Refutation of All Heresies 5.7.19

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: They claim Paul's words hide their mystery, and that their baptism brings unfading pleasure.

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Greek text · Duncker–Schneidewin, 140

Ἐν γὰρ τούτοις τοῖς λόγοις, οἷς εἴρηκεν ὁ Παῦλος, ὅλον φασὶ συνέχεσθαι τὸ κρύφιον αὐτῶν καὶ ἄρρητον τῆς μακαρίας μυστήριον ἡδονῆς. Ἡ γὰρ ἐπαγγελία τοῦ λουτροῦ οὐκ ἄλλη τίς ἐστι κατʼ αὐτούς, ἢ τὸ εἰσαγαγεῖν εἰς τὴν ἀμάραντον ἡδονὴν τὸν λουόμενον κατʼ αὐτοὺς ζῶντι ὕδατι καὶ χριόμενον ἀλάλῳ χρίσματι.

English · Claude translation

For in these words which Paul has spoken, they say, their whole hidden and unspeakable mystery of blessed pleasure is contained. For the promise of the washing, according to them, is nothing other than bringing into unfading pleasure the one who is washed, according to them, in living water and anointed with an unspeakable anointing.

About this passage

Source
Duncker–Schneidewin, 140 · 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
Topics
Heresy, Baptism

Notes

Translation notes

  • "Living water" may echo John 4:10.

Cite this passage

Hippolytus, Haer. 5.7.19 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/5/7/19/).

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Plain text
Hippolytus, Haer. 5.7.19 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/5/7/19/).

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