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Against the Valentinians

Chapter XXXV.--Yet More Discrepancies. Just Now the Sex of Bythus Was an Object of Dispute; Now His Rank Comes in Question. Absurd Substitutes for Bythus Criticised by Tertullian.

There are some who do not claim the first place for Bythus, but only a lower one. They put their Ogdoad in the foremost rank; itself, however, derived from a Tetrad, but under different names. For they put Pro-arche (Before the Beginning) first, Anennoetos (Inconceivable) second, Arrhetos (Indescribable) third, Aoratos (Invisible) fourth. Then after Pro-arche they say Arche (Beginning) came forth and occupied the first and the fifth place; from Anennoetos came Acataleptos (Incomprehensible) in the second and the sixth place; from Arrhetos came Anonomastos (Nameless) in the third and the seventh place; from Aoratos ¹ came Agennetos (Unbegotten) in the fourth and the eight place. Now by what method he arranges this, that each of these Aeons should be born in two places, and that, too, at such intervals, I prefer to be ignorant of than to be informed. For what can be right in a system which is propounded with such absurd particulars?

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Contre les Valentiniens

XXXV.

Il en est qui n'accordent pas le premier rang, mais seulement le second à Bythos: ils placent l'Ogdoade avant toutes choses, et la dérivent elle-même de la Tétrade, mais sous d'autres noms. En première ligne vient Proarchê; puis Anennoêtos; puis Arrhêtos; et enfin Aoratos. De Proarchê, procédèrent au premier et au cinquième rang, Arche; d'Anennoêtos, au second et au sixième rang, Acataleptos; d'Arrhêtos, au troisième et septième rang, Anonomastos; de l'Invisible, au quatrième et huitième rang, Agennêtos. En vertu de quelle raison chacun des ces Eons naît-il en deux lieux différents et si distants l'un de l'autre? J'aime mieux l'ignorer que de l'apprendre. Quelle sagesse y a-t-il dans ces monstrueuses productions?