Irenaeus of Lyons · a new plain-English translation from the original language
This, then, is what they call the "business" and the suffering that occurred within their Pleroma among the Aeons, together with the emission of Christ and the Holy Spirit by the Father of all things; this is what they term the "filling-up" (Pleroma) — the ruin of one Aeon, and, as it were in a great quantity of matter, the calamity arising from the search for the Father, and the origin of Horos and of their Cross, and of the Redeemer, and of the first Christ together with the Holy Spirit, produced by the repentance of their Father; and the last generation of the Aeons; and the fashioning, put together out of a collection of all these things, of the second Christ, whom they call the Savior. They say that none of this was spoken of openly, since not everyone grasps their higher knowledge, but that it was shown mysteriously by the Savior, through parables, to those who are able to understand — in this way: the thirty Aeons are signified by the thirty years, as we said before, during which they say the Savior did nothing openly; and by the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. And they say that Paul very plainly names the Aeons again and again, and that he even preserves the six names of Horos together with their proper order, when he says: "unto all the generations of the age of ages." And they say that we ourselves, too, when we say in our thanksgivings, "unto the ages of ages," are unknowingly signifying those same Aeons — and that wherever "age" or "ages" is named, they want it referred to those Aeons of theirs.
They say that the emission of the Duodecad of Aeons is signified by the fact that the Lord, being twelve years old, held discussion among the doctors of the Law, and by his selecting of the apostles, since he picked out twelve apostles. And they say that the remaining eighteen Aeons are made manifest by the fact that, after his resurrection from the dead, he is said to have spent eighteen months in company with his disciples. Moreover, they say that the two letters standing before his name, iota and eta, signify the number eighteen and thus make the Aeons manifest. And in the same way they say that ten Aeons are signified by the letter iota, which likewise stands at the beginning of his name. And for this reason it endures, they say, until all things come to pass.
This suffering, undergone in relation to the twelfth Aeon, they say is signified by the defection of Judas, who ranked twelfth among the apostles, and by the fact that his passion fell within the twelfth month; for they maintain that his preaching lasted a single year following his baptism. They say it is also very plainly signified in the woman who suffered from the flow of blood: for she had suffered for twelve years, and was healed at the coming of the Lord, when she touched the fringe of his garment; and for this reason, they say, the Savior said, "Who touched me?" — teaching his disciples about the mystery that had occurred among the Aeons, and the healing of the Aeon that had suffered. For by that woman who had suffered for twelve years that power is signified, they say, in that it was extended and its substance flowed out into immensity, as they put it. And unless she had touched his garment — that is, the first Tetrad of Truth, which was made manifest through the fringe — the coming would have reached her whole substance. But it stopped and rested from its suffering through the power that had gone forth from the Son. And they hold that it is Horos who healed her and separated the suffering from her. They say this is manifested by the response, "Every male that opens the womb": for he who is all things opened the womb of the reflection of the Aeon that had suffered, and separated it outside the Pleroma — a thing they also term the second Ogdoad, a topic we will discuss below. And they say Paul plainly speaks of this when he states: "And Christ is all things, and in all." Elsewhere: "From him, and through him, and unto him are all things." And again: "In him the whole fullness of divinity makes its dwelling." And further: "that all things might be gathered together anew in Christ through God." This is how they interpret these and all similar sayings. Further, concerning their Horos — whom they also call by many names — they show that he has two activities: one that confirms and one that separates. And according to the one by which he confirms and establishes, he is called the Cross; but according to the one by which he divides and cuts apart, he is called Horos. And they say the Savior manifested these two activities in this way: first the confirming activity, in that he says, "Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple," and, again, "Take up your cross and follow after me"; and the dividing activity in his statement: "I have not come to bring peace, but rather a sword." And they say John showed this same thing when he said: "The winnowing-fan is in his hand to cleanse his threshing-floor, and he will gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." For they interpret this winnowing-fan as the Cross, which consumes all material things just as fire consumes chaff, but which cleanses those who attain salvation, just as a winnowing-fan cleanses wheat. And they say that the apostle Paul himself likewise calls to mind this Cross, saying: "For the message of the cross is folly to those on the path to ruin, but to those being saved, it is God's power." And again: "But may it never happen to me to glory in anything except in the cross of Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."
Such, then, are the things they say about their Pleroma, and about the shaping of the universe, since they are eager to fit what has been well said to what has been wickedly invented by themselves. And they attempt to produce demonstrations not only from the Gospel and Apostolic writings, twisting their interpretations and corrupting their expositions, but also from the Law and the Prophets, since many parables and allegories have been spoken there, and much can be drawn into ambiguity through interpretation; and by cunningly and readily adapting these to their own fabrication, they lead into captivity, away from the truth, those who do not firmly hold the faith they received — the faith preserved through the Law and the Prophets, and then, from that point, the one faith in the one God, the Father almighty, and in the one Jesus Christ, the Son of God.