Refutation of All Heresies

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Contents 246 sections

The Proœmium.--Motives for Undertaking the Refutation; Exposure of the Ancient Mysteries; Plan of the Work; Completeness of the Refutation; Value of the Treatise to Future Ages.
Thales; His Physics and Theology; Founder of Greek Astronomy.
Pythagoras; His Cosmogony; Rules of His Sect; Discoverer of Physiognomy; His Philosophy of Numbers; His System of the Transmigration of Souls; Zaratas on Demons; Why Pythagoras Forbade the Eating of Beans; The Mode of Living Adopted by His Disciples.
Empedocles; His Twofold Cause; Tenet of Transmigration.
Heraclitus; His Universal Dogmatism; His Theory of Flux; Other Systems.
Anaximander; His Theory of the Infinite; His Astronomic Opinions; His Physics.
Anaximenes; His System of “An Infinite Air;” His Views of Astronomy and Natural Phenomena.
Anaxagoras; His Theory of Mind; Recognises an Efficient Cause; His Cosmogony and Astronomy.
Archelaus; System Akin to that of Anaxagoras; His Origin of the Earth and of Animals; Other Systems.
Parmenides; His Theory of “Unity;” His Eschatology.
Leucippus; His Atomic Theory.
Democritus; His Duality of Principles; His Cosmogony.
Xenophanes; His Scepticism; His Notions of God and Nature; Believes in a Flood.
Ecphantus; His Scepticism; Tenet of Infinity.
Hippo; His Duality of Principles; His Psychology.
Socrates; His Philosophy Reproduced by Plato.
Plato; Threefold Classification of Principles; His Idea of God; Different Opinions Regarding His Theology and Psychology; His Eschatology and System of Metempsychosis; His Ethical Doctrines; Notions on the Free-Will Question.
Aristotle; Duality of Principles; His Categories; His Psychology; His Ethical Doctrines; Origin of the Epithet “Peripatetic.”
The Stoics; Their Superiority in Logic; Fatalists; Their Doctrine of Conflagrations.
Epicurus; Adopts the Democritic Atomism; Denial of Divine Providence; The Principle of His Ethical System.
The Academics; Difference of Opinion Among Them.
The Brachmans; Their Mode of Life; Ideas of Deity; Different Sorts Of; Their Ethical Notions.
The Druids; Progenitors of Their System.
Hesiod; The Nine Muses; The Hesiodic Cosmogony; The Ancient Speculators, Materialists; Derivative Character of the Heresies from Heathen Philosophy.
System of the Astrologers; Sidereal Influence; Configuration of the Stars.
Doctrines Concerning Æons; The Chaldean Astrology; Heresy Derivable from It.
The Horoscope the Foundation of Astrology; Indiscoverability of the Horoscope; Therefore the Futility of the Chaldean Art.
Impossibility of Fixing the Horoscope; Failure of an Attempt to Do This at the Period of Birth.
Another Method of Fixing the Horoscope at Birth; Equally Futile; Use of the Clepsydra in Astrology; The Predictions of the Chaldeans Not Verified.
Zodiacal Influence; Origin of Sidereal Names.
Practical Absurdity of the Chaldaic Art; Development of the Art.
Prodigies of the Astrologers; System of the Astronomers; Chaldean Doctrine of Circles; Distances of the Heavenly Bodies.
Further Astronomic Calculations.
Theory of Stellar Motion and Distance in Accordance with Harmony.
Theory of the Size of the Heavenly Bodies in Accordance with Numerical Harmonies.
Waste of Mental Energy in the Systems of the Astrologers.
Mention of the Heretic Colarbasus; Alliance Between Heresy and the Pythagorean Philosophy.
System of the Arithmeticians; Predictions Through Calculations; Numerical Roots; Transference of These Doctrines to Letters; Examples in Particular Names; Different Methods of Calculation; Prescience Possible by These.
Quibbles of the Numerical Theorists; The Art of the Frontispicists (Physiognomy); Connection of This Art with Astrology; Type of Those Born Under Aries.
Type of Those Born Under Taurus.
Type of Those Born Under Gemini.
Type of Those Born Under Cancer.
Type of Those Born Under Leo.
Type of Those Born Under Virgo.
Type of Those Born Under Libra.
Type of Those Born Under Scorpio.
Type of Those Born Under Sagittarius.
Type of Those Born Under Capricorn.
Type of Those Born Under Aquarius.
Type of Those Born Under Pisces.
Futility of This Theory of Stellar Influence.
System of the Magicians; Incantations of Demons; Secret Magical Rites.
Display of Different Eggs.
Self-Slaughter of Sheep.
Method of Poisoning Goats.
Imitations of Thunder, and Other Illusions.
The Burning Æsculapius; Tricks with Fire.
The Illusion of the Sealed Letters; Object in Detailing These Juggleries.
The Divination by a Cauldron; Illusion of Fiery Demons; Specimen of a Magical Invocation.
Mode of Managing an Apparition.
Illusive Appearance of the Moon.
Illusive Appearance of the Stars.
Imitation of an Earthquake.
Trick with the Liver.
Making a Skull Speak.
The Fraud of the Foregoing Practices; Their Connection with Heresy.
Recapitulation of Theologies and Cosmogonies; System of the Persians; Of the Babylonians; The Egyptian Notion of Deity; Their Theology Based on a Theory of Numbers; Their System of Cosmogony.
Egyptian Theory of Nature; Their Amulets.
Use of the Foregoing Discussions.
The Astrotheosophists; Aratus Imitated by the Heresiarchs; His System of the Disposition of the Stars.
Opinions of the Heretics Borrowed from Aratus.
Invention of the Lyre; Allegorizing the Appearance and Position of the Stars; Origin of the Phœnicians; The Logos Identified by Aratus with the Constellation Canis; Influence of Canis on Fertility and Life Generally.
Symbol of the Creature; And of Spirit; And of the Different Orders of Animals.
Folly of Astrology.
The Hebdomadarii; System of the Arithmeticians; Pressed into the Service of Heresy; Instances Of, in Simon and Valentinus; The Nature of the Universe Deducible from the Physiology of the Brain.
Note.
Recapitulation; Characteristics of Heresy; Origin of the Name Naasseni; The System of the Naasseni.
Naasseni Ascribe Their System, Through Mariamne, to James the Lord's Brother; Really Traceable to the Ancient Mysteries; Their Psychology as Given in the “Gospel According to Thomas;” Assyrian Theory of the Soul; The Systems of the Naasseni and the Assyrians Compared; Support Drawn by the Naasseni from the Phrygian and Egyptian Mysteries; The Mysteries of Isis; These Mysteries Allegorized by the Naasseni.
Further Exposition of the Heresy of the Naasseni; Profess to Follow Homer; Acknowledge a Triad of Principles; Their Technical Names of the Triad; Support These on the Authority of Greek Poets; Allegorize Our Saviour's Miracles; The Mystery of the Samothracians; Why the Lord Chose Twelve Disciples; The Name Corybas, Used by Thracians and Phrygians, Explained; Naasseni Profess to Find Their System in Scripture; Their Interpretation of Jacob's Vision; Their Idea of the “Perfect Man;” The “Perfect Man” Called “Papa” By the Phrygians; The Naasseni and Phrygians on the Resurrection; The Ecstasis of St. Paul; The Mysteries of Religion as Alluded to by Christ; Interpretation of the Parable of the Sower; Allegory of the Promised Land; Comparison of the System of the Phrygians with the Statements of Scripture; Exposition of the Meaning of the Higher and Lower Eleusinian Mysteries; The Incarnation Discoverable Here According to the Naasseni.
Further Use Made of the System of the Phrygians; Mode of Celebrating the Mysteries; The Mystery of the “Great Mother;” These Mysteries Have a Joint Object of Worship with the Naasseni; The Naasseni Allegorize the Scriptural Account of the Garden of Eden; The Allegory Applied to the Life of Jesus.
Explanation of the System of the Naasseni Taken from One of Their Hymns.
The Ophites the Grand Source of Heresy.
The System of the Peratæ; Their Tritheism; Explanation of the Incarnation.
The Peratæ Derive Their System from the Astrologers; This Proved by a Statement of the Astrological Theories of the Zodiac; Hence the Terminology of the Peratic Heretics.
System of the Peratæ Explained Out of One of Their Own Books.
The Peratic Heresy Nominally Different from Astrology, But Really the Same System Allegorized.
Why They Call Themselves Peratæ; Their Theory of Generation Supported by an Appeal to Antiquity; Their Interpretation of the Exodus of Israel; Their System of “The Serpent;” Deduced by Them from Scripture; This the Real Import of the Doctrines of the Astrologers.
Compendious Statement of the Doctrines of the Peratæ.
The Peratic Heresy Not Generally Known.
The System of the Sethians; Their Triad of Infinite Principles; Their Heresy Explained; Their Interpretation of the Incarnation.
The Sethians Support Their Doctrines by an Allegorical Interpretation of Scripture; Their System Really Derived from Natural Philosophers and from the Orphic Rites; Adopt the Homeric Cosmogony.
The Sethian Theory Concerning “Mixture” And “Composition;” Application of It to Christ; Illustration from the Well of Ampa.
The Sethian Doctrines to Be Learned from the “Paraphrase of Seth.”
The System of Justinus Antiscriptural and Essentially Pagan.
The Justinian Heresy Unfolded in the “Book of Baruch.”
The Cosmogony of Justinus an Allegorical Explanation of Herodotus' Legend of Hercules.
Justinus' Triad of Principles; His Angelography Founded on This Triad; His Explanation of the Birth, Life, and Death of Our Lord.
Oath Used by the Justinian Heretics; The Book of Baruch; The Repertory of Their System.
Subsequent Heresies Deducible from the System of Justinus.
The Ophites the Progenitors of Subsequent Heresies.
Simon Magus.
Story of Apsethus the Libyan.
Simon's Forced Interpretation of Scripture; Plagiarizes from Heraclitus and Aristotle; Simon's System of Sensible and Intelligible Existences.
Simon Appeals to Scripture in Support of His System.
Simon's System Expounded in the Work, Great Announcement; Follows Empedocles.
Simon's System of a Threefold Emanation by Pairs.
Further Progression of This Threefold Emanation; Co-Existence with the Double Triad of a Seventh Existence.
Simon's Interpretation of the Mosaic Hexaëmeron; His Allegorical Representation of Paradise.
Simon's Explanation of the First Two Books of Moses.
Simon's Explanation of the Three Last Books of the Pentateuch.
Fire a Primal Principle, According to Simon.
His Doctrine of Emanation Further Expanded.
Simon Interprets His System by the Mythological Representation of Helen of Troy; Gives an Account of Himself in Connection with the Trojan Heroine; Immorality of His Followers; Simon's View of Christ; The Simonists' Apology for Their Vice.
Simon's Disciples Adopt the Mysteries; Simon Meets St. Peter at Rome; Account of Simon's Closing Years.
Heresy of Valentinus; Derived from Plato and Pythagoras.
Origin of the Greek Philosophy.
Pythagoras' System of Numbers.
Pythagoras' Duality of Substances; His “Categories.”
Pythagoras' Cosmogony; Similar to that of Empedocles.
Other Opinions of Pythagoras.
The “Sayings” Of Pythagoras.
Pythagoras' Astronomic System.
Valentinus Convicted of Plagiarisms from the Platonic and Pythagoric Philosophy; The Valentinian Theory of Emanation by Duads.
The Tenet of the Duad Made the Foundation of Valentinus' System of the Emanation of Æons.
Valentinus' Explanation of the Existence of Christ and the Spirit.
Valentinus' Explanation of the Existence of Jesus; Power of Jesus Over Humanity.
The Valentinian Origin of the Creation.
The Other Valentinian Emanations in Conformity with the Pythagorean System of Numbers.
Valentinus' Explanation of the Birth of Jesus; Twofold Doctrine on the Nature of Jesus' Body; Opinion of the Italians, that Is, Heracleon and Ptolemæus; Opinion of the Orientals, that Is, Axionicus and Bardesanes.
Further Doctrines of Valentinus Respecting the Æons; Reasons for the Incarnation.
Valentinus Convicted of Plagiarisms from Plato.
Secundus' System of Æons; Epiphanes; Ptolemæus.
System of Marcus; A Mere Impostor; His Wicked Devices Upon the Eucharistic Cup.
Further Acts of Jugglery on the Part of Marcus.
The Heretical Practices of the Marcites in Regard of Baptism.
Marcus' System Explained by Irenæus; Marcus' Vision; The Vision of Valentinus Revealing to Him His System.
Marcus' System of Letters.
The Quaternion Exhibits “Truth.”
The Name of Christ Jesus.
Marcus' Mystic Interpretation of the Alphabet.
His System Applied to Explain Our Lord's Life and Death.
Letters, Symbols of the Heavens.
Respecting the Generation of the Twenty-Four Letters.
Why Jesus is Called Alpha.
Marcus' Account of the Birth and Life of Our Lord.
The System of Marcus Shown to Be that of Pythagoras, by Quotations from the Writings of Marcus' Followers.
Their Cosmogony Framed According to These Mystic Doctrines of Letters.
The Work of the Demiurge Perishable.
Marcus and Colarbasus Refuted by Irenæus.
Heresy Compared to (1) the Stormy Ocean, (2) the Rocks of the Sirens; Moral from Ulysses and the Sirens.
The System of Basilides Derived from Aristotle.
Sketch of Aristotle's Philosophy.
Aristotle's General Idea.
Nonentity as a Cause.
Substance, According to Aristotle; The Predicates.
Aristotle's Cosmogony; His “Psychology;” His “Entelecheia;” His Theology; His Ethics; Basilides Follows Aristotle.
Basilides and Isidorus Allege Apostolic Sanction for Their Systems; They Really Follow Aristotle.
Basilides Adopts the Aristotelian Doctrine of “Nonentity.”
Origin of the World; Basilides' Account of the “Sonship.”
The “Great Archon” Of Basilides.
Basilides Adopts the “Entelecheia” Of Aristotle.
Further Explanation of the “Sonship.”
Whence Came the Gospel; The Number of Heavens According to Basilides; Explanation of Christ's Miraculous Conception.
God's Dealings with the Creature; Basilides' Notion of (1) the Inner Man, (2) the Gospel; His Interpretation of the Life and Sufferings of Our Lord.
The System of Saturnilus.
Marcion; His Dualism; Derives His System from Empedocles; Sketch of the Doctrine of Empedocles.
Source of Marcionism; Empedocles Reasserted as the Suggester of the Heresy.
The Heresy of Prepon; Follows Empedocles; Marcion Rejects the Generation of the Saviour.
The Heresy of Carpocrates; Wicked Doctrines Concerning Jesus Christ; Practise Magical Arts; Adopt a Metempsychosis.
The System of Cerinthus Concerning Christ.
Doctrine of the Ebionæans.
The Heresy of Theodotus.
The Melchisedecians; The Nicolaitans.
The Heresy of Cerdon.
The Doctrines of Apelles; Philumene, His Prophetess.
Heresies Hitherto Refuted; Opinions of the Docetæ.
Docetic Notion of the Incarnation; Their Doctrines of Æons; Their Account of Creation; Their Notion of a Fiery God.
Christ Undoes the Work of the Demiurge; Docetic Account of the Baptism and Death of Jesus; Why He Lived for Thirty Years on Earth.
Docetic Doctrine Derived from the Greek Sophists.
Monoïmus; Man the Universe, According to Monoïmus; His System of the Monad.
Monoïmus' “Iota;” His Notion of the “Son of Man.”
Monoïmus on the Sabbath; Allegorizes the Rod of Moses; Notion Concerning the Decalogue.
Monoïmus Explains His Opinions in a Letter to Theophrastus; Where to Find God; His System Derived from Pythagoras.
Tatian.
Hermogenes; Adopts the Socratic Philosophy; His Notion Concerning the Birth and Body of Our Lord.
The Quartodecimans.
The Montanists; Priscilla and Maximilla Their Prophetesses; Some of Them Noetians.
The Doctrines of the Encratites.
An Account of Contemporaneous Heresy.
Source of the Heresy of Noetus; Cleomenes His Disciple; Its Appearance at Rome During the Episcopates of Zephyrinus and Callistus; Noetianism Opposed at Rome by Hippolytus.
Noetianism an Offshoot from the Heraclitic Philosophy.
An Account of the System of Heraclitus.
Heraclitus' Estimate of Hesiod; Paradoxes of Heraclitus; His Eschatology; The Heresy of Noetus of Heraclitean Origin; Noetus' View of the Birth and Passion of Our Lord.
Conduct of Callistus and Zephyrinus in the Matter of Noetianism; Avowed Opinion of Zephyrinus Concerning Jesus Christ; Disapproval of Hippolytus; As a Contemporaneous Event, Hippolytus Competent to Explain It.
The Personal History of Callistus; His Occupation as a Banker; Fraud on Carpophorus; Callistus Absconds; Attempted Suicide; Condemned to the Treadmill; Re-Condemnation by Order of the Prefect Fuscianus; Banished to Sardinia; Release of Callistus by the Interference Of Marcion; Callistus Arrives at Rome; Pope Victor Removes Callistus to Antium; Return of Callistus on Victor's Death; Zephyrinus Friendly to Him; Callistus Accused by Sabellius; Hippolytus' Account of the Opinions of Callistus; The Callistian School at Rome, and Its Practices; This Sect in Existence in Hippolytus' Time.
Sect of the Elchasaites; Hippolytus' Opposition to It.
Elchasai Derived His System from Pythagoras; Practised Incantations.
Elchasai's Mode of Administering Baptism; Formularies.
Precepts of Elchasai.
The Heresy of the Elchasaites a Derivative One.
The Jewish Sects.
The Tenets of the Esseni.
Section 203 — The Tenets of the Esseni Continued.
Section 204 — The Tenets of the Esseni Continued.
Section 205 — The Tenets of the Esseni Continued.
Section 206 — The Tenets of the Esseni Continued.
Section 207 — The Tenets of the Esseni Continued.
The Tenets of the Esseni Concluded.
Different Sects of the Esseni.
Belief of the Esseni in the Resurrection; Their System a Suggestive One.
Another Sect of the Esseni: the Pharisees.
The Sadducees.
The Jewish Religion.
Conclusion to the Work Explained.
Recapitulation.
Summary of the Opinions of Philosophers.
Section 217 — Summary of the Opinions of Philosophers Continued.
Section 218 — Summary of the Opinions of Philosophers Continued.
The Naasseni.
The Peratæ.
The Sethians.
Simon Magus.
Valentinus.
Basilides.
Justinus.
The Docetæ.
Monoïmus.
Tatian.
Marcion and Cerdo.
Apelles.
Cerinthus.
The Ebionæans.
Theodotus.
Melchisedecians.
The Phrygians or Montanists.
The Phrygians or Montanists Continued.
Noetus and Callistus.
Hermogenes.
The Elchasaites.
Jewish Chronology.
Jewish Chronology Continued.
The Doctrine of the Truth.
The Doctrine of the Truth Continued.
The Author's Concluding Address.
Elucidations.
General Note.

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