Philastrius (also known as Filaster) of Brescia - in Latin, Brixia - was one of a number of ancient heresiographers (as we now call them). A heresiography is a catalogue of mostly Christian groups that in some way deviate from what is considered the true church and the correct belief. He is in some ways the most idiosyncratic and probably the most neglected of the Greek and Latin heresiographers. In this first look at his work, I will translate (from the text of Banterle 1991) and comment on heresies 10 and 103 (from a total of 156), both of which mention Hermes Trismegistus, and are an under-utilized source for the (un)history of Hermeticism.
Chapter 10.1. Another (group of heretics) are the Heliognosti, who are also called Deinvictaci. They worship (adorantes) the Sun, and say that the Sunknows all things which are of God, and also that only the Sun illuminates humanity, and that the Son offers them all their food. They do not realize that the Sun makes its course because it is in a position of servitude, (and that this course[?]) is established daily by God through Christ the Lord in the Holy Spirit, about whom it is written: "He who says to the sun that it should rise, and it rises, and that it should not rise, and it does not rise." (Job 9.7)
2. That vain pagan, Hermes Trismegistus, teaches that, after the all-powerful God, humans must worship none other than the Sun. It may be discerned that when he had travelled to the province of the Celts, he taught them, and that he persuaded them of this error so that they succumbed to it.
3. The Jews when they were in captivity (also) used to worship (adorabant) the Sun, as the prophet Hiezechiel condemns the Jews by way of accusation, and declares them guilty of an offence against His majesty, and proves it by witnessing, as is recorded in Scripture.
Heliognosti: roughly, 'Sun-Knowledge-ists'. They are only known from this account.
Deinvictiaci: This seems like a Latin formation from invictus, 'invincible', but I can't say what it might mean. (Is the first element from deus, 'God'? Even if there should be some connection to Sol Invictus, note that there was no "solar religion" devoted to such a god in late antiquity; this was an epithet of the Sun just as many gods titles like "Victor" and "Savior".)
They do not realize: It seems that the actual information about the Heliognosti's beliefs ends here, and that the rest is Filaster's opinions. This sentence's general meaning is clear, but I am somewhat uncertain about how exactly it hangs together syntactically.
Hermes Trismegistus teaches: Since Filaster says that Hermes' role "may be discerned", it seems that he is not reproducing the Heliognosti's own account of their origins, but inventing one. Specifically, he is discrediting them by connecting them to a pagan sage well known as a teacher of astrology, which would undercut their credibility as Christians. (Filaster does not say that they claimed to be Christian, but their inclusion in the catalogue makes little sense otherwise.) We do learn from this, however, that the sect was apparently located in the "province of the Celts", which may be Gaul.
Hiezechiel: Filaster's spelling of Ezekiel.
Chapter 103.1. There is another heresy which, following the vanity of the pagans, professes diverse names of the stars, like that Hermes Trismegistus ("Thrice-greatest") -who is rather to be judged vain than great - and certain poets like him, who deliriously name Comets and Pogonias and Hyades and Goats and others of this kind, while the Scriptura has given us (only) a few names of stars through the words of Job, the blessed prophet, before the pagans transferred the names of the stars from the holy scriptures.
2. And Hiob himself says: "He who made the Pleiades and the Bear and the Evening star and the treasure of the south and Orion and the Morning star." Therefore we take these names alone as announced from the holy scriptures; Scripture did not give the names of all stars, but reserved it to the power of God, declaring it through the prophet by saying thus: "He who enumerates the multitude of stars, and calls the names of all of them."
3. Picking up these few names from the holy scriptures, the poets and false philosophers thereafter dared, seizing (them?) with their lies, to also add many more and proclaim (these names that would be) the seeds of impiety to the world, so that (people) would believe they could hope to be able to comprehend the names of all stars or of most of them from these (= the philosophers? the names?), whereas only God Christ, through whom the Father made all things, will fix and know the names of all stars, and will call the names of each, as is recorded in Scripture.
There is another heresy: Many unnamed "heresies" in Filaster are rather opinions he disagrees with, some of them perhaps his own inventions. In this case, he is complaining about the fact that Christians used the pagan names for stars that are not mentioned in the Bible. Clearly, he was not familiar with Hebrew, since the Latin names of stars used in the Bible are very obviously not "transferred" from the Bible.
Hermes Trismegistus: Named as a prominent author of astrological treatises (now lost except for fragments).
Certain poets: He might mean mythological poetry about the translation of heroes, nymphs, etc. into constellations.Pogonias: a "bearded" comet.
Goats: "Haedi, a small double star in the hand of the Waggoner (Auriga)" (Lewis & Short).
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