Irenaeus

168 Irenaeus: Life, Scripture, Legacy

of Son and of Word, and the union of Son to Word, and both to the Father.”^17 Irenaeus
writes that the Marcosians interpret Genesis 1:1 in a similar fashion. The initial passage
of Genesis sets fourth the Tetrad: God, the beginning, the heavens, and the earth.^18 We
find similar descriptions of titles throughout his accounting of the various Gnostic
systems in the first book of Hae r.. The Gnostic revisionist framework tends toward the
isolation of key terms and texts and identifies new Gnostic characters at work within
these narratival and dialogical accounts.
In addition to the identification of aeons and isolated titles, there are several exam-
ples of the Gnostics incorporating the scriptural accounts into their mythical specula-
tions. These commonly draw upon the narrative accounts of the Pentateuch, especially
the creation accounts in Genesis. In Hae r. I.5.3-6, it is the Demiurge and Achamoth
involved in the creation of the world and humankind. There are several allusions to
Genesis texts, all of which must be understood from the Gnostic perspective with these
various aeons functioning as their referent. Thus, in Hae r. I.5.4, it is the Demiurge who
proclaims the words of Isa. 45:5-6/46:9, “I am God, beside me there is none other.”^19 It
is also important to note that the Gnostic reading of this text removes it from its con-
text in Isaiah and inserts it into the narratival context of the creation accounts. In Hae r.
I.30.6, the same text is mentioned amid his summary of the Ophite tradition. Again, it
is Jaldabaoth who proclaims the words of Isa. 45:5-6/46:9, but in this case, his Mother
responds: “Do not lie, Jaldabaoth, for there is above you the Father of all things, who
is the First-Man, and so is that Man who is in the Son of Man.”^20 Jaldabaoth, however,
is ignorant of his Mother and his various emanations are frightened by her voice. But
Jaldabaoth distracts them by proclaiming the words of Gen. 1:26, “Come let us make
man to the image.”^21 Thus, this cohort of aeons together with Jaldabaoth assemble the
first man. This assembling of texts demonstrates how, in the Gnostic framework, Isa.
45:5-6/46:9 is lifted out of its context and conformed to the creation account in Gen.
1:26. The passages are drawn together through their divine referents and create a new
narrative, where the creation of humankind in Genesis 1–2 includes a multitude of
divine persons. A similar account is found in Irenaeus’s description of the cosmologi-
cal system of Saturninus and Basilides. In this case, Gen. 1:26 is murmured among the
cohort of 365 angels who actually carry out the formation of humankind.^22 These inter-
changes demonstrate the Gnostic revisionist tendency to utilize dialogical passages of
scripture and incorporate them into their Gnostic cosmogony.^23 The Gnostic prosopo-
logical practice inserts new characters into the creation accounts and even creates new
dialogue and events that revise the relationships of the divine characters in Genesis.
In a similar fashion, the Gnostics demonstrate a kind of christological prosopologi-
cal exegesis, which involves the identification of the sayings and the deeds of Christ
with two different speakers or agents. Slusser notes this particular kind of Gnostic exe-
gesis.^24 For example, in Hae r. I.7.4, it is the Savior who actually speaks the words of the
centurion mentioned in the Gospel, “For I also am one having soldiers and servants
under my authority; and whatsoever I command they do.”^25 Irenaeus recognizes this
exegetical practice in Hae r. III.16.6, where he speaks of how the Gnostics separate the
titles “Jesus Christ” and apply particular sayings and actions in the scriptures to these
distinct persons.^26 Therefore, from Irenaeus’s perspective a Gnostic exegete approaches