[227]. See below, p. [107] sq.
[228]. Col. ii. 8–23. Hilgenfeld (Der Gnosticismus etc. p. 250 sq.) contends strenuously for the separation of the two elements. He argues that ‘these two tendencies are related to one another as fire and water, and nothing stands in the way of allowing the author after the first side-glance at the Gnostics to pass over with ver. 11 to the Judaizers, with whom Col. ii. 16 sq. is exclusively concerned.’ He supposes therefore that ii. 8–10 refers to ‘pure Gnostics,’ and ii. 16–23 to ‘pure Judaizers.’ To this it is sufficient to answer (1) That, if the two elements be so antagonistic, they managed nevertheless to reconcile their differences; for we find them united in several Judæo-Gnostic heresies in the first half of the second century, ξυνώμοσαν γάρ, ὄντες ἔχθιστοι τὸ πρίν, πῦρ καὶ θάλασσα, καὶ τὰ πίστ’ ἐδειξάτην; (2) That the two passages are directly connected together by τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου, which occurs in both vv. 8, 20; (3) That it is not a simple transition once for all from the Gnostic to the Judaic element, but the epistle passes to and fro several times from the one to the other; while no hint is given that two separate heresies are attacked, but on the contrary the sentences are connected in a logical sequence (e.g. ver. 9 ὅτι, 10 ὃς, 11 ἐν ᾧ, 12 ἐν ᾧ, 13 καὶ, 16 οὖν). I hope to make this point clear in my notes on the passage.
The hypothesis of more than one heresy is maintained also by Heinrichs (Koppe N. T. VII. Part 2, 1803). At an earlier date it seems to be favoured by Grotius (notes on ii. 16, 21); but his language is not very explicit. And earlier still Calvin in his argument to the epistle writes, ‘Putant aliqui duo fuisse hominum genera, qui abducere tentarent Colossenses ab evangelii puritate,’ but rejects this view as uncalled for.
The same question is raised with regard to the heretical teachers of the Pastoral Epistles, and should probably be answered in the same way.
[229]. The chief authorities for the history of Gnosticism are Neander Church History II. p. 1 sq.; Baur Die Christliche Gnosis (Tübingen, 1835); Matter Histoire Critique du Gnosticisme (2nd ed., Strasbourg and Paris, 1843); R. A. Lipsius Gnosticismus in Ersch u. Gruber s.v. (Leipzig, 1860); and for Gnostic art, King Gnostics and their Remains (London 1864).
[230]. See esp. Iren. i. 6. 1 sq., Clem. Alex. Strom. ii. p. 433 sq. (Potter). On the words τέλειοι, πνευματικοί, by which they designated the possessors of this higher gnosis, see the notes on Col. i. 28, and Phil. iii. 15.
[231]. See Neander l.c. p. 1 sq., from whom the epithet is borrowed.
[232]. The fathers speak of this as the main question about which the Gnostics busy themselves; Unde malum? πόθεν ἡ κακία; Tertull. de Præscr. 7, adv. Marc. I. 2, Eus. H.E. v. 27; passages quoted by Baur Christliche Gnosis p. 19. On the leading conceptions of Gnosticism see especially Neander, l.c. p. 9 sq.
[233]. On this point see Clem. Strom. iii. 5 (p. 529) εἰς δύο διελόντες πράγματα ἁπάσας τὰς αἱρέσεις ἀποκρινώμεθα αὐτοῖς· ἢ γάρ τοι ἀδιαφόρως ζῆν διδάσκουσιν, ἢ τὸ ὑπέρτονον ἄγουσαι ἐγκράτειαν διὰ δυσσεβείας καὶ φιλαπεχθημοσύνης καταγγέλλουσι, with the whole passage which follows. As examples of the one extreme may be instanced the Carpocratians and Cainites: of the other the Encratites.
[234]. See for instance the description of the Carpocratians in Iren. i. 25. 3 sq., ii. 32. 1 sq., Hippol. Hær. vii. 32, Epiphan. Hær. xxvii. 2 sq.; from which passages it appears that they justified their moral profligacy on the principle that the highest perfection consists in the most complete contempt of mundane things.