, ut qui eas pellunt finxisse credantur, mentietur apostolus, praedicator illarum.
Or if heresies do not exist at all, so that those who expel them are believed to have fashioned them, the apostle, who foretold them, will be a liar.
porro si sunt, non aliae erunt quam quae retractantur.
Furthermore, if they do exist, they will be no other than those which are refuted.
nemo tam otiosus fertur, stilo ut materias habens fingat.
No one is reported to be so idle as to fashion materials when he has a pen.