Sophia Scriptura

Refutation of All Heresies 7.36.3

Hippolytus of Rome · Refutation of All Heresies · ca. 222–235 · Rome · Read in context

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: Hippolytus blames Nicolaus, one of the seven deacons, whose followers John rebuked in Revelation for sexual immorality and eating idol sacrifices.

Greek text · Duncker–Schneidewin, 408

Πολλῆς δὲ αὐτοῖς συστάσεως κακῶν αἴτιος γεγένηται Νικόλαος, εἷς τῶν ἑπτὰ εἰς διακονίαν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων κατασταθείς, ὃς ἀποστὰς τῆς κατʼ εὐθεῖαν διδασκαλίας ἐδίδασκεν ἀδιαφορίαν βίου τε καὶ βρώσεως, οὗ τοὺς μαθητὰς ἐνυβρίζοντας τὸ ἄγιον πνεῦμα διὰ τῆς ἀποκαλύψεως Ἰωάννης ἤλεγχε πορνεύοντας καὶ εἰδωλόθυτα ἐσθίοντας.

English · Claude translation

Nicolaus, one of the seven appointed to the diaconate by the apostles, became the cause of a great gathering of evils for them. Departing from right teaching, he taught indifference as to life and food; and John, through the Revelation, rebuked his disciples, who insulted the Holy Spirit, for committing sexual immorality and eating things sacrificed to idols.

About this passage

Source
Duncker–Schneidewin, 408 · 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.
Scripture
Topics
Heresy, Church office, Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • The allusions are Acts 6:5 and Rev 2:6, 14–15. πορνεύοντας is rendered “committing sexual immorality.”

Cite this passage

Hippolytus, Haer. 7.36.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7/36/3/).

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Plain text
Hippolytus, Haer. 7.36.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7/36/3/).

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