Refutation of All Heresies 5.8.12

Authorship disputed: The work names no author. Book 1 was long printed among Origen's works as the Philosophumena; after books 4–10 were found in a manuscript from Mount Athos (published 1851), it was assigned to Hippolytus, the usual view today, though some scholars ascribe it to another Roman writer of the same circle. Books 2 and 3 are lost, and book 4 lacks its beginning.

Summary: They teach that each person can only receive what fits his own nature.

Greek text · Duncker–Schneidewin, 154

Ἤιδει γὰρ, φησίν, ἐξ ὁποίας φύσεως ἕκαστος τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἐστὶ καὶ ὅτι ἕκαστον αὐτῶν εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν φύσιν ἐλθεῖν ἀνάγκη. Ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν δώδεκα, φησί, φυλῶν μαθητὰς ἐξελέξατο δώδεκα καὶ διʼ αὐτῶν ἐλάλησε πάσῃ φυλῇ· διὰ τοῦτο, φησί, τὰ τῶν δώδεκα μαθητῶν κηρύγματα οὔτε πάντες ἀκηκόασιν οὔτε, ἐὰν ἀκούσωσι, παραδέξασθαι δύνανται. Ἔστι γὰρ αὐτοῖς παρὰ φύσιν τὰ μὴ κατὰ φύσιν.

English · Claude translation

For he knew, he says, of what nature each of his disciples was, and that each of them must go to his own nature. For from the twelve tribes, he says, he chose twelve disciples, and through them spoke to every tribe. Therefore, he says, not all have heard the preaching of the twelve disciples, nor, if they hear, can they receive it. For what is not according to their nature is against their nature for them.

About this passage

Source

Duncker–Schneidewin, 154 · Ludwig Duncker and F. G. Schneidewin, eds., S. Hippolyti episcopi et martyris Refutationis omnium haeresium librorum decem quae supersunt (Göttingen: Dieterich, 1859); section divisions from Paul Wendland, ed., Hippolytus Werke 3: Refutatio omnium haeresium, GCS 26 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1916) · Greek text: L. Duncker and F. G. Schneidewin, Refutationis omnium haeresium (Göttingen, 1859), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library; section divisions from P. Wendland (GCS 26, 1916), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin); both CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Duncker–Schneidewin. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5 (1886) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Its chapter numbers differ from the standard (Wendland) numbering used here.

Topics

Heresy

Cite this passage

Hippolytus, Haer. 5.8.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/5/8/12/).

The SBL abbreviation for this work has not been checked yet.

Plain text

Hippolytus, Haer. 5.8.12 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/5/8/12/).