On Marcellina Prima
Carpocratians mark their own disciples by branding them on the back part of the right ear. And so Marcellina, who came to Rome under Anicetus, since she was of these doctrines, led many to ruin.
They called themselves "gnostics."
And they have certain images, some painted, and some also fashioned from other material, saying that the form of Christ was made by Pilate at that time when Jesus was with men.
And these they crown, and display them alongside images of the philosophers of the world, namely with the image of Pythagoras and Plato, and Aristotle and the rest, and they perform the remaining observance concerning them in like manner as the gentiles do.
On The Demiurge
But Carpocrates and those who follow him say that the world and the things which are in it were made by angels greatly inferior to the unbegotten Father.
The accuser is one of those angels who made the world, and that he was formed for this purpose: to lead the souls of the dead to the judge. Upon judgement, the accuser then delivers souls to another angel, the jailer, who transfers each soul into new bodies appropriate for their sentence;
On Metempsychosis
Carpocratians say the body is "a prison" for the soul.
They affirm that for this reason Jesus spoke the following parable: "While you are with your adversary on the way, give all diligence, that you may be delivered from him, lest he give you up to the judge, and the judge surrender you to the officer, and he cast you into prison. Verily, I say unto you, you shall not go out thence until you pay the very last farthing."
They deem it necessary, therefore, that by means of transmigration from body to body, souls should have experience of every kind of life as well as every kind of action.
On Christology
Carpocratians believe that Jesus was the son of Joseph and Mary, born from sexual relations like the rest of us.
A power descended upon him from heaven, and with this power, he escaped from this world. After evading the angels and remaining a free spirit, he ascended to the Father. And a Carpocratian who emulates Jesus is capable of the same thing.
Jesus, despite having been raised Jewish and mastering The Law, regarded its instruction with contempt.
This is why Carpocratians act without concern for God's judgement: so that very same power could descend upon them, as it did for Jesus.
On Soteriology
I can hardly believe that all the ungodly, unlawful, and forbidden things of which we read in their books are really done among them.
And in their books we read as follows, this is their own explanation [of their views],
‘We are saved, indeed, by means of faith and love; but all other things, while in their nature indifferent, are reckoned by the opinion of men—some good and some evil, there being nothing really evil by nature.’
So unbridled is their madness, that they declare they have in their power all things which are irreligious and impious, and are at liberty to practise them; for they maintain that things are evil or good, simply in virtue of human opinion.
On Magic
They practise also magical arts and incantations; philters, also, and love-potions; and have recourse to familiar spirits, dream-sending demons, and other abominations, declaring that they possess power to rule over, even now, the princes and formers of this world; and not only them, but also all things that are in it.
These people, like the pagans, were sent by Satan to disgrace the name of the Church—so that outsiders, hearing their teachings and assuming all Christians are alike, would turn from the truth; or seeing their conduct, would condemn us all.
We share nothing "in commonality" with them: neither doctrine, nor morals, nor way of life.
