114 Irenaeus: Life, Scripture, Legacyfellow worker, which is the mind (i.e., Nous) is requested for the only-begotten child. The
Nous is emanated, and glorifies both Christ and Barbelo. It is then stated that “because of
the word, Christ the divine autogenes created everything” (Ap. John 7.10-11).
Here then, the three beings which form the primal triad, that is the Father, Barbelo
the Mother, and Autogenes (the self-generated son), are clearly known and described
by both authors.^28 However, Irenaeus presents a summary of this protological myth
and, as one would expect, this is not an altogether sympathetic reading that would
attempt to understand the system on its own terms. Thus, in Irenaeus, there is no clear
description of the emanation of Barbelo as a feminine reflection of the self-thought of
the Father. Nor is the distinction in the emergence of the Son set forth, whereby the
Son emerges as a result of Barbelo’s vision of the Father.^29
Instead, Irenaeus describes the role of Autogenes in a number of statements he
presents as the essence of the group’s teaching on the origin of this being. First, he
states, “They also affirm that Autogenes was afterward sent forth from Ennoea and
Logos, to be a representation of the great light, and that he was greatly honored, all
things being rendered subject unto him. Along with him was sent forth Aletheia, and
a conjunction was formed between Autogenes and Aletheia” (Hae r. I.29.2). This close
link between Autogenes and Aletheia (“truth”), is also found in the Apocryphon. This
figure is named as “the divine Autogenes of truth” (Ap. John 7.24) and a couple of lines
later it is noted that the truth dwells in Autogenes (Ap. John 7.26). In terms of the series
of emanations, it is then noted that adherents to this thought-world “declare that from
the Light, which is Christ, and from Aphtharsia, four luminaries were sent forth to
surround Autogenes; and again from Thelema and Zoe Aionios four other emissions
took place, to wait upon these four luminaries; and these they name Charis (grace),
Thelesis (will), Synesis (understanding), and Phronesis (prudence)” (Hae r. I.29.2). In
the Apocryphon, in place of the pairing of thelēma (will) and zoē aiōnios (eternal life),
there is a triad: will, thought, and life. Therefore, Irenaeus appears to have dropped one
member of this triadic list, or alternatively, perhaps it was expanded at a later stage.
The four emissions named by Irenaeus as “grace, will, understanding and prudence”
are in the Apocryphon collectively termed “the four powers, understanding, grace, per-
ception, and prudence” (Ap. John 8.2-4). Once again, there is some minor variation in
terminology, but it is apparent that the overall schema referred to in both texts is the
same. The emanation of these beings is not recognized by Irenaeus as the author of the
Apocryphon represents it: that is, as ultimately an expression of the plenitude of the
Father which transcends notions of limitations of being. In this way, the cosmos is not
totally distanced from the Monad, yet its physicality cannot impact on the Father. As
Waldstein describes the outlook, “the cosmos is not something outside the Father and
additional to him, the Father’s desire and knowledge of himself contains his desire and
knowledge of all, including the cosmos.”^30
The final aspect of Irenaeus’s portrayal of the role of Autogenes that is mentioned
here is his generation of the perfect man. He states, “Autogenes moreover produces a
perfect and true man, whom they also call Adamas” (Hae r. I.29.3). This Adamas exists
in the realm between the primal triad and the lower world, where the corresponding
earthly Adam dwells deprived of light and exposed to death (Ap. John 20.25; 21.4).^31