Hippolytus to Noetus
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Steven Avery
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Here is another allusion to the Heavenly Witnesses in the writings of Hippolytus of Rome, Bishop of Portus (circa 170-235 AD) (the disciple of Irenaeus). Hippolytus is declaring correct doctrine of the three persons of the Godhead (three persons and one God) against the heterodox Noetus. Hippolytus not only gives us an allusion to the Heavenly Witnesses (I John 5:7), but also emphasizes that only from the Scriptures can we know and understand God (how the three persons are one God). His exposition is directly dependent on Scripture.
"...and that these, therefore, are three. If he wants to learn how it is shown that God is one..."
"...καὶ ταῦτ' εἶναι ὄντως τρία. εἰ δὲ βούλεται μαθεῖν, πῶς εἷς θεὸς ἀποδείκνυται..."
Hippolytus of Rome, Bishop of Portus (circa 170-235 AD)
• [Jacob] Hippolytus [circa 170-235 AD], a distinguished ecclesiastical writer in the second half of the second century about the year 240. Greek was his native tongue; and, although this may point to an Oriental birth, he was in Rome at an early age. He heard Irenæas lecture (Photius). The vivid minuteness with which he relates the fortunes of Callistus leads to the conclusion that he was in Rome under Victor (189-199). At the beginning of the third century he was a presbyter, conspicuous for learning, eloquence, zeal, and moral earnestness. He dissented, in matters of doctrine, from Victor’s successors (Zephyrinus and Callistus), holding the view that heretics should not be received back into the Church, and favoring the subordination theory of the Trinity; ...Eusebius (Hist., vi 20, 26) calls him bishop, and puts his life in the reign of Alexander Severus (222-285); ...In 1551 a marble statue was exhumed at Portus, which represents Hippolytus in a sitting posture, with beard and high forehead. On the chair are inscribed the titles of his works. ...Other writings of Hippolytus are mentioned on the statue discovered at Pontus, to the number of thirteen. The greater number of these are entirely lost, and only fragments of others remain. ...Hippolytus displays in this work wise judgment, large information, a wide acquaintance with the writings of philosophers, and acuteness in bringing out the relation of the ancient philosophies to the Christian heresies. He was as harsh and uncompromising a foe of philosophy as Tertullian. The Refutation of all Heresies … is a polemical work whose main object is to refute the doctrines (and especially the secret doctrines) of the Gnostics, and to abash heretics by showing that their views were taken from Pagan philosophy and Oriental theosophy. (Jacob, Hippolytus in Religious Encyclopaedia, vol 2, 1894, p. 995-996. <www.earlychurch.org.uk/hippolytus.php>)
• [Against the Heresy of One Noetus] Many other passages, or rather all of them, attest the truth. A man, therefore, even though he will it not, is compelled to acknowledge God the Father Almighty, and Christ Jesus the Son of God, who, being God, became man, to whom also the Father made all things subject, Himself excepted, and the Holy Spirit; and that these, therefore, are three. If he wants to learn how it is shown that God is one, let him understand that this is one Power.[dunamis]. And with regard to his Power [dunamis] He is one God, yet with regard to his manifestation [oikonomia] He appears as three, as will be shown later, as delivered to us in the Word of Truth. Therefore, brethren, these things we have said are shown to our agreement [??]. For it is one God whom we must believe, uncreated [agenetos], inviolable [apathesm], immortal [athanatos], making all things as He wants it, the way He wants it, when He wants it. What then will Noetus dare after these things, who understands not the truth? Therefore, since Noetus is already overthrown, let us come to exhibiting the truth, so that we may stand in truth together; so that they who made all these many heresies may never be said to have power. There is, brethren, one God, the knowledge of whom we gain from the Holy Scriptures, and from no other source. For just as a man, if he wishes to be skilled in the wisdom of this world, will find himself unable to get at it in any other way than by mastering the dogmas of philosophers, so all of us who wish to practise piety will be unable to learn its practice from any other quarter than the oracles of God. Whatever things, then, the Holy Scriptures declare, at these let us look; and whatsoever things they teach, these let us learn; and as the Father wills our belief to be, let us believe; and as He wills the Son to be glorified, let us glorify Him; and as He wills the Holy Spirit to be bestowed, let us receive Him. Not according to our own will, nor according to our own mind, nor yet as using violently those things which are given by God, but even as He has chosen to teach them by the Holy Scriptures, so let us discern them. (Hippolytus. Against the Heresy of One Noetus. ANF, 1995, vol 5, p. 225-226; Migne Graeca PG 10, 816)
● Greek: πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἕτερα, μᾶλλον δὲ πάντα ἐστὶ μαρτυροῦντα τῇ ἀληθείᾳ. ἀνάγκην οὖν ἔχει καὶ μὴ θέλων ὁμολογεῖν Πατέρα Θεὸν παντοκράτορα καὶ Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν Υἱὸν Θεοῦ Θεὸν ἄνθρωπον γενόμενον: ᾧ πάντα Πατὴρ ὑπέταξε παρεκτὸς ἑαυτοῦ καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου: καὶ ταῦτ' εἶναι ὄντως τρία. εἰ δὲ βούλεται μαθεῖν, πῶς εἷς θεὸς ἀποδείκνυται, γινωσκέτω ὅτι μία δύναμις τούτου, καὶ ὅσον μὲν κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν, εἷς ἐστι θεός, ὅσον δὲ κατὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν, τριχὴς ἡ ἐπίδειξις, ὡς ὕστερον ἀποδειχθήσεται, ἀποδιδόντων ἡμῶν συμφώνως εἰρημένα. εἷς γὰρ θεός ἐστιν ᾧ δεῖ πιστεύειν, ἀλλ’ ἀγένητος, ἀπαθής, ἀθάνατος, πάντα ποιῶν ἃ θέλει, καθὼς θέλει, ὅτε θέλει. τίοὖν πρὸς ταῦτα τολμήσει Νόητος μὴ νοῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν; ἐπειδὴ οὗν ἤδη καὶ ὁ Νόητος ἀνατέτραπται, ἕλθωμεν ἐπὶ τὴν τῆς ἀληθείας ἀπόδειξιν, ἵνα συστήσωμεν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, καθ’ ἧς πᾶσαι τοσαῦται αἱρέσεις γεγένηνται μηδὲν δυνάμεναι εἰπεῖν. 9. εἷς Θεός, ὃν οὐκ ἄλλοθεν ἐπιγινώσκομεν, ἀδελφοί, ἢ ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων γραφῶν. ὃν γὰρ τρόπον ἐάν τις βουληθῇ τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἀσκεῖν, οὐκ ἄλλως δυν σεται τούτου τυχεῖν, ἐὰν υὴ δόγμασι φιλοσόφων ἐντύχῃ: τὸν αὐτὸν δὴ τρόπον, ὅσοι θεοσέβειαν ἀσκεῖν βουλόμεθα, οὐκ ἄλλοθεν ἀσκήσομεν ἢ ἐκ τῶν λογίων τοῦ θεοῦ. ὅσα τοίνυν κηρύσσουσιν αἱ θεῖαι γραφαί ἴδωμεν, καὶ ὅσα διδάσκουσιν, ἐπιγνῶμεν, καὶ ὡς θέλει πατὴρ πιστεύεσθαι, πιστεύσωμεν, καὶ ὡς θέλει υἱὸν δοξάσωμεν, καὶ ὡς θέλει πνεῦμα ἅγιον δωρεῖσθαι, λάβωμεν, μὴ κατ’ ἰδίαν προαίρεσιν μηδὲ κατ’ ἴδιον νοῦν μηδὲ βιαζόμενοι τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ δεδομένα, ἀλλ ὃν τρόπον αὐτὸς ἐβουλήθη διὰ τῶν ἁγίων γραφῶν δεῖξαι, οὕτως ἴδωμεν. (Contra Haeresin Noeti. Migne Graeca PG 10, 816B; Hippolyti Romani, Lagarde, 1858, p. 50)
Comments:
● [Forster] St. Hippolytus versus Porson: Tρία in the neuter applied to the three Persons. ...That [Hippolytus’] doctrine of the Godhead, and the terms for expressing it, were taken wholly and solely from Scripture, we know on Hippolytus' own authority in the following passage : in which he lays down the golden rule, that”from Scripture alone we derive our knowledge of God.”...Hippolytus (as already shown by the priority of its date) could not have invented his τρία-ἓν (from his rule of knowing the Godhead solely from Scripture) and could not have adopted the phrase from any uninspired authority. But, if this be so, his τρία-ἓν is the οὗτοι οἱ τρεῖς ἕν εἰσι of 1 John v. 7 : the only Scripture in which the definition occurs. The Patristic rule of deriving the terms defining the Godhead solely from Scripture, here stated by Hippolytus, was assuredly adhered to by his immediate predecessors, Tertullian and Cyprian. This alone decides their definitions to be quotations. (Forster, A New Plea for the Authenticity of the Text of the Three Heavenly Witness, 1867, p. 14-15)
"...and that these, therefore, are three. If he wants to learn how it is shown that God is one..."
"...καὶ ταῦτ' εἶναι ὄντως τρία. εἰ δὲ βούλεται μαθεῖν, πῶς εἷς θεὸς ἀποδείκνυται..."
Hippolytus of Rome, Bishop of Portus (circa 170-235 AD)
• [Jacob] Hippolytus [circa 170-235 AD], a distinguished ecclesiastical writer in the second half of the second century about the year 240. Greek was his native tongue; and, although this may point to an Oriental birth, he was in Rome at an early age. He heard Irenæas lecture (Photius). The vivid minuteness with which he relates the fortunes of Callistus leads to the conclusion that he was in Rome under Victor (189-199). At the beginning of the third century he was a presbyter, conspicuous for learning, eloquence, zeal, and moral earnestness. He dissented, in matters of doctrine, from Victor’s successors (Zephyrinus and Callistus), holding the view that heretics should not be received back into the Church, and favoring the subordination theory of the Trinity; ...Eusebius (Hist., vi 20, 26) calls him bishop, and puts his life in the reign of Alexander Severus (222-285); ...In 1551 a marble statue was exhumed at Portus, which represents Hippolytus in a sitting posture, with beard and high forehead. On the chair are inscribed the titles of his works. ...Other writings of Hippolytus are mentioned on the statue discovered at Pontus, to the number of thirteen. The greater number of these are entirely lost, and only fragments of others remain. ...Hippolytus displays in this work wise judgment, large information, a wide acquaintance with the writings of philosophers, and acuteness in bringing out the relation of the ancient philosophies to the Christian heresies. He was as harsh and uncompromising a foe of philosophy as Tertullian. The Refutation of all Heresies … is a polemical work whose main object is to refute the doctrines (and especially the secret doctrines) of the Gnostics, and to abash heretics by showing that their views were taken from Pagan philosophy and Oriental theosophy. (Jacob, Hippolytus in Religious Encyclopaedia, vol 2, 1894, p. 995-996. <www.earlychurch.org.uk/hippolytus.php>)
• [Against the Heresy of One Noetus] Many other passages, or rather all of them, attest the truth. A man, therefore, even though he will it not, is compelled to acknowledge God the Father Almighty, and Christ Jesus the Son of God, who, being God, became man, to whom also the Father made all things subject, Himself excepted, and the Holy Spirit; and that these, therefore, are three. If he wants to learn how it is shown that God is one, let him understand that this is one Power.[dunamis]. And with regard to his Power [dunamis] He is one God, yet with regard to his manifestation [oikonomia] He appears as three, as will be shown later, as delivered to us in the Word of Truth. Therefore, brethren, these things we have said are shown to our agreement [??]. For it is one God whom we must believe, uncreated [agenetos], inviolable [apathesm], immortal [athanatos], making all things as He wants it, the way He wants it, when He wants it. What then will Noetus dare after these things, who understands not the truth? Therefore, since Noetus is already overthrown, let us come to exhibiting the truth, so that we may stand in truth together; so that they who made all these many heresies may never be said to have power. There is, brethren, one God, the knowledge of whom we gain from the Holy Scriptures, and from no other source. For just as a man, if he wishes to be skilled in the wisdom of this world, will find himself unable to get at it in any other way than by mastering the dogmas of philosophers, so all of us who wish to practise piety will be unable to learn its practice from any other quarter than the oracles of God. Whatever things, then, the Holy Scriptures declare, at these let us look; and whatsoever things they teach, these let us learn; and as the Father wills our belief to be, let us believe; and as He wills the Son to be glorified, let us glorify Him; and as He wills the Holy Spirit to be bestowed, let us receive Him. Not according to our own will, nor according to our own mind, nor yet as using violently those things which are given by God, but even as He has chosen to teach them by the Holy Scriptures, so let us discern them. (Hippolytus. Against the Heresy of One Noetus. ANF, 1995, vol 5, p. 225-226; Migne Graeca PG 10, 816)
● Greek: πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἕτερα, μᾶλλον δὲ πάντα ἐστὶ μαρτυροῦντα τῇ ἀληθείᾳ. ἀνάγκην οὖν ἔχει καὶ μὴ θέλων ὁμολογεῖν Πατέρα Θεὸν παντοκράτορα καὶ Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν Υἱὸν Θεοῦ Θεὸν ἄνθρωπον γενόμενον: ᾧ πάντα Πατὴρ ὑπέταξε παρεκτὸς ἑαυτοῦ καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου: καὶ ταῦτ' εἶναι ὄντως τρία. εἰ δὲ βούλεται μαθεῖν, πῶς εἷς θεὸς ἀποδείκνυται, γινωσκέτω ὅτι μία δύναμις τούτου, καὶ ὅσον μὲν κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν, εἷς ἐστι θεός, ὅσον δὲ κατὰ τὴν οἰκονομίαν, τριχὴς ἡ ἐπίδειξις, ὡς ὕστερον ἀποδειχθήσεται, ἀποδιδόντων ἡμῶν συμφώνως εἰρημένα. εἷς γὰρ θεός ἐστιν ᾧ δεῖ πιστεύειν, ἀλλ’ ἀγένητος, ἀπαθής, ἀθάνατος, πάντα ποιῶν ἃ θέλει, καθὼς θέλει, ὅτε θέλει. τίοὖν πρὸς ταῦτα τολμήσει Νόητος μὴ νοῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν; ἐπειδὴ οὗν ἤδη καὶ ὁ Νόητος ἀνατέτραπται, ἕλθωμεν ἐπὶ τὴν τῆς ἀληθείας ἀπόδειξιν, ἵνα συστήσωμεν τὴν ἀλήθειαν, καθ’ ἧς πᾶσαι τοσαῦται αἱρέσεις γεγένηνται μηδὲν δυνάμεναι εἰπεῖν. 9. εἷς Θεός, ὃν οὐκ ἄλλοθεν ἐπιγινώσκομεν, ἀδελφοί, ἢ ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων γραφῶν. ὃν γὰρ τρόπον ἐάν τις βουληθῇ τὴν σοφίαν τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἀσκεῖν, οὐκ ἄλλως δυν σεται τούτου τυχεῖν, ἐὰν υὴ δόγμασι φιλοσόφων ἐντύχῃ: τὸν αὐτὸν δὴ τρόπον, ὅσοι θεοσέβειαν ἀσκεῖν βουλόμεθα, οὐκ ἄλλοθεν ἀσκήσομεν ἢ ἐκ τῶν λογίων τοῦ θεοῦ. ὅσα τοίνυν κηρύσσουσιν αἱ θεῖαι γραφαί ἴδωμεν, καὶ ὅσα διδάσκουσιν, ἐπιγνῶμεν, καὶ ὡς θέλει πατὴρ πιστεύεσθαι, πιστεύσωμεν, καὶ ὡς θέλει υἱὸν δοξάσωμεν, καὶ ὡς θέλει πνεῦμα ἅγιον δωρεῖσθαι, λάβωμεν, μὴ κατ’ ἰδίαν προαίρεσιν μηδὲ κατ’ ἴδιον νοῦν μηδὲ βιαζόμενοι τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ δεδομένα, ἀλλ ὃν τρόπον αὐτὸς ἐβουλήθη διὰ τῶν ἁγίων γραφῶν δεῖξαι, οὕτως ἴδωμεν. (Contra Haeresin Noeti. Migne Graeca PG 10, 816B; Hippolyti Romani, Lagarde, 1858, p. 50)
Comments:
● [Forster] St. Hippolytus versus Porson: Tρία in the neuter applied to the three Persons. ...That [Hippolytus’] doctrine of the Godhead, and the terms for expressing it, were taken wholly and solely from Scripture, we know on Hippolytus' own authority in the following passage : in which he lays down the golden rule, that”from Scripture alone we derive our knowledge of God.”...Hippolytus (as already shown by the priority of its date) could not have invented his τρία-ἓν (from his rule of knowing the Godhead solely from Scripture) and could not have adopted the phrase from any uninspired authority. But, if this be so, his τρία-ἓν is the οὗτοι οἱ τρεῖς ἕν εἰσι of 1 John v. 7 : the only Scripture in which the definition occurs. The Patristic rule of deriving the terms defining the Godhead solely from Scripture, here stated by Hippolytus, was assuredly adhered to by his immediate predecessors, Tertullian and Cyprian. This alone decides their definitions to be quotations. (Forster, A New Plea for the Authenticity of the Text of the Three Heavenly Witness, 1867, p. 14-15)