Philosophumena; or, The refutation of all heresies, Volume II
David Hume · en
[Footnote 1: The promises before noted at the end of Books VIII and IX
to declare the Doctrine of Truth says nothing of these epitomes, nor
do they always accord with the earlier Books which may be supposed to
be here epitomized. For a suggested explanation of this discrepancy
see Introduction, Vol. I, pp. 18, 19 _supra_. It should also be noted
that, while the author omits here any detailed mention of the contents
of Books II, III, and IV, he can hardly have had Book I before his
eyes at the time of writing, or he would have referred to it directly
instead of quoting as he does from Sextus Empiricus. As has been
said in the Introduction, the “epitome of the heresies” bears closer
relation to Books V-IX, although it omits several heresies included in
the epitomized books. That the writer, if not Hippolytus himself, is
at any rate writing in his name, is plain from the wording of chap.
5, _infra_, and we can hardly suppose a forger so reckless as not to
have read the earlier Books before attempting to epitomize them. On
the other hand, it is perfectly conceivable that Hippolytus had in his
possession notes from which his earlier Books were written, and that
of these only a part remained when he set to work to write Book X. It
would seem, therefore, that only some such hypothesis as that given in
the Introduction really fits the case.
As to the style of the Book it does not differ materially from that
of the others, save in one particular. This is the frequent omission
of the definite article, which is so frequent as to arouse suspicion
that the scribe may have been here translating from a Latin rather than
copying from a Greek original.]
[Footnote 2: This is the main reason for supposing that this Book is
that called the _Labyrinth_ which Photius says was by the author of
the work _On the Universe_, attributed by the list on the chair to
Hippolytus. Cf. Salmon in _D.C.B._, “Hippolytus Romanus.”]
[Footnote 3: All these were probably described in the missing Books II
and III, together with Book IV, _supra_.]
[Footnote 4: ἀκαλλώπιστος.]
[Footnote 5: Book I only is concerned with the teachings of the Greek
philosophers; but Books II and III must, according to the promise in
Vol. I, pp. 63, 64, have contained an exposition of the mystic rites
and astrological doctrine, and Book IV is entirely taken up with magic
and divination. This is confirmed by the statement in Vol. I, p. 119.
Hippolytus must therefore have forgotten this when writing Book X, or
at any rate did not have the earlier Books before him.]