By Water & Blood

Refutation of Valentinus and of those who reject John

At once first Valentinus, having dramatized thirty Aeons for us, thinking them from the thirtieth year of the Savior’s ascent and the completion of his age, not knowing that he did not live only thirty years,

but in the thirtieth he was baptized after completing twenty-nine years and ten months, on the twelfth of Athyr as I said before, the sixth before the Ides of November; and after these things having proclaimed an acceptable year of the Lord and seventy-four days that were contradicted from when he was baptized; then another year that was contradicted and seventy-four days that were contradicted, from when he was baptized sixty days before his birthday;

so that all the years of his incarnate presence until the passion from the birth are thirty-two years and seventy-four days; and from the beginning of the consulship of Silanus and Nerva two years and one hundred thirty-four days. And here the aforesaid Valentinus has been refuted, and the many who rave after him.

And those who reject the Gospel according to John have also been refuted—whom I would justly call Alogi, since they reject the Word of God, the paternal God Word proclaimed through John, who came down from heaven and wrought salvation for us through his whole incarnate presence—

because from the consulships and from the years and from the composition of the prophet Isaiah and from the Gospel according to Luke and from that according to John and from that according to Matthew and from that according to Mark and, in a word, from every side those who have gone astray have been refuted,

in that he completed not only one Passover after the beginning of the preaching according to a yearly period of time, but also periods of three consulships, more or less, after the baptism from John.

And the account of those who do not follow has fallen utterly away from error and senselessness and ignorance—not only not knowing its own life, but also falsely campaigning in vain against the truth.