Acts of Archelaus (Latin version) 38–45

"I do not think you are unaware that 'father' is one name but has different meanings. For one is called father of the sons he has begotten by nature, another of those he has only brought up, and some by the privilege of time and age. So my Lord Jesus too is said to have very many fathers: David was called his father, and Joseph was thought to be his father, though neither of them was his father by the truth of nature. For David is called his father by the privilege of age and time, Joseph by the law of nurture; but God alone is his Father by nature, who has deigned to make all things plain to us swiftly through his Word. Nor did my Lord Jesus delay in anything: within the space of a single year he restored multitudes of the sick to health and the dead to light, he who embraced all things by the power of his word. In what, then, did he delay, that we should believe him to have delayed so long in sending the Paraclete? Rather, he was present at once, as was said above, poured out abundantly into Paul, whose testimony we have believed when he says: 'To me alone this grace has been given.' He who before was a blasphemer and a persecutor of the church of God was again made manifest to all as a faithful minister of the Paraclete, through whom His singular mercy became known to all, so that the bounty of his gifts has reached even us, who were once without hope. For which of us could hope that Paul the persecutor and enemy of the church would become its defender and guardian? And not only this, but also its teacher, the founder and architect of churches.

"After him, then, and after those who were with him, that is, after the disciples, no one else is to be expected to come according to the Scriptures; for our Lord Jesus says of the Paraclete, 'He will receive of mine.' So he chose this man as a proven vessel, whom he sent to us, Paul, into whose spirit the Holy Spirit flowed; and as the Spirit could not dwell upon all men, but upon him who was born of Mary the mother of God, so too the Spirit, the Paraclete, could come upon no one else except upon the apostles and upon the blessed Paul. 'For he is a vessel of election to me,' he says, 'to carry my name before kings and nations.' He himself also set it down in his first letter, saying: 'According to the grace that was given to me by God, that I should be a minister of Christ among the Gentiles, sanctifying the gospel of God.' 'I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit.' And again he says: 'For I will not dare to speak of any of the things that Christ has not worked through me, by word and deed.' 'For I am the least of all the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle. But by the grace of God I am what I am.' And he wants those who sought proof of Christ who spoke in him to hold for certain that the Paraclete was in him; having obtained the grace of this gift and been enriched with magnificent honour, he says: 'For this I asked the Lord three times that it should depart from me; and he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.'

"Again, that it was indeed the Paraclete himself who was in Paul, our Lord Jesus Christ says in the Gospel: 'If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will ask my Father, and he will give you another Paraclete.' In this he shows that he himself is also a Paraclete, when he says 'another.' So, believing Paul, we have heard him say: 'Or do you seek proof of him who speaks in me, Christ?' and things like these, of which we spoke above. And so, as to faithful heirs, he seals his will to us like a father in his letter to the Corinthians, saying: 'For I delivered to you first of all what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the eleven apostles; after that to more than five hundred brothers at once, of whom most remain until now, though some have fallen asleep. After that he was seen by James, then by all the apostles; last of all, as to one untimely born, he was seen by me also; for I am the least of all the apostles. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaimed.' And again, handing on to his heirs the inheritance he himself had earned, he says: 'But I fear lest, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity and chastity that is in Christ. For if one who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive another spirit that you have not received, or another gospel that you have not received, you would bear it well. For I think that I have done nothing less for you than the other apostles.'"

"He said this to show that all the others who would come are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 'And no wonder, for Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no great thing if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness; their end will be according to their works.' And he shows what kind of men those were by whom they were being deceived. To the Galatians, who were willing to be turned from the gospel, he says: 'I am astonished that you are so quickly turning from him who called you to another gospel, which is not another; only there are some who trouble you and want to turn you away from the gospel of Christ. But even if we ourselves or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you anything besides what has been handed down to you, let him be accursed.' And again he says: 'To me, the lowest of all the apostles, this grace has been given.' 'For what was lacking of the afflictions of Christ I fill up in my flesh.' And in another place again he professes that he is a minister of Christ above the others, as though no other at all were to be expected afterwards; for he commands that not even an angel from heaven be received. And how are we to believe that Manes, coming from Persia and saying that he is the Paraclete, is so? For I recognize from this that he is one of those who disguise themselves, of whom the vessel of election, the apostle Paul, clearly told us, saying: 'In the last times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having a seared conscience, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful and those who have known the truth; for every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected that is received with thanksgiving.'

"And the holy evangelist Matthew also carefully recorded the word of our Lord Jesus Christ: 'See that no one leads you astray; for many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray. And if anyone says to you, Look, here is the Christ, or look, there, do not believe it. For false Christs and false apostles and false prophets will arise, and will give great signs and wonders, so as to lead into error, if it were possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. If they say to you, Look, he is in the desert, do not go out. If they say to you, In the inner rooms, do not believe it.' And after all these commands, this man, showing not even any sign or any wonder, and having no kinship, not even placed in the number of the disciples, nor having followed our departed one, whose inheritance we enjoy; since he did not stand by him in his sickness, was not a witness of the will, indeed did not even come to the knowledge of those who attended him in his sickness; finally, since he receives no one's testimony at all, he wants to be believed to be the Paraclete. Yet even if you were to do signs and wonders, you ought to be reckoned a false Christ and a false prophet according to the Scriptures.

"And so it is fitting for us to act more cautiously, according to what the blessed apostle warns, saying in the letter (which) he wrote to the Colossians: 'Remain in the faith, grounded and rooted and immovable from the hope of the gospel which we have heard, which has been preached in every creature under heaven.' And again: 'As therefore you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted and grounded upon him, established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See that no one plunders you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ; for in him dwells all the fullness of the deity.' When all these things had been set out so carefully, the blessed apostle, like a father to his sons, adds as it were a seal of his will, saying: 'I have fought the good fight, I have run the course, I have kept the faith. For the rest, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who love his coming.'"

"You will make none of us a Galatian, Manes, so as to turn us quickly from the faith of Christ. Even if you do signs and wonders, even if you raise the dead, even if you bring us the image of Paul himself, you are accursed, Satan; for it has been written beforehand about you; we have been forewarned and prepared by the holy Scriptures. You are a vessel of Antichrist, and not a good vessel but a filthy and unworthy one, which he, like some barbarian or tyrant, when he tries to rush upon those who live under the justice of laws, has sent ahead first as one destined for death, to find out how great and of what kind is the strength of the lawful king and his people; for he himself was afraid to rush in unexpectedly, and did not dare to send any other of his close men either, lest he suffer some setback. Such a one, destined as it were for death, your king Antichrist has sent ahead to us who are set under a good and holy king. And I do not say these things without having examined them; but because I see you do no mighty work, that is what I think of you. For we know beforehand that he will be transformed into an angel of light, and that his ministers will come in the same way and will do signs and wonders, so that, if it were possible, even the elect would be led astray. Who, then, are you, who have not even been allotted any important place by your father Satan? For what dead man do you raise? What flow of blood do you stop? What blind man's eyes, smeared with clay, do you make see? When do you feed a hungry crowd with a few loaves? Where do you walk on the waters, or who of those who live in Jerusalem has seen you? Barbarian Persian, you have been able to acquire knowledge neither of the language of the Greeks, nor of the Egyptians, nor of the Romans, nor of any other language, but only of the Chaldeans, which is not even taken into any account; you can understand no one speaking any other.

"Not so the Holy Spirit, far from it; but he distributes to all, and knows well all kinds of languages, and recognizes all things, and becomes all things to all, so that not even the thoughts of the heart are hidden from him. For what does the Scripture say? That each one heard the apostles speaking in his own language through the Spirit, the Paraclete. But why should I say more? Barbarian, priest and fellow player of Mithras, you will worship only the sun, Mithras, the illuminator of places of mysteries, as you think, and their confidant; that is why you will play among them and perform the mysteries like an elegant mime. But why do I take these things indignantly? Must you not be multiplied like tares, until that great father of yours himself comes, raising the dead, pursuing almost to Gehenna all who refuse to obey him, terrifying very many by the fear of the arrogance with which he is surrounded? On some he brings threats by the turning of his face, others he mocks by surrounding them; but he will not progress further, for his folly will be made known to all, as was that of Jannes and Mambres."

[41] The judges said: "As we have learned from you, since the apostle Paul says so and the Gospel moreover lays it down, entrance is given to no one (in) the future to preach or teach or evangelize or prophesy, in this life at least, unless he is to be held a false prophet or a false Christ. So since you have said that the Paraclete was in Paul and that he sealed everything, why did he say: 'We know in part and we prophesy in part; but when what is perfect comes, what is in part will be done away'? Whom else was he expecting when he said this? And if he himself confesses that he is expecting someone perfect, and if it is necessary that someone come, show us of whom he speaks, lest perhaps this word seem to come back to this man, or to the one who sent him, Satan, as you say. For if you confess that what is perfect is to come, it cannot be Satan; but if you are expecting Satan, it cannot be what is perfect."

Archelaus said: "Since what was spoken by the blessed Paul was not said without God, it is certain that he said that our Lord Jesus Christ, who alone knows the Father and to whom he wills to reveal him, is to be expected as the perfect one, as I can show from his own words. But since, when what is perfect comes, what is in part will be done away, and this man asserts that he is the perfect one, let him show what he has done away. For what will be done away is the ignorance that is in us. Let him say, then, what he has done away, what he has brought to knowledge. If he can do anything, let him do it, so that he can be believed. How much force this saying has, if it can be carefully understood, will in the end be believed from what I have asserted. In the first letter to the Corinthians, then, Paul says this about the perfect one who is to come: 'Whether prophecies, they will be done away; whether tongues, they will cease; whether knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when what is perfect comes, what is in part will be done away.' See, then, how much power what is perfect has in itself, and of what order perfection itself is. But let this man say what prophecy of the Jews or of the Hebrews he has done away, or whether he has made the tongues of the Greeks or of the idol-worshippers cease, or what other doctrines he has done away, of Valentinian, or Marcion, or Tatian, or Sabellius, and the rest who had composed a knowledge of their own for themselves. Let him say which of these he has done away, or when he will do it away as the perfect one. Perhaps he is seeking some delay?

"Certainly not; not so obscurely and ignobly will he come who is perfect, that is, Jesus Christ our Lord. But as a king coming to his city first sends ahead his guards, standards, dragon-banners, labara, generals, chiefs, prefects, and everything is at once set in motion, some fearing, others rejoicing at the expectation of the king, so too my Lord Jesus, who is truly perfect, when he comes, sends ahead first his glory, the consecrated heralds of an undefiled and spotless kingdom; and then the whole creation will be moved and troubled, entreating and beseeching until he frees it from slavery. But the human race must fear and be greatly troubled, because it has committed many offences; only the righteous will rejoice, awaiting what has been promised them, and the substance of worldly things will no longer remain. All things will be done away: whether prophecies, or the books of these men; whether the tongues of every race, they will cease, because men will no longer need to be anxious and to think about the things necessary for life; whether the knowledge of any teachers whatever, it too will be done away; for none of these will be able to bear the coming of that great king. For as a small spark brought near the splendour of the sun is consumed and at once disappears, so the whole creation, every prophecy, all knowledge, all tongues, as we said above, will be done away. But since human nature cannot set out the presence of the heavenly king in a few frail and very low words, so that perhaps it ought to belong to the saints and the very worthy to tell something about him, yet for necessity's sake it is enough for me to have brought these things forward, compelled by this man's importunity, in order to show you what kind of man he is."

"And I count Marcion and Valentinian and Basilides and the other heretics blessed, as compared with this man; they used some understanding, they seemed to themselves able to understand all Scripture, and so they set themselves up as leaders for those who were willing to listen to them. Yet none of them dared to proclaim himself God or Christ or the Paraclete, as this man does, who at one time discourses about the ages, at another about the sun, how they were made, as though he himself were greater than they; for everyone who sets out how something was made shows himself greater and older than the thing he speaks of. And who would dare to speak even of the substance of God, except only our Lord Jesus Christ? I do not build these things up from my own words, but confirm them by the authority of the Scripture that has taught us. For the apostle too says to us: 'That you may be like lights in this world, holding fast the word of life, for my glory in the day of Christ, because I did not run in vain nor labour in vain.' We must understand the force and meaning of this saying; for the word holds the place of a general, the works that of the king. As someone, when his king is arriving, is eager to show all who are under his care obedient, ready and dear and cheerful and devoted, and also innocent and abounding in all good things, so that he himself may win praise from the king and be held worthy of greater honour by him, as having governed well the province entrusted to him, so too the blessed Paul says to us: 'That you may be like lights in this world, holding fast the word of life, for his glory in the day of Christ,' namely, that our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming may see that his teaching has advanced in us, and, because he did not run in vain nor labour in vain, may give him the crown that is due.

"And again in the same letter he also warns us not to set our minds on earthly things, but that our way of life ought to be in heaven, from where we also await a Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ. And since it is not safe for us to know the last day, he indicated this in the letter he writes to the Thessalonians: 'Concerning the times and seasons, brothers, you have no need that I write anything to you; for you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.' And how does this man now stand here, persuading and asking each one to become a Manichee, and going round and entering houses, seeking to deceive souls weighed down with sins? But we do not think so; rather let us bring the facts themselves into the open and compare them, if you please, with the perfect Paraclete. For you see that sometimes he repents, sometimes he asks questions, sometimes he pleads. But it is written in the Gospel of our Saviour that those also who stand at the king's left will say: 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or naked or a stranger or in prison, and did not minister to you?' asking him to pardon them. But what did the king, the just judge, answer them? 'Depart from me into the eternal fire, workers of iniquity.' He cast them into the eternal fire, though they did not stop pleading. Do you see what the coming of the perfect king is? Not such a perfection as you assert. And if after this man the great day of judgment is to be awaited, he is surely much inferior to it. And if he is inferior, he will not be perfect. If he is not perfect, the apostle does not speak of him. And if the apostle does not speak of him, but he lies that it was said of him, he must surely be judged a false prophet. Many other things like these could be said; if we wanted to go through them all, no time would be enough for us to complete them all. So I thought it more than enough to have said a few things out of many, leaving the remaining parts of this treatise to those who wish to pursue them more fully."

When they heard this, they gave glory to God, immense and worthy of him, and showed Archelaus many honours. Then Marcellus, rising and taking off his robe, put it around Archelaus, embraced him, fastened on him with kisses, and clung to him. Then the children, who happened to have gathered first, began to drive Manes away and put him to flight; the rest of the crowd followed them and roused itself to chase Manes off. When Archelaus saw this, raising his voice like a trumpet, wishing to restrain the multitude, he said: "Stop, beloved brothers, lest we be found guilty of blood on the day of judgment; for it is written of such men that there must be heresies among you, so that those who are approved may be made manifest among you." And with these words the crowds were calmed.

Since it pleased Marcellus that this disputation should be taken down and written out, I could not refuse, trusting in the kindness of my readers that they will pardon me if the speech sounds unskilled or rustic; for this is all we are eager for, that the knowledge of what took place should not be hidden from anyone who is eager to learn.

Then Manes, having fled, appeared nowhere. Turbo was handed over by Marcellus to Archelaus as his minister, and when Archelaus had ordained him deacon, he remained in Marcellus's household. Manes, fleeing, came to a certain village far from the city, which was called Diodorus's. The presbyter of that place was himself also named Diodorus, a quiet and gentle man, of very good faith and reputation. And when one day Manes had gathered a crowd and was haranguing them, asserting to the people who stood by certain strange things foreign to the tradition of the fathers, fearing no one at all who could oppose him, Diodorus, seeing his wickedness advance, decided to send Archelaus a letter containing the following.

"Diodorus to Bishop Archelaus, greeting. I want you to know, most religious father, that in these days a certain man named Manes has come to our parts, who promises that he fulfils the teaching of the New Testament. And some of the things he said were of our faith, but some he asserted were far different from those which have come down to us by the tradition of the fathers. For he interpreted some things in a strange way, and added to them things of his own, which seemed to me very foreign and faithless. Because of these things I was moved to write this to you, knowing the perfect and most full sense of your teaching, since nothing of these things can be hidden from you; and so I am confident that you cannot be kept by ill will from explaining these things to us. Although I myself could not be inclined to any other opinion, yet for the sake of the simple I have been compelled to beg the word of your authority. For indeed he appears a very forceful man, both in word and in deed, and also in his very look and dress. I write to you a few things, (which) I can remember of what he said, knowing that from these you will understand the rest too.

"You know that those who want to assert some doctrine have this habit: whatever they wish to take from the Scriptures, they twist rather readily by their own understanding. But the apostolic word anticipates them and marks them, saying: 'If anyone proclaims to you anything besides what you have received, let him be accursed.' So after what has once been handed down by the apostles, a disciple of Christ must not receive anything else. But not to draw the letter out at length, I return to my purpose. He said, to put it briefly, that the law of Moses is not of the good God but of the evil prince, and that it has no kinship at all with the new law of Christ, but is contrary and hostile, the one opposing the other. When I heard this, I told him the word of the Gospel, how our Lord Jesus Christ said: 'I have not come to abolish the law, but to fulfil it.' But he said that he had by no means said this word; for since we find that he did abolish the law itself, we must rather understand what he did. Then he began to cite very many things from the law, and many also from the Gospel and the apostle Paul, which seemed to him to be contrary; and he says these things with confidence and fears nothing; I believe it is because he has as his helper that dragon who is always our enemy.

"He said, then, that there God said: 'I make rich and poor'; but here Jesus called the poor blessed. He added also that no one can be his disciple unless he renounces all that he has; but there Moses, taking silver and gold from the Egyptians, fled with the people from Egypt; while Jesus commanded that nothing of one's neighbour is to be desired. Then, that the one provided in the law that an eye be paid for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; while our Lord commanded that to one who strikes one cheek the other also be offered. That there Moses commanded that the man who had done work on the sabbath and had not continued in all that is written in the law be punished and stoned, as was done to him who, still in ignorance, had gathered a bundle of wood on the sabbath; while Jesus commanded the man he had healed to carry his bed even on the sabbath, and did not forbid his disciples on the sabbath day to pluck ears of grain and rub them in their hands, which was certainly not lawful on sabbaths.

"And why should I say more? Doctrines of this kind were affirmed by him with many and various assertions, with the utmost effort and zeal. For on the authority of the apostle he tried to assert that the law of Moses is a law of death, but the law of Jesus a law of life, through what he says: 'Who has also made us competent ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, formed in letters on stones, came in glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, which was being done away, how will the ministry of the spirit not be more in glory? For if the ministry of condemnation is glory, much more will the ministry of righteousness abound in glory. For what was made glorious has not been glorified in this respect, because of the glory that surpasses it; for if what is being done away came through glory, much more what remains is in glory.' But this, as you know, is in the second letter to the Corinthians. And he adds from the first letter, saying that the disciples of the Old Testament are earthly and natural, and that therefore flesh and blood cannot possess the kingdom of God. He said too that Paul himself asserted in his own person what he says: 'If I build again what I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor'; and that the same apostle most evidently said of circumcision of the flesh that he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh (that is outward, nor is that which), and that the law according to the letter retains no usefulness at all. And again, that Abraham has glory, but not before God; and that only knowledge of sin comes through the law.

"And he put in many other things too in disparagement of the law, as that the law itself is sin; and by these the simple were moved as he spoke. And he said that the law and the prophets were until John; and he said that John preached the kingdom of heaven, and that by the cutting off of his head it was indicated that, all the former and earlier things being cut off, only the later are to be kept. To these things, then, most religious Archelaus, write back to us briefly; for I have heard that your zeal in such matters is not small. For it is a gift of God, since God gives these gifts to those who are worthy and his friends, joined to him in fellowship of purpose. For it is ours to prepare our purpose and to draw near to a kind and rich mind, and at once we obtain the most generous gifts from it. Since, then, the learning of my speech is not equal to my wish and purpose (for I confess that I am unlearned), I have sent to you, as I have often said, to receive the fullest solution of this question. Farewell, incomparable and honourable father."