Refutation of All Heresies, Book 1, preface 6

Hippolytus of Rome · Refutation of All Heresies · ca. 222–235 · Rome · Read in context

Authorship disputed: The work names no author. Book 1 was long printed among Origen's works as the Philosophumena; after books 4–10 were found in a manuscript from Mount Athos (published 1851), it was assigned to Hippolytus, the usual view today, though some scholars ascribe it to another Roman writer of the same circle. Books 2 and 3 are lost, and book 4 lacks its beginning.

Summary: Only the Holy Spirit given to the church can refute heresy, and Hippolytus, as a successor of the apostles, must guard the church and teach.

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Greek text · Duncker–Schneidewin, 4–6

Ταῦτα δὲ ἕτερος οὐκ ἐλέγξει, ἢ τὸ ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ παραδοθὲν ἅγιον πνεῦμα, οὗ τυχόντες πρότεροι οἱ ἀπόστολοι μετέδοσαν τοῖς ὀρθῶς πεπιστευκόσιν· ὧν ἡμεῖς διάδοχοι τυγχάνοντες τῆς τε αὐτῆς χάριτος μετέχοντες ἀρχιερατείας τε καὶ διδασκαλίας καὶ φρουροὶ τῆς ἐκκλησίας λελογισμένοι οὐκ ὀφθαλμῷ νυστάζομεν, οὐδὲ λόγον ὀρθὸν σιωπῶμεν, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ πάσῃ ψυχῇ καὶ σώματι ἐργαζόμενοι κάμνομεν ἄξια ἀξίως θεῷ τῷ εὐεργέτῃ ἀνταποδιδόναι πειρώμενοι, καὶ οὐδὲ οὕτως κατʼ ἀξίαν ἀνταμειβόμενοι, πλὴν ἐν οἷς πεπιστεύμεθα μὴ ἀτονοῦντες, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ἰδίου καιροῦ τὰ μέτρα ἐπιτελοῦντες, καὶ ὅσα τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα πᾶσιν ἀφθόνως κοινωνοῦντες·

English · Claude translation

No one else will refute these things than the Holy Spirit handed down in the church, which the apostles first received and imparted to those who rightly believed. We, being their successors and sharing in the same grace of high priesthood and of teaching, and counted guardians of the church, do not slumber with our eye nor keep silent the right word; nor do we grow weary working with all our soul and body, trying to render fitting return to God our benefactor, and even so not repaying him as he deserves, except that we do not slacken in the things entrusted to us, but fulfil the measures of our own time, and share without grudging with all whatever the Holy Spirit gives;

About this passage

Source

Duncker–Schneidewin, 4–6 · Ludwig Duncker and F. G. Schneidewin, eds., S. Hippolyti episcopi et martyris Refutationis omnium haeresium librorum decem quae supersunt (Göttingen: Dieterich, 1859); section divisions from Paul Wendland, ed., Hippolytus Werke 3: Refutatio omnium haeresium, GCS 26 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1916) · Greek text: L. Duncker and F. G. Schneidewin, Refutationis omnium haeresium (Göttingen, 1859), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library; section divisions from P. Wendland (GCS 26, 1916), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin); both CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Duncker–Schneidewin. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5 (1886) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Its chapter numbers differ from the standard (Wendland) numbering used here.

Scripture

Ps 132:4 (131:4 LXX) · echo, low confidence

Topics

Church office, Heresy

Notes

Translation notes

Hippolytus claims apostolic succession and a share in the "high priesthood" (ἀρχιερατεία) and teaching office; the phrase is often taken as evidence that he held the office of bishop. "Not slumber with our eye" may echo Ps 132:4 (131:4 LXX).

Cite this passage

Hippolytus, Haer. 1.0.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/1/0/6/).

The SBL abbreviation for this work has not been checked yet.

Plain text

Hippolytus, Haer. 1.0.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/1/0/6/).

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