First English translations of ancient Christian texts on the question that divided the early Church: is divinity the exclusive property of Christ, or a spark within all of us?
The Greek and Latin Fathers wrote extensively about theosis (θέωσις): the participation of humanity in the divine nature. The Gnostic teachers they opposed pushed the question further, arguing that a fragment of divine light is imprisoned within every human being, waiting to be liberated. These debates produced some of the most extraordinary theological writing in history. Most of it has never been translated into English.
Theosis Library publishes these texts for the first time in English, presented side by side with the original Latin or Greek so that every rendering can be checked, challenged, or improved. The translations are freely available under a Creative Commons license. Scholars, students, and anyone drawn to these questions are welcome to read, verify, and correspond.
From the Library
Filastrius of Brescia, Diversarum Hereseon Liber, Chapter 31: On Saturninus. Fourth century. Never before translated into English. On the divine spark sent to animate the body fashioned by angels.
Videns itaque uirtus superna quod illi hoc fecerunt, misit scintillam, quae correxit hominem et suscitauit et fecit eum uiuere. Scintillam itaque uolunt saluari, alia autem uirtutibus illis quae fecerunt dimitti ac derelinqui suspicantur.
Therefore the power above, seeing that they had done this, sent a spark (scintilla), which corrected man and raised him up and made him live. They hold, therefore, that the spark is saved, but that all else is given over and abandoned to those powers that made it.
Published
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The Book of Various Heresies, Chapters 29–43: The Gnostic Schools
Fifteen chapters covering every major Gnostic school known to the late fourth-century Church: the Simonians, Basilideans, Valentinians, Marcosians, Carpocratians, and the Barbelo-Gnostics. Parallel Latin and English throughout.
Forthcoming
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Refutation of All Heresies, Book VI, Chapters 24–37
The Valentinian theology in full: the divine Pleroma, the emanation of the aeons, the fall of Sophia, the Demiurge, and the divine spark imprisoned within humanity. -
Against Heresies, Book I
The earliest systematic account of Gnostic theology. Irenaeus catalogues Valentinian, Marcosian, and other Gnostic systems in extraordinary detail before arguing against them. -
Against the Valentinians
Tertullian at his most caustic: a satirical attack on Valentinian cosmology that preserves, in the act of mockery, a detailed portrait of beliefs the Church sought to erase. -
Against Arius, Book I
A Neoplatonist philosopher, converted in old age, brings the full apparatus of Platonic metaphysics to the question of Christ's divinity. Virtually unknown outside specialist circles.
An Open Project
These translations are published so they can be read, scrutinised, and improved. Every text is presented with the original language in parallel and links to the critical edition. If you are a scholar working with these texts, a student encountering them for the first time, or a reader who notices something we could render more faithfully: we would be glad to hear from you. Alternate translations, corrections, and suggestions are welcome at matt@theosislibrary.com.