Guthrie: Vida de Plotino XVI

XVI. PLOTINOS S POLEMIC AGAINST THE GNOSTICS.

At that time there were many Christians, among whom were prominent sectarians who had given up the ancient philosophy (of Plato and Pythagoras), such as Adelphius and Aquilinus. They esteemed and possessed the greater part of the works of Alexander of Lybia, of Philocomus, of Demostrates and of Lydus. They advertised the Revelations of Zoroaster, of Zostrian, of Nicotheus, of Allogenes, of Mesus, and of several others. These sectarians deceived a great number of people, and even deceived themselves, in sisting that Plato had not exhausted the depths of in telligible “being,” or essence. That is why Plotinos refuted them at length in his lectures, and wrpte the book that we have named “Against the Gnostics.” The rest (of their books) he left me to investigate. Amelius wrote as much as forty books to refute the work of Zostrian; and as to me, I demonstrated by numerous proofs that this alleged Zoroastrian book was apo cryphal, and had only recently been written by those of that ilk who wished to make people believe that their doctrines had been taught by Zoroaster.