The winding up of this state of things is to take place when all the spiritual seed has become perfect in knowledge. Then Achamoth and the spiritual portion of every Gnostic will be elevated into the Fulness: the Creator, the animal souls of the Gnostics, with the souls of those who have been saved by faith and good works, will be raised to the intermediate heaven; and then the hidden fire will burst forth from this lower world and consume those souls which have not attained to salvation together with all material things, and with them will be reduced to nothing(689). The most remarkable feature in the scheme of Valentinus was his treatment of the Scriptures. He did not, like some of his predecessors, speak with contempt of them, as having proceeded from an imperfect Being. He did not like others reject the whole New Testament, as a figment of the “natural men,” as they called the orthodox, and substitute apocryphal writings in their place: nor did he again, like others, reject such portions of the Scriptures as militated strongly against their views. He professed to receive the whole of the Gospels and Apostolical writings, but he accommodated the Scripture to his views. Tertullian indeed(690) uses very different terms; viz. that he did not accommodate the Scripture to his views, but his views to the Scripture. It was certainly his endeavour to _appear_ so to do; and accordingly he adopted Scripture _language_ to a very great extent, and no doubt professed, like all modern teachers of false doctrine, to find all his doctrine in the Scripture: so that I believe we have only one instance of his reading a passage differently from the Church(691). Indeed he reproached the orthodox for not having preserved the true meaning: or rather looked down upon them as being naturally incapable of receiving it; being not spiritual, but natural and carnal.