Editing Basilides (section)

==Sources==

===Church Fathers===
Historians know of Basilides and his teachings mainly through the writings of his detractors, and it is impossible to determine how reliable these accounts are.{{citation needed|date=April 2011}} The oldest refutation of the teachings of Basilides, by [[Agrippa Castor]], is lost,{{citation needed|date=April 2011}} and we are dependent upon the later accounts of:<ref name=Arendzen>Arendzen 1913.</ref>
*[[Eusebius of Caesarea]], ''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Ecclesiastical History]]'', [[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume I/Church History of Eusebius/Book IV/Chapter 7|Book IV, Chapter vii]], written around the 4th century.
*[[St. Clement of Alexandria]], ''[[Stromata]]'', Book I, Chapter xxi; Book II, Chapters vi, viii, and xx; Book IV, Chapters xi, xii, and xxv; Book V, Chapter I, etc., written between 208 and 210, and the so-called ''Excerpta ex Theodoto'' perhaps from the same hand.
*[[St. Hippolytus of Rome]], ''[[Philosophumena]]'', Book VII, written about 225.
*Pseudo-Tertullian, ''Against All Heresies'', a little treatise usually attached to [[Tertullian]]'s ''De Praescriptionibus'', but really by another hand, perhaps by Victorinus of Pettau, written about 240 and based upon a non-extant "Compendium" of St. Hippolytus.
*[[St. Epiphanius of Salamis]], ''[[Panarion]]'', Book I, Sect xxiv.
*[[Theodoret of Cyrus]], ''Compendium of Heretical Accounts'', Book I, Chapter iv.

===Writings of Basilides===
Nearly everything Basilides wrote has been lost, but the names of three of his works and fragments are available in the present day:{{citation needed|date=April 2011}}<!--needed for the list-->
*Fragments of the Exegetica are available from St. Clement of Alexandria in his ''Stromata'', Book IV, Chapter 12, and from Archelaus in his ''Acts of the Disputation with Manes'', Chapter 55, and probably also from [[Origen]] in his ''Commentary on Romans V'', Book I.
*Origen states that  "Basilides had even the audacity to write a [[Gospel of Basilides|Gospel according to Basilides]]",<ref>{{harvnb|Hort|1911}} cites Origen, ''Homilies on Luke'' 1.1.</ref> and both [[St. Jerome]]<ref>{{harvnb|Hort|1911}} cites St. Jerome, ''Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew'' Prologue</ref> and [[St. Ambrose]]<ref>{{harvnb|Hort|1911}} cites Ambrose, ''Expositio, Euangelii,'' Lucae i.2.</ref> repeat Origen. Yet no trace of a Gospel by Basilides exists elsewhere; and it is possible either that Origen misunderstood the nature of the ''Exegetica,'' or that the Gospel was known under another name.<ref>{{harvnb|Hort|1911}} cites Cf. Hilgenfeld, ''Clem. Rec. u. Hom.'' 123 ff.</ref>
*Origen in a note on Job, xxi, 1 sqq.,{{citation needed|date=April 2011}} speaks of "Odes" of Basilides.{{sfn|Hort|1911}}

===Other works===
Some fragments are known through the work of Clement of Alexandria:{{citation needed|date=April 2011}}
* The Octet of Subsistent Entities (Fragment A)
* The Uniqueness of the World (Fragment B)
* Election Naturally Entails Faith and Virtue (Fragment C)
* The State of Virtue (Fragment D)
* The Elect Transcend the World (Fragment E)
* Reincarnation (Fragment F)
* Human Suffering and the Goodness of Providence (Fragment G)
* Forgivable Sins (Fragment H)

A book called ''Acts of the Disputation with Manes'', which was written during the close of the 3rd century or later, speaks about the Basilidean origins of [[Manichaeism]].{{sfn|Hort|1911}}

===Artifacts===
*Artistic remains of Gnosticism such as [[Abrasax]] gems, and literary remains like the ''[[Pistis Sophia]]'', the latter part of which probably dates back to the end of the 2nd century and, though not strictly Basilidian, yet illustrates early Alexandrian Gnosticism.{{citation needed|date=April 2011}}