Theodoret of Cyrus
Compendium of Heretical Fables 1.26
after 451 CE
experimental A.I.-assisted translation
2026
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NOTE |
Theodort of Cyrus (c. 393 – c. 458 CE) was a cleric and biblical commentator who was an active participant in the various theological controversies that rocked the Eastern church, particularly around Nestorianism. His last great work, the Compendium of Heretical Fables, was produced at the request of the East Roman statesman Flavius Sporacius, outlining in its first four books the various heresies that existed alongside Christianity. Among the longest of the many entries is 1.26, on Manichaeism. The translation below, made from the Greek text, a language in which I am not fluent, was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and therefore comes with the warning that I cannot fully guarantee its absolute accuracy. I have checked the translation against published translations of passages from the text, with which I found no disagreements, but the complete text of the passage has, to my knowledge, not been professionally translated into English.
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26. CONCERNING MANES.
Manes, they say, was by race a Persian, and for a very long time he bore the yoke of slavery, being called the slave of Scythianus. Having become heir of his mistress, he did not show gratitude when he unexpectedly came into wealth, nor did he praise the giver of good things; rather, he set his tongue in motion to blasphemy and impious myth‑making, becoming a most perfect instrument of the enemy of truth.
He declared that there are two unbegotten and eternal beings, God and Matter, and he named God “Light,” and Matter “Darkness”; and he added other names as well. For he called the Light a “good tree,” filled with good fruits; and Matter, an “evil tree,” bearing fruits corresponding to its root. He said that God had withdrawn from Matter and was wholly ignorant both of Matter and of itself, and that Matter likewise was ignorant of God. And he claimed that God possessed the northern, eastern, and western regions, while Matter possessed the southern.
After many ages, he said, Matter came into conflict with itself and its own fruits; and when war arose, with some pursuing and others fleeing, they reached the borders of the Light. Seeing the Light, they rejoiced in it, marveled at it, and desired with all their might to march against it, seize it, and mix their own darkness with the Light.
Thus—so the incoherent, babbling, and senseless myth says—Matter rushed forth with its demons, idols, fire, and water against the Light that had appeared. But God, terrified at this massed assault (for, he says, He had no fire with which to use thunderbolts and lightning, nor water to bring a flood, nor iron or any other weapon), devised the following stratagem: taking a portion of the Light, as a kind of bait and hook, He sent it toward Matter. Matter, approaching and spreading itself over it, swallowed what was sent and was ensnared, as if caught on a barbed hook.
From this, they say, God was compelled to fashion the world. But the parts of the world, they say, are not His works, but the works of Matter. He created (so they claim) in order to dissolve its structure and bring the warring elements into peace, so that gradually He might free the Light that had been mingled with Matter.
They also say that man was not formed by God, but by the ruler of Matter, whom they call Saklas; and that Eve likewise was produced by Saklas and Nebroel. Adam, they say, was created in the form of a beast, and Eve without soul or motion. But the virginal maiden, whom they call the daughter of the Light and name Ioel, they say imparted both life and light to Eve; and Eve freed Adam from his brutishness, but was later stripped of the Light. Saklas, they say, first lay with her and begot from her a beast‑formed child; and afterward he again consorted with her. Yet perhaps someone might reasonably blame me for tolerating the writing of such things. Therefore, leaving aside the rest of their myths and ravings, I shall briefly state the chief points of this impious heresy.
They call the sun and moon gods—sometimes calling the sun Christ, offering as sufficient proof the eclipse at the time of the crucifixion; sometimes saying that they are ships conveying the souls of the departed from Matter to the Light, for thus, they say, the Light is gradually freed from its evil mixture. And the moon, they say, becomes crescent and divided because it is emptied, receiving luminous souls from Matter and depositing them into the Light; and thus little by little the Light is freed from its evil mixture.
When the entire nature of the Light has been separated from Matter, then, they say, God will deliver Matter to fire and make it into a single clod, together with the souls that did not believe in Manes. The devil, they say, is sometimes Matter itself, sometimes the ruler of Matter. The devil’s marriage, they say, is the institution of law. And the charity shown to the poor they slander, saying it is a treatment for Matter.
They say that the Lord neither assumed a soul nor a body, but appeared as a man while having nothing human; and that the cross, the passion, and the death occurred only in appearance. They reject the resurrection of bodies as a myth, for they suppose no part of Matter worthy of salvation. They say that souls undergo transmigrations, some being sent into the bodies of birds, others of cattle, beasts, and reptiles. They think everything is ensouled—fire, water, air, plants, and seeds. Therefore their so‑called “perfect ones” neither break bread nor cut vegetables, and they openly reproach those who do these things as murderers—yet they themselves eat what is cut and broken.
They also employ sorceries to a remarkable degree, performing their difficult mysteries; and thus their teaching is hard to cleanse, and it is exceedingly difficult to remove from one who has shared in their foul rites the soul‑destroying influence of the demons, whose spells bind the souls of the initiated.
This Manes had three original disciples: Aldas, Thomas, and Hermas. He sent Aldas as a preacher to the Syrians, and Thomas to the Indians. When they returned, reporting that they had endured terrible hardships and that no one would accept Manes as a teacher, the utterly wicked man dared to call himself Christ, and to name himself the Holy Spirit, saying that he had been sent according to the promise of the Savior, who had pledged to send another Paraclete.
Having appointed twelve disciples in imitation of the Lord’s pattern, he came to the region between the rivers, fleeing the king of the Persians. Pretending he would heal the king’s son, who had fallen into some illness, he brought him into worse misfortunes. When he was driven out from there as an obvious adversary of God, and entered Persia, he was seized by the king, endured Persian punishment, was flayed of his skin, and given to dogs.
Such was the end of Manes; these are the chief points of his impious heresy. For if one wished to go through all the myths of this babbler, many books would be required. Such doctrines has the utterly wicked demon whispered into the minds of unholy men, employing such ambushers and captains as he marshals against the truth. But, to speak prophetically, he has woven a spider’s web. For the Master easily refuted the falsehood and dissolved the factions of its advocates.
Against the impiety of Manes wrote the noblest defenders of piety—Titus and Diodorus, the former shepherding the church of the Bostrenes, the latter guiding the metropolis of the Cilicians. Also wrote George of Laodicea, a man who supported the Arian sect but was trained in philosophical studies; and in addition Eusebius of Phoenicia, whom we mentioned earlier. But I shall now pass on to the next division.
He declared that there are two unbegotten and eternal beings, God and Matter, and he named God “Light,” and Matter “Darkness”; and he added other names as well. For he called the Light a “good tree,” filled with good fruits; and Matter, an “evil tree,” bearing fruits corresponding to its root. He said that God had withdrawn from Matter and was wholly ignorant both of Matter and of itself, and that Matter likewise was ignorant of God. And he claimed that God possessed the northern, eastern, and western regions, while Matter possessed the southern.
After many ages, he said, Matter came into conflict with itself and its own fruits; and when war arose, with some pursuing and others fleeing, they reached the borders of the Light. Seeing the Light, they rejoiced in it, marveled at it, and desired with all their might to march against it, seize it, and mix their own darkness with the Light.
Thus—so the incoherent, babbling, and senseless myth says—Matter rushed forth with its demons, idols, fire, and water against the Light that had appeared. But God, terrified at this massed assault (for, he says, He had no fire with which to use thunderbolts and lightning, nor water to bring a flood, nor iron or any other weapon), devised the following stratagem: taking a portion of the Light, as a kind of bait and hook, He sent it toward Matter. Matter, approaching and spreading itself over it, swallowed what was sent and was ensnared, as if caught on a barbed hook.
From this, they say, God was compelled to fashion the world. But the parts of the world, they say, are not His works, but the works of Matter. He created (so they claim) in order to dissolve its structure and bring the warring elements into peace, so that gradually He might free the Light that had been mingled with Matter.
They also say that man was not formed by God, but by the ruler of Matter, whom they call Saklas; and that Eve likewise was produced by Saklas and Nebroel. Adam, they say, was created in the form of a beast, and Eve without soul or motion. But the virginal maiden, whom they call the daughter of the Light and name Ioel, they say imparted both life and light to Eve; and Eve freed Adam from his brutishness, but was later stripped of the Light. Saklas, they say, first lay with her and begot from her a beast‑formed child; and afterward he again consorted with her. Yet perhaps someone might reasonably blame me for tolerating the writing of such things. Therefore, leaving aside the rest of their myths and ravings, I shall briefly state the chief points of this impious heresy.
They call the sun and moon gods—sometimes calling the sun Christ, offering as sufficient proof the eclipse at the time of the crucifixion; sometimes saying that they are ships conveying the souls of the departed from Matter to the Light, for thus, they say, the Light is gradually freed from its evil mixture. And the moon, they say, becomes crescent and divided because it is emptied, receiving luminous souls from Matter and depositing them into the Light; and thus little by little the Light is freed from its evil mixture.
When the entire nature of the Light has been separated from Matter, then, they say, God will deliver Matter to fire and make it into a single clod, together with the souls that did not believe in Manes. The devil, they say, is sometimes Matter itself, sometimes the ruler of Matter. The devil’s marriage, they say, is the institution of law. And the charity shown to the poor they slander, saying it is a treatment for Matter.
They say that the Lord neither assumed a soul nor a body, but appeared as a man while having nothing human; and that the cross, the passion, and the death occurred only in appearance. They reject the resurrection of bodies as a myth, for they suppose no part of Matter worthy of salvation. They say that souls undergo transmigrations, some being sent into the bodies of birds, others of cattle, beasts, and reptiles. They think everything is ensouled—fire, water, air, plants, and seeds. Therefore their so‑called “perfect ones” neither break bread nor cut vegetables, and they openly reproach those who do these things as murderers—yet they themselves eat what is cut and broken.
They also employ sorceries to a remarkable degree, performing their difficult mysteries; and thus their teaching is hard to cleanse, and it is exceedingly difficult to remove from one who has shared in their foul rites the soul‑destroying influence of the demons, whose spells bind the souls of the initiated.
This Manes had three original disciples: Aldas, Thomas, and Hermas. He sent Aldas as a preacher to the Syrians, and Thomas to the Indians. When they returned, reporting that they had endured terrible hardships and that no one would accept Manes as a teacher, the utterly wicked man dared to call himself Christ, and to name himself the Holy Spirit, saying that he had been sent according to the promise of the Savior, who had pledged to send another Paraclete.
Having appointed twelve disciples in imitation of the Lord’s pattern, he came to the region between the rivers, fleeing the king of the Persians. Pretending he would heal the king’s son, who had fallen into some illness, he brought him into worse misfortunes. When he was driven out from there as an obvious adversary of God, and entered Persia, he was seized by the king, endured Persian punishment, was flayed of his skin, and given to dogs.
Such was the end of Manes; these are the chief points of his impious heresy. For if one wished to go through all the myths of this babbler, many books would be required. Such doctrines has the utterly wicked demon whispered into the minds of unholy men, employing such ambushers and captains as he marshals against the truth. But, to speak prophetically, he has woven a spider’s web. For the Master easily refuted the falsehood and dissolved the factions of its advocates.
Against the impiety of Manes wrote the noblest defenders of piety—Titus and Diodorus, the former shepherding the church of the Bostrenes, the latter guiding the metropolis of the Cilicians. Also wrote George of Laodicea, a man who supported the Arian sect but was trained in philosophical studies; and in addition Eusebius of Phoenicia, whom we mentioned earlier. But I shall now pass on to the next division.
