Refutation of All Heresies
The Refutation of All Heresies (Latin: Refutatio Omnium Haeresium, Greek: [Ὁ κατὰ παςῶν αἱρέσεων ἔλεγχος] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), also called the Elenchus or Philosophumena, is a compendious Christian polemical work of the early third century, now generally attributed to Hippolytus of Rome. Most of it was recovered in 1842 in a manuscript at Mount Athos, but the complete text is not known. It catalogues both pagan beliefs and 33 gnostic Christian systems deemed heretical, making it a major source of information on contemporary opponents of Catholic orthodoxy.[1]
The first chapter, a synopsis of Greek philosophy, circulated separately in several manuscripts and was known as the Philosophoumena (Greek: Φιλοσοφούμενα "philosophical teachings"), a title which some extend to the whole work. The book was long thought to have been written by Origen.
Editions
- Miroslav Marcovich, ed., Refutatio Omnium Haeresium, Walter de Gruyter, 1986.
Notes
- ^ Kurt Rudolph, Gnosis: The Nature and History of Gnosticism (1983 English translation), p. 13.