Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 3.2
When they are refuted from the Scriptures, they turn around and accuse the Scriptures themselves, as if the Scriptures were not rightly constituted, lacked authority, and contradicted themselves because they were expressed in various ways. They claim that truth cannot be discovered from the Scriptures by those who do not know the tradition. After all, the tradition was handed down not in writing, but by living voice. That is why Paul said, "We speak wisdom among the mature, yet a wisdom not of this world" (1 Corinthians 2:6-7). Each of these heretics then claims that this wisdom is exactly what he has discovered on his own — an obvious fiction — so that truth may appear worthy on his own terms: at one time in Valentinus, at another in Marcion, then in Cerinthus, later in Basilides, and even in the one who argues against the rest, though he could speak nothing that saves. Every single one of them is thoroughly perverted, yet he preaches without shame, making himself the standard of truth.
But when we appeal to the tradition that comes from the Apostles — the tradition preserved in the Churches through the succession of Presbyters — they reject it. They boast that they are wiser not only than the Presbyters but even than the Apostles, because they have found the pure truth. They allege that the Apostles mixed legalistic elements into the Savior's words, and not only the Apostles but the Lord Himself: sometimes speaking from the Demiurge, sometimes from the Middle, sometimes from the Highest. They themselves, they claim, know the hidden mystery without doubt, without stain, purely. But this is nothing less than blaspheming their own Maker with utter insolence. Consequently, they agree with neither the Scriptures nor the tradition. Our struggle, dear friend, is against men who slip away on every side like slippery serpents. Therefore we must resist them on every side, so that by refuting them we may, if possible, bring some of them to the conversion of truth. For although it is not easy for a soul seized by error to recover, it is not entirely impossible to escape error when the truth is set before it.
Latin
1. Cvum enim ex Seripturis arguuntur, in accusationem con-vertuntur ipsarum Seripturarum, quasi non recte habeant, neque sint ex auctoritate, et quia varie sint dictez, et quia non possit ex his inveniri veritas ab his qui nesciant traditionem. Non enim per literas traditam illam, sed per vivam vocem: ob quam causam et Paulum dixisse: Sapientiam autem loquimur inter perfectos: sapientiam autem non mundi hujus. Et hane sapientiam unusquisque eorum esse dicit, quam a semetipso adinvenit, fictionem videlicet, ut digne secundum eos sit veritas, aliquando quidem in Valentino, aliquando autem in Marcione, aliquando in Cerintho, postea deinde in Basilide, fuit aut et in illo qui contra disputat, qui nihil salutare loqui potuit. Unusquisque enim ipsorum omnimodo perversus, semetipsum regulam veritatis depravans preedicare non confunditur, ' 2. Cum autem ad eam iterum traditionem, que est ab Apostolis, quee per successiones Presbyterorum in Ecclesiis. custoditur, provocamus eos, adversantur traditioni, dicentes se non solum Presbyteris, sed etiam A postolis exsistentes sapientiores, sinceram invenisse veritatem. Apostolos enim admiscuisse ea que sunt legalia Salvatoris verbis: et non solum Apostolos, sed etiam ipsum Dominum, modo quidem a Demiurgo, modo autem a medietate, interdum autem a summitate fecisse sermones : se vero indubitate, et intaminate, et sincere absconditum scire mysterium: quod quidem impudentissime est blasphemare suum factorem. Eyenit itaque, neque Scripturis jam, neque traditioni consentire eos. Adversus tales certamen nobis est, o dilectissime, more serpentum lubrici [7. lubrice] undique effugere conantes. Quapropter undique resistendum est illis, si quos ex his retusione confundentes, ad conversionem veritatis adducere possimus. Etenim si non facile est ab errore apprehensam resipiscere animam, sed non omnimodo impossibile est errorem effugere apposita veritate.