The Parallels in the Accounts of Carpocrates and Cerinthus
Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:46 pm
The construction of Against Heresies 1 has been something of an obsession with me. Things start to get odd once Carpocrates is introduced to the list.
The point here is that while Epiphanius's account mostly derives from what is preserved in Irenaeus/Hippolytus and the first part of the account of Cerinthus (from Irenaeus/Hippolytus) agrees with both Carpocrates accounts, it is most unusual that a parallel exists between Carpocrates (Irenaeus/Hippolytus) but not Carpocrates (Epiphanius). In the former it clearly says that a power came upon Jesus (in Cerinthus it is explicitly 'the dove' at baptism in Carpocrates (Irenaeus/Hippolytus). In Carpocrates (Epiphanius) however there is something else completely:Καρποκράτης τὸν μὲν κόσμον καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῶ̣ ὑπὸ ἀγγέλων πολὺ ὑποβεβηκότων τοῦ ἀγενήτου πατρὸς γεγενῆσθαι λέγει, τὸν δὲ Ἰησοῦν ἐξ Ἰωσὴφ γεγεννῆσθαι καὶ ὅμοιον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις γεγονότα δικαιότερον τῶν λοιπῶν γενέσθαι, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ εὔτονον καὶ καθαρὰν γεγονυῖαν διαμνημονεῦσαι τὰ ὁρατὰ μὲν αὐτῇ ἐν τῇ μετὰ τοῦ ἀγενήτου θεοῦ περιφορᾷ, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὑπ ἐκείνου αὐτ(ῇ) καταπεμφθῆναι δύναμιν, ὅπως τοὺς κοσμοποιοὺς ἐκφυγεῖν δι αὐτῆς δυνηθῇ· ἣν καὶ διὰ πάντων χωρήσασαν ἐν πᾶσί τε ἐλευθερωθεῖσαν [ἀν]εληλυθέναι πρὸς αὐτὸν, τὰ ὅμοια αὐτῆς ἀσπαζομένην. Τὴν δὲ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λέγουσι ψυχὴν ἐννόμως ἠσκημένην ἐν Ἰουδαϊκοῖς ἔθεσι, καταφρονῆσαι αὐτῶν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο δυνάμεις ἐπιτετελεκέναι, [Int. ἐπιτετυχηκέναι,] δι' ὧν κατήργησε τὰ ἐπὶ κολάσει πάθη προσόντα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.
Carpocrates, again, and his followers maintain that the world and the things which are therein were created by angels greatly inferior to the unbegotten Father. They also hold that Jesus was the son of Joseph, and was just like other men, with the exception that he differed from them in this respect, that inasmuch as his soul was stedfast and pure, he perfectly remembered those things which he had witnessed within the sphere of the unbegotten God. On this account, a power descended upon him from the Father, that by means of it he might escape from the creators of the world; and they say that it, after passing through them all, and remaining in all points free, ascended again to him, and to the powers, which in the same way embraced like things to itself. They further declare, that the soul of Jesus, although educated in the practices of the Jews, regarded these with contempt, and that for this reason he was endowed with faculties, by means of which he destroyed those passions which dwelt in men as a punishment [for their sins].
τὸν δὲ κόσμον καὶ τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὑπὸ ἀγγέλων γεγενῆσθαι, τῶν πολύ τι ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ ἀγνώστου ὑποβεβηκότων· τούτους γὰρ λέγει ἀποστάντας ἀπὸ τῆς ἄνω δυνάμεως οὕτω τὸν κόσμον πεποιηκέναι. Ἰησοῦν δὲ τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν ἀπὸ Ἰωσὴφ λέγει γεγεννῆσθαι, καθάπερ καὶ πάντες ἄνθρωποι ἐκ σπέρματος ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικὸς ἐγεννήθησαν. εἶναι δὲ αὐτὸν ὅμοιον τοῖς πᾶσι, βίῳ δὲ διενηνοχέναι, σωφροσύνῃ τε καὶ ἀρετῇ καὶ βίῳ δικαιοσύνης. ἐπειδὴ δέ, φησίν, εὔτονον ἔσχε ψυχὴν παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους καὶ ἐμνημόνευεν τὰ ὁραθέντα ὑπ' αὐτῆς ἄνω, ὅτε ἦν ἐν τῇ περιφορᾷ τοῦ ἀγνώστου πατρός, ἀπεστάλθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ πατρός, φησίν, εἰς τὴν αὐτοῦ ψυχὴν δυνάμεις, ὅπως τὰ ὁραθέντα αὐτῇ ἀναμνημο1.302 νεύσασα καὶ ἐνδυναμωθεῖσα φύγῃ τοὺς κοσμοποιοὺς ἀγγέλους ἐν τῷ διὰ πάντων χωρῆσαι τῶν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ πραγμάτων καὶ πράξεων τῶν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γινομένων καὶ ἐν παραβύστῳ ἀτόπων ἔργων καὶ ἀθεμίτων, καὶ ὅπως διὰ πασῶν τῶν πράξεων ἐλευθερωθεῖσα ἡ αὐτὴ ψυχή, φησί, τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἀνέλθῃ πρὸς τὸν αὐτὸν πατέρα τὸν ἄγνωστον, τὸν δυνάμεις αὐτῇ ἀποστείλαντα ἄνωθεν, ἵνα διὰ πασῶν
But he [Carpocrates] says that the world, and everything in the world, has been made by the angels, who are far inferior to the unknowable Father. For he says that they rebelled against the power on high, and therefore have made the world. And he says that Jesus our Lord was begotten of Joseph, just as all men were generated from a man’s seed and a woman. He is like anyone else, but is different in life — in prudence, virtue and a life of righteousness. Because he received a more vigorous soul than other men’s, and he remembered what it had seen on high when it was on the unknowable Father’s carousel, powers were sent to his soul by the Father so that it would be able to recall what it had seen, and gain the power to escape the angels who made the world by progressing through all the acts in the world and all the deeds that men can do, even strange, unlawful works done in secret — and so this same soul of Jesus, once freed by all he acts, could ascend to the same unknowable Father who had sent it the powers from above in order that it could win through to him on high by progressing through all the acts and being released. 2.6 And what is more, the souls like his < which > embrace the same experiences as his can be freed in the same way and soar aloft to the unknowable Father, by performing all the acts, and similarly being quit of them all and then released. Though it had been reared in Jewish customs Jesus’ soul despised them 7 and for that reason received powers by which it could < put > the passions < to rest > 8 which accrue to man as punishments, and rise above the world’s creators. But not only Jesus’ soul itself has this capacity; the soul as well that can progress through < all > the acts will rise above these angels who made the world. It too will < soar aloft > — like Jesus’ soul, as I said — if it receives powers and does the same sort of thing.
Κήρινθος δέ τις, αὐτὸς Αἰγυπτίων παιδείᾳ ἀσκηθείς,. 40. ἔλεγεν οὐχ ὑπὸ τοῦ πρώτου θεοῦ γεγονέναι τὸν κόσμον,. ἀλλ. ὑπὸ δυνάμεώς τινος κεχωρισμένης τῆς ὑπὲρ τὰ ὅλα ἐξουσίας καὶ ἀγνοούσης τὸν ὑπὲρ πάντα θεόν. τὸν δὲ Ἰησοῦν ὑπέθετο μὴ ἐκ παρθένου γεγενῆσθαι, γεγονέναι δὲ αὐτὸν ἐξ Ἰωσὴφ καὶ Μαρίας υἱὸν ὁμοίως τους λοιποίς ανθρώποις, και διενηνοχέναι εν δικαιοσύνη και σωφροσύνη και συνέσει υπέρ τσάντας τους λοιπούςἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις, καὶ δικαιότερον γεγονέναι καὶ σοφώτερον [πάντων]. καὶ μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα κατελθεῖν εἰς αὐτὸν [τὸν] [ἐκ] τῆς ὑπὲρ τὰ ὅλα αὐθεντίας τὸν Χριστὸν ἐν εἴδει περιστερᾶς: καὶ τότε κηρῦξαι τὸν [ἄ]γνωστον πατέρα καὶ δυνάμεις ἐπιτελέσαι. πρὸς δὲ τῷ τέλει ἀποπτῆναι τὸν Χριστὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ τὸν [μὲν] Ἰησοῦν πεπονθέναι καὶ ἐγηγέρθαι, τὸν δὲ Χριστὸν ἀπαθῆ διαμεμενηκέναι, πνευματικὸν ὑπάρχοντα.
Cerinthus, again, a man who was educated in the wisdom of the Egyptians, taught that the world was not made by the primary God, but by a certain Power far separated from him, and at a distance from that Principality who is supreme over the universe, and ignorant of him who is above all. He represented Jesus as having not been born of a virgin, but as being the son of Joseph and Mary according to the ordinary course of human generation, while he nevertheless was more righteous, prudent, and wise than other men. Moreover, after his baptism, Christ descended upon him in the form of a dove from the Supreme Ruler, and that then he proclaimed the unknown Father, and performed miracles. But at last Christ departed from Jesus, and that then Jesus suffered and rose again, while Christ remained impassible, inasmuch as he was a spiritual being.
I can't help but feel that this is the more original reporting - presumably from Hegesippus (as Epiphanius is using Hegesippus directly). We see this in the account of Marcellina (so Lawlor in Eusebiana). But here again we see the Irenaeus tradition reshaping the original reporting.when it was on the unknowable Father’s carousel, powers were sent to his soul by the Father so that it would be able to recall what it had seen, and gain the power to escape the angels who made the world