Irenaeus of Lyons · a new plain-English translation from the original language
What the Apostles' judgment is concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. Given that certain people claim Jesus was nothing more than a vessel for Christ, into whom Christ descended from above like a dove, and that after he had made known the unnameable Father, he departed incomprehensibly and invisibly into the Pleroma—for they say he was apprehended neither by men, nor even by the powers and virtues that are in heaven—and that Jesus is indeed the son, but the Father is Christ, and God is the father of Christ; while others hold that he suffered only in appearance, being by nature incapable of suffering; and those who belong to Valentinus say that the Jesus who came by the 'dispensation' is the one who passed through Mary, and that it was into him that the Savior from above descended—the one they also call Christ, since he takes the name of all who had sent him forth—and that he who was of the dispensation shared in something of his power and of his name, so that death might be abolished through him, and that the Father might be known through him; while they say the Savior himself who descended from above, whom they also call the receptacle of Christ and of the whole fullness, though with their tongue confessing one Christ Jesus, are in fact divided in their judgment (for this, as we said before, is their rule: that they speak of one Christ who was sent forth beforehand by the Only-Begotten for the correction of the fullness, and another Savior sent to bring the Father glory, and still another—the one 'of the dispensation'—whom they also claim suffered, who returns into the Pleroma, that is, the Savior who bore Christ)—we are compelled to bring forward the whole judgment of the Apostles concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, and to show not only that they thought nothing of this kind about him, but further, that they foretold through the Holy Spirit that there would arise men who, sent forth by Satan, would begin to teach such things, in order to overturn the faith of some and draw them away from life.