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- Herausgeber: Jazzybee Verlag
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
"The Sacred Writings Of ..." provides you with the essential works among the Early Christian writings. The volumes cover the beginning of Christianity until before the promulgation of the Nicene Creed at the First Council of Nicaea. This volume contains the most known writings of Irenaeus, "On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis", today also called "On the Detection and Overthrow of Knowledge Falsely So Called", commonly called "Against Heresies", as well as fragments from other works.
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The Sacred Writings of Irenaeus
Contents:
St. Irenaeus – A Biography
The Sacred Writings of Irenaeus
INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO IRENAEUS AGAINST HERESIES.
Irenaeus Against Heresies
Book I
Preface.
Chapter I.-Absurd Ideas of the Disciples of Valentinus as to the Origin, Name, Order, and Conjugal Productions of Their Fancied Aeons, with the Passages of Scripture Which They Adapt to Their Opinions.
Chapter II.-The Propator Was Known to Mono-Genes Alone. Ambition, Disturbance, and Danger into Which Sophia Fell; Her Shapeless Offspring: She is Restored by Horos. The Production of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, in Order to the Completion of the Aeons. Manner of the Production of Jesus.
Chapter III.-Texts of Holy Scripture Used by These Heretics to Support Their Opinions.
Chapter IV.-Account Given by the Heretics of the Formation of Achamoth; Origin of the Visible World from Her Disturbances.
Chapter V.-Formation of the Demiurge; Description of Him. He is the Creator of Everything Outside of the Pleroma.
Chapter VI.-The Threefold Kind of Man Feigned by These Heretics: Good Works Needless for Them, Though Necessary to Others: Their Abandoned Morals.
Chapter VII.-The Mother Achamoth, When All Her Seed are Perfected, Shall Pass into the Pleroma, Accompanied by Those Men Who are Spiritual; The Demiurge, with Animal Men, Shall Pass into the Intermediate Habitation; But All Material Men Shall Go into Corruption. Their Blasphemous Opinions Against the True Incarnation of Christ by the Virgin Mary. Their Views as to the Prophecies. Stupid Ignorance of the Demiurge.
Chapter VIII.-How the Valentinians Pervert the Scriptures to Support Their Own Pious Opinions.
Chapter IX.-Refutation of the Impious Interpretations of These Heretics.
Chapter X.-Unity of the Faith of the Church Throughout the Whole World.
Chapter XI.-The Opinions of Valentinus, with Those of His Disciples and Others.
Chapter XII.-The Doctrines of the Followers of Ptolemy and Colorbasus.
Chapter XIII.-The Deceitful Arts and Nefarious Practices of Marcus.
Chapter XIV.-The Various Hypotheses of Marcus and Others. Theories Respecting Letters and Syllables.
Chapter XV.-Sige Relates to Marcus the Generation of the Twenty-Four Elements and of Jesus. Exposure of These Absurdities.
Chapter XVI.-Absurd Interpretations of the Marcosians.
Chapter XVII.-The Theory of the Marcosians, that Created Things Were Made After the Image of Things Invisible.
Chapter XVIII.-Passages from Moses, Which the Heretics Pervert to the Support of Their Hypothesis.
Chapter XIX.-Passages of Scripture by Which They Attempt to Prove that the Supreme Father Was Unknown Before the Coming of Christ.
Chapter XX.-The Apocryphal and Spurious Scriptures of the Marcosians, with Passages of the Gospels Which They Pervert.
Chapter XXI.-The Views of Redemption Entertained by These Heretics.
Chapter XXII.-Deviations of Heretics from the Truth.
Chapter XXIII.-Doctrines and Practices of Simon Magus and Menander.
Chapter XXIV.-Doctrines of Saturninus and Basilides.
Chapter XXV.-Doctrines of Carpocrates.
Chapter XXVI.-Doctrines of Cerinthus, the Ebionites, and Nicolaitanes.
Chapter XXVII.-Doctrines of Cerdo and Marcion.
Chapter XXVIII.-Doctrines of Tatian, the Encratites, and Others.
Chapter XXIX.-Doctrines of Various Other Gnostic Sects, and Especially of the Barbeliotes or Borborians.
Chapter XXX.-Doctrines of the Ophites and Sethians.
Chapter XXXI.-Doctrines of the Cainites.
Book II
Preface.
Chapter I.-There is But One God: the Impossibility of Its Being Otherwise.
Chapter III.-The Bythus and Pleroma of the Valentinians, as Well as the God of Marcion, Shown to Be Absurd; The World Was Actually Created by the Same Being Who Had Conceived the Idea of It, and Was Not the Fruit of Defect or Ignorance.
Chapter IV.-The Absurdity of the Supposed Vacuum and Defect of the Heretics is Demonstrated.
Chapter V.-This World Was Not Formed by Any Other Beings Within the Territory Which is Contained by the Father.
Chapter VI.-The Angels and the Creator of the World Could Not Have Been Ignorant of the Supreme God.
Chapter VII.-Created Things are Not the Images of Those Aeons Who are Within the Pleroma.
Chapter VIII.-Created Things are Not a Shadow of the Pleroma.
Chapter IX.-There is But One Creator of the World, God the Father: This the Constant Belief of the Church.
Chapter X.-Perverse Interpretations of Scripture by the Heretics: God Created All Things Out of Nothing, and Not from Pre-Existent Matter.
Chapter XI.-The Heretics, from Their Disbelief of the Truth, Have Fallen into an Abyss of Error: Reasons for Investigating Their Systems.
Chapter XII.-The Triacontad of the Heretics Errs Both by Defect and Excess: Sophia Could Never Have Produced Anything Apart from Her Consort; Logos and Sige Could Not Have Been Contemporaries.
Chapter XIII.-The First Order of Production Maintained by the Heretics is Altogether Indefensible.
Chapter XIV.-Valentinus and His Followers Derived the Principles of Their System from the Heathen; The Names Only are Changed.
Chapter XV.-No Account Can Be Given of These Productions.
Chapter XVI.-The Creator of the World Either Produced of Himself the Images of Things to Be Made, or the Pleroma Was Formed After the Image of Some Previous System; And So on a.d. Infinitum.
Chapter XVII.-Inquiry into the Production of the Aeons: Whatever Its Supposed Nature, It is in Every Respect Inconsistent; And on the Hypothesis of the Heretics, Even Nous and the Father Himself Would Be Stained with Ignorance.
Chapter XVIII.-Sophia Was Never Really in Ignorance or Passion; Her Enthymesis Could Not Have Been Separated from Herself, or Exhibited Special Tendencies of Its Own.
Chapter XIX.-Absurdities of the Heretics as to Their Own Origin: Their Opinions Respecting the Demiurge Shown to Be Equally Untenable and Ridiculous.
Chapter XX.-Futility of the Arguments Adduced to Demonstrate the Sufferings of the Twelfth Aeon, from the Parables, the Treachery of Judas, and the Passion of Our Saviour.
Chapter XXI.-The Twelve Apostles Were Not a Type of the Aeons.
Chapter XXII.-The Thirty Aeons are Not Typified by the Fact that Christ Was Baptized in His Thirtieth Year: He Did Not Suffer in the Twelfth Month After His Baptism, But Was More Than Fifty Years Old When He Died.
Chapter XXIII.-The Woman Who Suffered from an Issue of Blood Was No Type of the Suffering Aeon.
Chapter XXIV.-Folly of the Arguments Derived by the Heretics from Numbers, Letters, and Syllables.
Chapter XXV.-God is Not to Be Sought After by Means of Letters, Syllables, and Numbers; Necessity of Humility in Such Investigations.
Chapter XXVI.-"Knowledge Puffeth Up, But Love Edifieth."
Chapter XXVII.-Proper Mode of Interpreting Parables and Obscure Passages of Scripture.
Chapter XXVIII.-Perfect Knowledge Cannot Be Attained in the Present Life: Many Questions Must Be Submissively Left in the Hands of God.
Chapter XXIX.-Refutation of the Views of the Heretics as to the Future Destiny of the Soul and Body.
Chapter XXX.-Absurdity of Their Styling Themselves Spiritual, While the Demiurge is Declared to Be Animal.
Chapter XXXI.-Recapitulation and Application of the Foregoing Arguments.
Chapter XXXII.-Further Exposure of the Wicked and Blasphemous Doctrines of the Heretics.
Chapter XXXIII.-Absurdity of the Doctrine of the Transmigration of Souls.
Chapter XXXIV.-Souls Can Be Recognised in the Separate State, and are Immortal Although They Once Had a Beginning.
Chapter XXXV.-Refutation of Basilides, and of the Opinion that the Prophets Uttered Their Predictions Under the Inspiration of Different Gods.
Book III.
Preface.
Chapter I.-The Apostles Did Not Commence to Preach the Gospel, or to Place Anything on Record, Until They Were Endowed with the Gifts and Power of the Holy Spirit. They Preached One God Alone, Maker of Heaven and Earth.
Chapter II.-The Heretics Follow Neither Scripture Nor Tradition.
Chapter III.-A Refutation of the Heretics, from the Fact That, in the Various Churches, a Perpetual Succession of Bishops Was Kept Up.
Chapter IV.-The Truth is to Be Found Nowhere Else But in the Catholic Church, the Sole Depository of Apostolical Doctrine. Heresies are of Recent Formation, and Cannot Trace Their Origin Up to the Apostles.
Chapter V.-Christ and His Apostles, Without Any Fraud, Deception, or Hypocrisy, Preached that One God, the Father, Was the Founder of All Things. They Did Not Accommodate Their Doctrineto the Prepossessions of Their Hearers.
Chapter VI-The Holy Ghost, Throughout the Old Testament Scriptures, Made Mention of No Other God or Lord, Save Him Who is the True God.
Chapter VII.-Reply to an Objection Founded on the Words of St.paul (2 Corinthians 4:5). St. Paul Occasionally Uses Words Not in Their Grammatical, Sequence.
Chapter VIII.-Answer to an Objection, Arising from the Words of Christ (Matt. VI. 24). God Alone is to Be Really Called God and Lord, for He is Without Beginning and End.
Chapter IX.-One and the Same God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, is He Whom the Prophets Foretold, and Who Was Declared by the Gospel. Proof of This, at the Outset, from St. Matthew's Gospel.
Chapter X.-Proofs of the Foregoing, Drawn from the Gospels of Mark and Luke.
Chapter XI-Proofs in Continuation, Extracted from St. John's Gospel. The Gospels are Four in Number, Neither More Nor Less. Mystic Reasons for This.
Chapter XII.-Doctrine of the Rest of the Apostles.
Chapter XIII-Refutation of the Opinion, that Paul Was the Only Apostle Who Had Knowledge of the Truth.
Chapter XIV.-If Paul Had Known Any Mysteries Unrevealed to the Other Apostles, Luke, His Constant Companion and Fellow-Traveller, Could Not Have Been Ignorant of Them; Neither Could the Truth Have Possibly Lain Hid from Him, Through Whom Alone We Learn Many and Most Important Particulars of the Gospel History.
Chapter XV.-Refutation of the Ebionites, Who Disparaged the Authority of St. Paul, from the Writings of St. Luke, Which Must Be Received as a Whole. Exposure of the Hypocrisy, Deceit, and Pride of the Gnostics. The Apostles and Their Disciples Knew and Preached One God, the Creator of the World.
Chapter XVI.-Proofs from the Apostolic Writings, that Jesus Christ Was One and the Same, the Only Begotten Son of God, Perfect God and Perfect Man.
Chapter XVII.-The Apostles Teach that It Was Neither Christ Nor the Saviour, But the Holy Spirit, Who Did Descend Upon Jesus. The Reason for This Descent.
Chapter XVIII.-Continuation of the Foregoing Argument. Proofs from the Writings of St. Paul, and from the Words of Our Lord, that Christ and Jesus Cannot Be Considered as Distinct Beings; Neither Can It Be Alleged that the Son of God Became Man Merely in Appearance, But that He Did So Truly and Actually.
Chapter XIX.-Jesus Christ Was Not a Mere Man, Begotten from Joseph in the Ordinary Course of Nature, But Was Very God, Begotten of the Father Most High, and Very Man, Born' Of the Virgin.
Chapter XX.-God Showed Himself, by the Fall of Man, as Patient, Benign, Merciful, Mighty to Save. Man is Therefore Most Ungrateful, If, Unmindful of His Own Lot, and of the Benefits Held Out to Him, He Do Not Acknowledge Divine Grace.
Chapter XXI.-A Vindication of the Prophecy in Isaiah (VII. 14) Against the Misinterpretations of Theodotion, Aquila, the Ebionites, and the Jews. Authority of the Septuagint Version.arguments in Proof that Christ Was Born of a Virgin.
Chapter XXII.-Christ Assumed Actual Flesh, Conceived and Born of the Virgin.
Chapter XXIII.-Arguments in Opposition to Tatian, Showing that It Was Consonant to Divine Justice and Mercy that the First Adam Should First Partake in that Salvation Offered to All by Christ.
Chapter XXIV.-Recapitulation of the Various Arguments Adduced Against Gnostic Impiety Under All Its Aspects. The Heretics, Tossed About by Every Blast of Doctrine, are Opposed by the Uniform Teaching of the Church, Which Remains So Always, and is Consistent with Itself.
Chapter XXV.-This World is Ruled Providence of One God, Who is Both Endowed with Infinite Justice to Punish the Wicked, and with Infinite Goodness to Bless the Pious, and Impart to Them Salvation.
Elucidation.
Book IV.
Preface.
Chapter I.-The Lord Acknowledged But One God and Father.
Chapter II.-Proofs from the Plain Testimony of Moses, and of the Other Prophets, Whose Words are the Words of Christ, that There is But One God, the Founder of the World, Whom Our Lord Preached, and Whom He Called His Father.
Chapter III.-Answer to the Cavils of the Gnostics. We are Not to Suppose that the True God Can Be Changed, or Come to an End Because the Heavens, Which are His Throne and the Earth, His Footstool, Shall Pass Away.
Chapter IV.-Answer to Another Objection, Showing that the Destruction of Jerusalem, Which Was the City of the Great King, Diminished Nothing from the Supreme Majesty' And Power of God, for that This Destruction Was Put in Execution by the Most Wise Counsel of the Same God.
Chapter V.-The Author Returns to His Former Argument, and Shows that There Was But One God Announced by the Law and Prophets, Whom Christ Confesses as His Father, and Who, Through His Word, One Living God with Him, Made Himself Known to Men in Both Covenants.
Chapter VI.-Explanation of the Words of Christ, "No Man Knoweth the Father, But the Son," Etc.; Which Words the Heretics Misinterpret. Proof That, by the Father Revealing the Son, and by the Son Being Revealed, the Father Was Never Unknown.
Chapter VII.-Recapitulation of the Foregoing Argument, Showing that Abraham, Through the Revelation of the Word, Knew the Father, and the Coming of the Son of God. For This Cause, He Rejoiced to See the Day of Christ, When the Promises Made to Him Should Be Fulfilled. The Fruit of This Rejoicing Has Flowed to Posterity, Viz., to Those Who are Partakers in the Faith of Abraham, But Not to the Jews Who Reject the Word of God.
Chapter VIII.-Vain Attempts of Marcion and His Followers, Who Exclude Abraham from the Salvation Bestowed by Christ, Who Liberated Not Only Abraham, But the Seed of Abraham, by Fulfilling and Not Destroying the Law When He Healed on the Sabbath-Day.
Chapter IX.-There is But One Author, and One End to Both Covenants.
Chapter X.-The Old Testament Scriptures, and Those Written by Moses in Particular, Do Everywhere Make Mention of the Son of God, and Foretell His Advent and Passion. From This Fact It Follows that They Were Inspired by One and the Same God.
Chapter XI.-The Old Prophets and Righteous Men Knew Beforehand of the Advent of Christ, and Earnestly Desired to See and Hear Him, He Revealing Himself in the Scriptures by the Holy Ghost, and Without Any Change in Himself, Enriching Men Day by Day with Benefits, But Conferring Them in Greater Abundance on Later Than on Former Generations.
Chapter XII.-It Clearly Appears that There Was But One Author of Both the Old and the New Law, from the Fact that Christ Condemned Traditions and Customs Repugnant to the Former, While He Confirmed Its Most Important Precepts, and Taught that He Was Himself the End of the Mosaic Law.
Chapter XIII.-Christ Did Not Abrogate the Natural Precepts of the Law, But Rather Fulfilled and Extended Them. He Removed the Yoke and Bondage of the Old Law, So that Mankind, Being Now Set Free, Might Serve God with that Trustful Piety Which Becometh Sons.
Chapter XIV.-If God Demands Obedience from Man, If He Formed Man, Called Him and Placed Him Under Laws, It Was Merely for Man's Welfare; Not that God Stood in Need of Man, But that He Graciously Conferred Upon Man His Favours in Every Possible Manner.
Chapter XV.-At First God Deemed It Sufficient to Inscribe the Natural Law, or the Decalogue, Upon the Hearts of Men; But Afterwards He Found It Necessary to Bridle, with the Yoke of the Mosaic Law, the Desires of the Jews, Who Were Abusing Their Liberty; And Even to Add Some Special Commands, Because of the Hardness of Their Hearts.
Chapter XVI.-Perfect Righteousness Was Conferred Neither by Circumcision Nor by Any Other Legal Ceremonies. The Decalogue, However, Was Not Cancelled by Christ, But is Always in Force: Men Were Never Released from Its Commandments.
Chapter XVII.-Proof that God Did Not Appoint the Levitical Dispensation for His Own Sake, or as Requiring Such Service; For He Does, in Fact, Need Nothing from Men.
Chapter XVIII.-Concerning Sacrifices and Oblations, and Those Who Truly Offer Them.
Chapter XIX.-Earthly Things May Be the Type of Heavenly, But the Latter Cannot Be the Types of Others Still Superior and Unknown; Nor Can We, Without Absolute Madness, Maintain that God is Known to Us Only as the Type of a Still Unknown and Superior Being.
Chapter XX.-That One God Formed All Things in the World, by Means of the Word and the Holy Spirit: and that Although He is to Us in This Life Invisible and Incomprehensible, Nevertheless He is Not Unknown; Inasmuch as His Works Do Declare Him, and His Word Has Shown that in Many Modes He May Be Seen and Known.
Chapter XXI.-Abraham's Faith Was Identical with Ours; This Faith Was Prefigured by the Words and Actions of the Old Patriarchs.
Chapter XXII.-Christ Did Not Come for the Sake of the Men of One Age Only, But for All Who, Living Righteously and Piously, Had Believed Upon Him; And for Those, Too, Who Shall Believe.
Chapter XXIII.-The Patriarchs and Prophets by Pointing Out the Advent of Christ, Fortified Thereby, as It Were, the Way of Posterity to the Faith of Christ; And So the Labours of the Apostles Were Lessened Inasmuch as They Gathered in the Fruits of the Labours of Others.
Chapter XXIV.-The Conversion of the Gentiles Was More Difficult Than that of the Jews; The Labours of Those Apostles, Therefore Who Engaged in the Former Task, Were Greater Than Those Who Undertook the Latter.
Chapter XXV.-Both Covenants Were Prefigured in Abraham, and in the Labour of Tamar; There Was, However, But One and the Same God to Each Covenant.
Chapter XXVI.-The Treasure Hid in the Scriptures is Christ; The True Exposition of the Scriptures is to Be Found in the Church Alone.
Chapter XXVII-The Sins of the Men of Old Time, Which Incurred the Displeasure of God, Were, by His Providence, Committed to Writing, that We Might Derive Instruction Thereby, and Not Be Filled with Pride. We Must Not, Therefore, Infer that There Was Another God Than He Whom Christ Preached; We Should Rather Fear, Lest the One and the Same God Who Inflicted Punishment on the Ancients, Should Bring Down Heavier Upon Us.
Chapter XXVIII.-Those Persons Prove Themselves Senseless Who Exaggerate the Mercy of Christ, But are Silent as to the Judgment, and Look Only at the More Abundant Grace of the New Testament; But, Forgetful of the Greater Degree of Perfection Which It Demands from Us, They Endeavour to Show that There is Another God Beyond Him Who Created the World.
Chapter XXIX.-Refutation of the Arguments of the Marcionites, Who Attempted to Show that God Was the Author of Sin, Because He Blinded Pharaoh and His Servants.
Chapter XXX.-Refutation of Another Argument Adduced by the Marcionites, that God Directed the Hebrews to Spoil the Egyptians.
Chapter XXXI.-We Should Not Hastily Impute as Crimes to the Men of Old Time Those Actions Which the Scripture Has Not Condemned, But Should Rather Seek in Them Types of Things to Come: an Example of This in the Incest Committed by Lot.
Chapter XXXII.-That One God Was the Author of Both Testaments, is Confirmed by the Authority of a Presbyter Who Had Been Taught by the Apostles.
Chapter XXXIII.-Whosoever Confesses that One God is the Author of Both Testaments, and Diligently Reads the Scriptures in Company with the Presbyters of the Church, is a True Spiritual Disciple; And He Will Rightly Understand and Interpret All that the Prophets Have Declared Respecting Christ and the Liberty of the New Testament.
Chapter XXXIV.-Proof Against the Marcionites, that the Prophets Referred in All Their Predictions to Our Christ.
Chapter XXXV.-A Refutation of Those Who Allege that the Prophets Uttered Some Predictions Under the Inspiration of the Highest, Others from the Demiurge. Disagreements of the Valentinians Among Themselves with Regard to These Same Predictions.
Chapter XXXVI.-The Prophets Were Sent from One and the Same Father from Whom the Son Was Sent.
Chapter XXXVII.-Men are Possessed of Free Will, and Endowed with the Faculty of Making a Choice. It is Not True, Therefore, that Some are by Nature Good, and Others Bad.
Chapter XXXVIII.-Why Man Was Not Made Perfect from the Beginning.
Chapter XXXIX.-Man is Endowed with the Faculty of Distinguishing Good and Evil; So That, Without Compulsion, He Has the Power, by His Own Will and Choice, to Perform God's Commandments, by Doing Which He Avoids the Evils Prepared for the Rebellious.
Chapter XL.-One and the Same God the Father Inflicts Punishment on the Reprobate, and Bestows Rewards on the Elect.
Chapter XLI.-Those Persons Who Do Nor Believe in God, But Who are Disobedient, are Angels and Sons of the Devil, Not Indeed by Nature, But by Imitation. Close of This Book, and Scope of the Succeeding One.
Book V.
Preface.
Chapter I.-Christ Alone is Able to Teach Divine Things, and to Redeem Us: He, the Same, Took Flesh of the Virgin Mary, Not Merely in Appearance, But Actually, by the Operation of the Holy Spirit, in Order to Renovate Us. Strictures on the Conceits of Valentinus and Ebion.
Chapter II.-When Christ Visited Us in His Grace, He Did Not Come to What Did Not Belong to Him: Also, by Shedding His True Blood for Us, and Exhibiting to Us His True Flesh in the Eucharist, He Conferred Upon Our Flesh the Capacity of Salvation.
Chapter III.-He Power and Glory of God Shine Forth in the Weakness of Human Flesh, as He Will Render Our Body a Participator of the Resurrection and of Immortality, Although He Has Formed It from the Dust of the Earth; He Will Also Bestow Upon It the Enjoyment of Immortality, Just as He Grants It This Short Life in Common with the Soul.
Chapter IV.-Those Persons are Deceived Who Feign Another God the Father Besides the Creator of the World; For He Must Have Been Feeble and Useless, or Else Malignant and Full of Envy, If He Be Either Unable or Unwilling to Extend External Life to Our Bodies.
Chapter V.-The Prolonged Life of the Ancients, the Translation of Elijah and of Enoch in Their Own Bodies, as Well as the Preservation of Jonah, of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the Midst of Extreme Peril, are Clear Demonstrations that God Can Raise Up Our Bodies to Life Eternal.
Chapter VI.-God Will Bestow Salvation Upon the Whole Nature of Man, Consisting of Body and Soul in Close Union, Since the Word Took It Upon Him, and Adorned with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, of Whom Our Bodies Are, and are Termed, the Temples.
Chapter VII.-Inasmuch as Christ Did Rise in Our Flesh, It Follows that We Shall Be Also Raised in the Same; Since the Resurrection Promised to Us Should Not Be Referred to Spirits Naturally Immortal, But to Bodies in Themselves Mortal.
Chapter VIII.-The Gifts of the Holy Spirit Which We Receive Prepare Us for Incorruption, Render Us Spiritual, and Separate Us from Carnal Men.these Two Classes are Signified by the Clean and Unclean Animals in the Legal Dispensation.
Chapter IX.-Showing How that Passage of the Apostle Which the Heretics Pervert, Should Be Understood; Viz., "Flesh and Blood Shall Not Possess the Kingdom of God."
Chapter X.-By a Comparison Drawn from the Wild Olive-Tree, Whose Quality But Not Whose Nature is Changed by Grafting, He Proves More Important Things; He Points Out Also that Man Without the Spirit is Not Capable of Bringing Forth Fruit, or of Inheriting the Kingdom of God.
Chapter XI.-Treats Upon the Actions of Carnal and of Spiritual Persons; Also, that the Spiritual Cleansing is Not to Be Referred to the Substance of Our Bodies, But to the Manner of Our Former Life.
Chapter XII.-Of the Difference Between Life and Death; Of the Breath of Life and the Vivifying Spirit: Also How It is that the Substance of Flesh Revives Which Once Was Dead.
Chapter XIII.-In the Dead Who Were Raised by Christ We Possess the Highest Proof of the Resurrection; And Our Hearts are Shown to Be Capable of Life Eternal, Because They Can Now Receive the Spirit of God.
Chapter XIV.-Unless the Flesh Were to Be Saved, the Word Would Not Have Taken Upon Him Flesh of the Same Substance as Ours: from This It Would Follow that Neither Should We Have Been Reconciled by Him.
Chapter XV.-Proofs of the Resurrection from Isaiah and Ezekiel; The Same God Who Created Us Will Also Raise Us Up.
Chapter XVI.-Since Our Bodies Return to the Earth, It Follows that They Have Their Substance from It; Also, by the Advent of the Word, the Image of God in Us Appeared in a Clearer Light.
Chapter XVII.-There is But One Lord and One God, the Father and Creator of All Things, Who Has Loved Us in Christ, Given Us Commandments, and Remitted Our Sins; Whose Son and Word Christ Proved Himself to Be, When He Forgave Our Sins.
Chapter XVIII.-God the Father and His Word Have Formed All Created Things (Which They Use) by Their Own Power and Wisdom, Not Out of Defect or Ignorance. The Son of God, Who Received All Power from the Father, Would Otherwise Never Have Taken Flesh Upon Him.
Chapter XIX.-A Comparison is Instituted Between the Disobedient and Sinning Eve and the Virgin Mary, Her Patroness. Various and Discordant Heresies are Mentioned.
Chapter XX.-Those Pastors are to Be Heard to Whom the Apostles Committed the Churches, Possessing One and the Same Doctrine of Salvation; The Heretics, on the Other Hand, are to Be Avoided. We Must Think Soberly with Regard to the Mysteries of the Faith.
Chapter XXI.-Christ is the Head of All Things Already Mentioned. It Was Fitting that He Should Be Sent by the Father, the Creator of All Things, to Assume Human Nature, and Should Be Tempted by Satan, that He Might Fulfil the Promises, and Carry Off a Glorious and Perfect Victory.
Chapter XXII.-The True Lord and the One God is Declared by the Law, and Manifested by Christ His Son in the Gospel; Whom Alone We Should Adore, and from Him We Must Look for All Good Things, Not from Satan.
Chapter XXIII.-The Devil is Well Practised in Falsehood, by Which Adam Having Been Led Astray, Sinned on the Sixth Day of the Creation, in Which Day Also He Has Been Renewed by Christ.
Chapter XXIV.-Of the Constant Falsehood of the Devil, and of the Powers and Governments of the World, Which We Ought to Obey, Inasmuch as They are Appointed of God, Not of the Devil.
Chapter XXV.-The Fraud, Pride, and Tyrannical Kingdom of Antichrist, as Described by Daniel and Paul.
Chapter XXVI.-John and Daniel Have Predicted the Dissolution and Desolation of the Roman Empire, Which Shall Precede the End of the World and the Eternal Kingdom of Christ. The Gnostics are Refuted, Those Tools of Satan, Who Invent Another Father Different from the Creator.
Chapter XXVII.-The Future Judgment by Christ. Communion with and Separation from the Divine Being. The Eternal Punishment of Unbelievers.
Chapter XXVIII.-The Distinction to Be Made Between the Righteous and the Wicked. The Future Apostasy in the Time of Anti-Christ, and the End of the World.
Chapter XXIX.-All Things Have Been Created for the Service of Man. The Deceits, Wickedness, and Apostate Power of Antichrist. This Was Prefigured at the Deluge, as Afterwards by the Persecution of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Chapter XXX.-Although Certain as to the Number of the Name of Antichrist, Yet We Should Come to No Rash Conclusions as to the Name Itself, Because This Number is Capable of Being Fitted to Many Names. Reasons for This Point Being Reserved by the Holy Spirit. Antichrist's Reign and Death.
Chapter XXXI.-The Preservation of Our Bodies is Confirmed by the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ: the Souls of the Saints During the Intermediate Period are in a State of Expectation of that Time When They Shall Receive Their Perfect and Consummated Glory.
Chapter XXXII.-In that Flesh in Which the Saints Have Suffered So Many Afflictions, They Shall Receive the Fruits of Their Labours; Especially Since All Creation Waits for This, and God Promises It to Abraham and His Seed.
Chapter XXXIII.-Further Proofs of the Same Proposition, Drawn from the Promises Made by Christ, When He Declared that He Would Drink of the Fruit of the Vine with His Disciples in His Father's Kingdom, While at the Same Time He Promised to Reward Them an Hundred-Fold, and to Make Them Partake of Banquets. The Blessing Pronounced by Jacob Had Pointed Out This Already, as Papias and the Elders Have Interpreted It.
Chapter XXXIV.-He Fortifies His Opinions with Regard to the Temporal and Earthly Kingdom of the Saints After Their Resurrection, by the Various Testimonies of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Daniel; Also by the Parable of the Servants Watching, to Whom the Lord Promised that He Would Minister.
Chapter XXXV.-He Contends that These Testimonies Already Alleged Cannot Be Understood Allegorically of Celestial Blessings, But that They Shall Have Their Fulfilment After the Coming of Antichrist, and the Resurrection, in the Terrestrial Jerusalem. To the Former Prophecies He Subjoins Others Drawn from Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the Apocalypse of John.
Chapter XXXVI.-Men Shall Be Actually Raised: the World Shall Not Be Annihilated; But There Shall Be Various Mansions for the Saints, According to the Rank Allotted to Each Individual. All Things Shall Be Subject to God the Father, and So Shall He Be All in All.
Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus
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Footnotes
The Sacred Writings of St. Irenaeus
Jazzybee Verlag Jürgen Beck
86450 Altenmünster, Germany
ISBN: 9783849621568
www.jazzybee-verlag.de
Cover Design: © Sue Colvil - Fotolia.com
St. Irenaeus – A Biography
By Albert Poncelet
Bishop of Lyons, and Father of the Church.
Information as to his life is scarce, and in some measure inexact. He was born in Proconsular Asia, or at least in some province bordering thereon, in the first half of the second century; the exact date is controverted, between the years 115 and 125, according to some, or, according to others, between 130 and 142. It is certain that, while still very young, Irenaeus had seen and heard the holy Bishop Polycarp (d. 155) at Smyrna. During the persecution of Marcus Aurelius, Irenaeus was a priest of the Church of Lyons. The clergy of that city, many of whom were suffering imprisonment for the Faith, sent him (177 or 178) to Rome with a letter to Pope Eleutherius concerning Montanism, and on that occasion bore emphatic testimony to his merits. Returning to Gaul, Irenaeus succeeded the martyr Saint Pothinus as Bishop of Lyons. During the religious peace which followed the persecution of Marcus Aurelius, the new bishop divided his activities between the duties of a pastor and of a missionary (as to which we have but brief data, late and not very certain) and his writings, almost all of which were directed against Gnosticism, the heresy then spreading in Gaul and elsewhere. In 190 or 191 he interceded with Pope Victor to lift the sentence of excommunication laid by that pontiff upon the Christian communities of Asia Minor which persevered in the practice of the Quartodecimans in regard to the celebration of Easter. Nothing is known of the date of his death, which must have occurred at the end of the second or the beginning of the third century. In spite of some isolated and later testimony to that effect, it is not very probable that he ended his career with martyrdom. His feast is celebrated on 28 June in the Latin Church, and on 23 August in the Greek.
Irenaeus wrote in Greek many works which have secured for him an exceptional place in Christian literature, because in controverted religious questions of capital importance they exhibit the testimony of a contemporary of the heroic age of the Church, of one who had heard St. Polycarp, the disciple of St. John, and who, in a manner, belonged to the Apostolic Age. None of these writings have come down to us in the original text, though a great many fragments of them are extant as citations in later writers (Hippolytus, Eusebius, etc.). Two of these works, however, have reached us in their entirety in a Latin version:
A treatise in five books, commonly entitled Adversus haereses, and devoted, according to its true title, to the "Detection and Overthrow of the False Knowledge" (see GNOSTICISM, sub-title Refutation of Gnosticism). Of this work we possess a very ancient Latin translation, the scrupulous fidelity of which is beyond doubt. It is the chief work of Irenaeus and truly of the highest importance; it contains a profound exposition not only of Gnosticism under its different forms, but also of the principal heresies which had sprung up in the various Christian communities, and thus constitutes an invaluable source of information on the most ancient ecclesiastical literature from its beginnings to the end of the second century. In refuting the heterodox systems Irenaeus often opposes to them the true doctrine of the Church, and in this way furnishes positive and very early evidence of high importance. Suffice it to mention the passages, so often and so fully commented upon by theologians and polemical writers, concerning the origin of the Gospel according to St. John (see JOHN, GOSPEL OF SAINT), the Holy Eucharist, and the primacy of the Roman Church.Of a second work, written after the "Adversus Haereses", an ancient literal translation in the Armenian language. This is the "Proof of the Apostolic Preaching." The author's aim here is not to confute heretics, but to confirm the faithful by expounding the Christian doctrine to them, and notably by demonstrating the truth of the Gospel by means of the Old Testament prophecies. Although it contains fundamentally, so to speak, nothing that has not already been expounded in the "Adversus Haereses", it is a document of the highest interest, and a magnificent testimony of the deep and lively faith of Irenaeus.Of his other works only scattered fragments exist; many, indeed, are known only through the mention made of them by later writers, not even fragments of the works themselves having come down to us. These are
a treatise against the Greeks entitled "On the Subject of Knowledge" (mentioned by Eusebius);a writing addressed to the Roman priest Florinus "On the Monarchy, or How God is not the Cause of Evil" (fragment in Eusebius);a work "On the Ogdoad", probably against the Ogdoad of Valentinus the Gnostic, written for the same priest Florinus, who had gone over to the sect of the Valentinians (fragment in Eusebius);a treatise on schism, addressed to Blastus (mentioned by Eusebius);a letter to Pope Victor against the Roman priest Florinus (fragment preserved in Syriac);another letter to the same on the Paschal controversies (extracts in Eusebius);other letters to various correspondents on the same subject (mentioned by Eusebius, a fragment preserved in Syriac);a book of divers discourses, probably a collection of homilies (mentioned by Eusebius); andother minor works for which we have less clear or less certain attestations.The four fragments which Pfaff published in 1715, ostensibly from a Turin manuscript, have been proven by Funk to be apocryphal, and Harnack has established the fact that Pfaff himself fabricated them.
The Sacred Writings of Irenaeus
INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO IRENAEUS AGAINST HERESIES.
[a.d. 120-202.] This history introduces us to the Church in her western outposts. We reach the banks of the Rhone, where for nearly a century Christian missions have flourished. Between Marseilles and Smyrna there seems to have been a brisk trade, and Polycarp had sent Pothinus into Celtic Gaul at an early date as its evangelist. He had fixed his see at Lyons, when Irenaeus joined him as a presbyter, having been his fellow-pupil under Polycarp. There, under the "good Aurelius," as he is miscalled (a.d. 177), arose the terrible persecution which made "the martyrs of Lyons and Vienne" so memorable. It was during this persecution that Irenaeus was sent to Rome with letters of remonstrance against the rising pestilence of heresy; and he was probably the author of the account of the sufferings of the martyrs which is appended to their testimony.1But he had the mortification of finding the Montanist heresy patronized by Eleutherus the Bishop of Rome; and there he met an old friend from the school of Polycarp, who had embraced the Valentinian heresy. We cannot doubt that to this visit we owe the lifelong struggle of Irenaeus against the heresies that now came in, like locusts, to devour the harvests of the Gospel. But let it be noted here, that, so far from being "the mother and mistress" of even the Western Churches, Rome herself is a mission of the Greeks;2Southern Gaul is evangelized from Asia Minor, and Lyons checks the heretical tendencies of the Bishop at Rome. Ante-Nicene Christianity, and indeed the Church herself, appears in Greek costume which lasts through the synodical period; and Latin Christianity, when it begins to appear, is African, and not Roman. It is strange that those who have recorded this great historical fact have so little perceived its bearings upon Roman pretensions in the Middle Ages and modern times.
Returning to Lyons, our author found that the venerable Pothinus had closed his holy career by a martyr's death; and naturally Irenaeus became his successor. When the emissaries of heresy followed him, and began to disseminate their licentious practices and-foolish doctrines by the aid of "silly women," the great work of his life began. He condescended to study these diseases of the human mind like a wise physician; and, sickening as was the process of classifying and describing them, he made this also his laborious task, that he might enable others to withstand and to overcome them. The works he has left us are monuments of his fidelity to Christ, and to the charges of St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. Jude, whose solemn warnings now proved to be prophecies. No marvel that the great apostle, "night and day with tears," had forewarned the churches of "the grievous wolves" which were to make havoc of the fold.
If it shocks the young student of the virgin years of Christianity to find such a state of things, let him reflect that it was all foretold by Christ himself, and demonstrates the malice and power of the adversary. "An enemy hath done this," said the Master. The spirit that was then working "in the children of disobedience," now manifested itself. The awful visions of the Apocalypse began to be realized. It was now evident in what sense "the Prince of peace" had pronounced His mission, "not peace, but a sword." In short, it became a conspicuous fact, that the Church here on earth is "militant; "while, at the same time, there was seen to be a profound philosophy in the apostolic comment,3"There must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest." In the divine economy of Providence it was permitted that every form of heresy which was ever to infest the Church should now exhibit its essential principle, and attract the censures of the faithful. Thus testimony to primitive truth was secured and recorded: the language of catholic orthodoxy was developed and defined, and landmarks of faith were set up for perpetual memorial to all generations. It is a striking example of this divine economy, that the see of Rome was allowed to exhibit its fallibility very conspicuously at this time, and not only to receive the rebukes of Irenaeus, but to accept them as wholesome and necessary; so that the heresy of Eleutherus, and the spirit of Diotrephes in Victor, have enabled reformers ever since, and even in the darkest days of pontifical despotism, to testify against the manifold errors patronized by Rome. Hilary and other Gallicans have been strengthened by the example of Irenaeus, and by his faithful words of reproof and exhortation, to resist Rome, even down to our own times.
That the intolerable absurdities of Gnosticism should have gained so many disciples, and proved itself an adversary to be grappled with and not despised, throws light on the condition of the human mind under heathenism, even when it professed "knowledge" and "philosophy." The task of Irenaeus was twofold: ( 1 ) to render it impossible for any one to confound Gnosticism with Christianity, and (2) to make it impossible for such a monstrous system to survive, or ever to rise again. His task was a nauseous one; but never was the spirit enjoined by Scripture more patiently exhibited, nor with more entire success.4If Julian had found Gnosticism just made to his hand, and powerful enough to suit his purposes, the whole history of his attempt to revive Paganism would have been widely different. Irenaeus demonstrated its essential unity with the old mythology, and with heathen systems of philosophy. If the fog and malaria that rose with the Day-star, and obscured it, were speedily dispersed, our author is largely to be identified with the radiance which flowed from the Sun of righteousness, and with the breath of the Spirit that banished them for ever.
The Episcopate of Irenaeus was distinguished by labours, "in season and out of season," for the evangelization of Southern Gaul; and he seems to have sent missionaries into other regions of what we now call France. In spite of Paganism and heresy, he rendered Lyons a Christian city; and Marcus seems to have retreated before his terrible castigation, taking himself off to regions beyond the Pyrenees. But the pacific name he bears, was rendered yet more illustrious by his interposition to compose the Easter Controversy, then threatening to impair, if not to destroy, the unity of the Church. The beautiful concordat between East and West, in which Polycarp and Anicetus had left the question, was now disturbed by Victor, Bishop of Rome, whose turbulent spirit would not accept the compromise of his predecessor. Irenaeus remonstrates with him in a catholic spirit, and overrules his impetuous temper. At the Council of Nice, the rule for the observance of Easter was finally settled by the whole Church; and the forbearing example of Irenaeus, no doubt contributed greatly to this happy result. The blessed peacemaker survived this great triumph, for a short time only, closing his life, like a true shepherd, with thousands of his flock, in the massacre (a.d. 202) stimulated by the wolfish Emperor Severus.
The Introductory Notice of the learned translators is as follows:-
The work of Irenaeus Against Heresies is one of the most precious remains of early Christian antiquity. It is devoted, on the one hand, to an account and refutation of those multiform Gnostic heresies which prevailed in the latter half of the second century; and, on the other hand, to an exposition and defence of the Catholic faith.
In the prosecution of this plan, the author divides his work into five books. The first of these contains a minute description of the tenets of the various heretical sects, with occasional brief remarks in illustration of their absurdity, and in confirmation of the truth to which they were opposed. In his second book, Irenaeus proceeds to a more complete demolition of those heresies which he has already explained, and argues at great length against them, on grounds principally of reason. The three remaining books set forth more directly the true doctrines of revelation, as being in utter antagonism to the views held by the Gnostic teachers. In the course of this argument, many passages of Scripture are quoted and commented on; many interesting statements are made, bearing on the rule of faith; and much important light is shed on the doctrines, held, as well as the practices observed, by the Church of the second century.
It may be made matter of regret, that so large a portion of the work of Irenaeus is given to an exposition of the manifold Gnostic speculations. Nothing more absurd than these has probably ever been imagined by rational beings. Some ingenious and learned men have indeed endeavoured to reconcile the wild theories of these heretics with the principles of reason; but, as Bishop Kaye remarks (Eccl. Hist. of the Second and Third Centuries, p. 524), "a more arduous or unpromising undertaking cannot well be conceived." The fundamental object of the Gnostic speculations was doubtless to solve the two grand problems of all religious philosophy, viz., How to account for the existence of evil; and, How to reconcile the finite with the infinite. But these ancient theorists were not more successful in grappling with such questions than have been their successors in modern times. And by giving loose reins to their imagination, they built up the most incongruous and ridiculous systems; while, by deserting the guidance of Scripture they were betrayed into the most pernicious and extravagant errors.
Accordingly, the patience of the reader is sorely tried, in following our author through those mazes of absurdity which he treads, in explaining and refuting these Gnostic speculations. This is especially felt in the perusal of the first two books, which, as has been said, are principally devoted to an exposition and subversion of the various heretical systems. But the vagaries of the human mind, however melancholy in themselves, are never altogether destitute of instruction. And in dealing with those set before us in this work, we have not only the satisfaction of becoming acquainted with the currents of thought prevalent in these early times, but we obtain much valuable information regarding the primitive Church, which, had it not been for these heretical schemes, might never have reached our day.
Not a little of what is contained in the following pages will seem almost unintelligible to the English reader. And it is scarcely more comprehensible to those who have pondered long on the original. We have inserted brief notes of explanation where these seemed specially necessary. But we have not thought it worth while to devote a great deal of space to the elucidation of those obscure Gnostic views which, in so many varying forms, are set forth in this work. For the same reason, we give here no account of the origin, history, and successive phases of Gnosticism. Those who wish to know the views of the learned on these points, may consult the writings of Neander, Baur, and others, among the Germans, or the lectures of Dr. Burton in English; while a succinct description of the whole matter will be found in the "Preliminary Observations on the Gnostic System," prefixed to Harvey's edition of Irenaeus.
The great work of Irenaeus, now for the first time translated into English, is unfortunately no longer extant in the original. It has come down to us only in an ancient Latin version, with the exception of the greater part of the first book, which has been preserved in the original Greek, through means of copious quotations made by Hippolytus and Epiphanius. The text, both Latin and Greek, is often most uncertain. Only three mss. of the work Against Heresies are at present known to exist. Others, however, were used in the earliest printed editions put forth by Erasmus. And as these codices were more ancient than any now available, it is greatly to be regretted that they have disappeared or perished. One of our difficulties throughout, has been to fix the readings we should adopt, especially in the first book. Varieties of reading, actual or conjectural, have been noted only when some point of special importance seemed to be involved.
After the text has been settled, according to the best judgment which can be formed, the work of translation remains; and that is, in this case, a matter of no small difficulty. Irenaeus, even in the original Greek, is often a very obscure writer. At times he expresses himself with remarkable clearness and terseness; but, upon the whole, his style is very involved and prolix. And the Latin version adds to these difficulties of the original, by being itself of the most barbarous character. In fact, it is often necessary to make a conjectural re-translation of it into Greek, in order to obtain some inkling of what the author wrote. Dodwell supposes this Latin version to have been made about the end of the fourth century; but as Tertullian seems to have used it, we must rather place it in the beginning of the third. Its author is unknown, but he was certainly little qualified for his task. We have endeavoured to give as close and accurate a translation of the work as possible, but there are not a few passages in which a guess can only be made as to the probable meaning.
Irenaeus had manifestly taken great pains to make himself acquainted with the various heretical systems which he describes. His mode of exposing and refuting these is generally very effective. It is plain that he possessed a good share of learning, and that he had a firm grasp of the doctrines of Scripture. Not unfrequently he indulges in a kind of sarcastic humour, while inveighing against the folly and impiety of the heretics. But at times he gives expression to very strange opinions. He is, for example, quite peculiar in imagining that our Lord lived to be an old man, and that His public ministry embraced at least ten years. But though, on these and some other points, the judgment of Irenaeus is clearly at fault, his work contains a vast deal of sound and valuable exposition of Scripture, in opposition to the fanciful systems of interpretation which prevailed in his day.
We possess only very scanty accounts of the personal history of Irenaeus. It has been generally supposed that he was a native of Smyrna, or some neighbouring city, in Asia Minor. Harvey, however, thinks that he was probably born in Syria, and removed in boyhood to Smyrna. He himself tells us (iii. 3, 4) that he was in early youth acquainted with Polycarp, the illustrious bishop of that city. A sort of clue is thus furnished as to the date of his birth. Dodwell supposes that he was born so early as a.d. 97, but this is clearly a mistake; and the general date assigned to his birth is somewhere between a.d. 120 and a.d. 140.
It is certain that Irenaeus was bishop of Lyons, in France, during the latter quarter of the second century. The exact period or circumstances of his ordination cannot be determined. Eusebius states (Hist. Eccl., v. 4) that he was, while yet a presbyter, sent with a letter, from certain members of the Church of Lyons awaiting martyrdom, to Eleutherus, bishop of Rome; and that (v. 5) he succeeded Pothinus as bishop of Lyons, probably about a.d. 177. His great work Against Heresies was, we learn, written during the episcopate of Eleutherus, that is, between a.d. 182 and a.d. 188, for Victor succeeded to the bishopric of Rome in a.d. 189. This new bishop of Rome took very harsh measures for enforcing uniformity throughout the Church as to the observance of the paschal solemnities. On account of the severity thus evinced, Irenaeus addressed to him a letter (only a fragment of which remains), warning him that if he persisted in the course on which he had entered, the effect would be to rend the Catholic Church in pieces. This letter had the desired result; and the question was more temperately debated. until finally settled by the Council of Nice.
The full title of the principal work of Irenaeus, as given by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl., v. 7), and indicated frequently by the author himself, was A Refutation and Subversion of Knowledge falsely so called, but it is generally referred to under the shorter title, Against Heresies. Several other smaller treatises are ascribed to Irenaeus; viz., An Epistle to Florinus, of which a small fragment has been preserved by Eusebius; a treatise On the Valentinian Ogdoad; a work called forth by the paschal controversy, entitled On Schism, and another On Science; all of which that remain will be found in our next volume of his writings. Irenaeus is supposed to have died about a.d. 202; but there is probably no real ground for the statement of Jerome, repeated by subsequent writers, that he suffered martyrdom, since neither Tertullian nor Eusebius, nor other early authorities, make any mention of such a fact.
As has been already stated, the first printed copy of our author was given to the world by Erasmus. This was in the year 1526. Between that date and 1571, a number of reprints were produced in both folio and octavo. All these contained merely the ancient barbarous Latin version, and were deficient towards the end by five entire chapters. These latter were supplied by the edition of Feuardent, Professor of Divinity at Paris, which was published in 1575, and went through six subsequent editions. Previously to this, however, another had been set forth by Gallasius, a minister of Geneva, which contained the first portions of the Greek text from Epiphanius. Then, in 1702, came the edition of Grabe, a learned Prussian, who had settled in England. It was published at Oxford, and contained considerable additions to the Greek text, with fragments. Ten years after this there appeared the important Paris edition by the Benedictine monk Massuet. This was reprinted at Venice in the year 1724, in two thin folio volumes, and again at Paris in a large octavo, by the Abbe Migne, in 1857. A German edition was published by Stieren in 1853. In the year 1857 there was also brought out a Cambridge edition, by the Rev. Wigan Harvey, in two octavo volumes. The two principal features of this edition are: the additions which have been made to the Greek text from the recently discovered Philosophoumena of Hippolytus; and the further addition of thirty-two fragments of a Syriac version of the Greek text of Irenaeus, culled from the Nitrian collection of Syriac mss. in the British Museum. These fragments are of considerable interest, and in some instances rectify the readings of the barbarous Latin version, where, without such aid, it would have been unintelligible. The edition of Harvey will be found constantly referred to in the notes appended to our translation.
Irenaeus Against Heresies
Book I
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Preface.
1. Inasmuch1as certain men have set the truth aside, and bring in lying words and vain genealogies, which, as the apostle says,2"minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith," and by means of their craftily-constructed plausibilities draw away the minds of the inexperienced and take them captive, [I have felt constrained, my dear friend, to compose the following treatise in order to expose and counteract their machinations.] These men falsify the oracles of God, and prove themselves evil interpreters of the good word of revelation. They also overthrow the faith of many, by drawing them away, under a pretence of [superior] knowledge, from Him who rounded and adorned the universe; as if, forsooth, they had something more excellent and sublime to reveal, than that God who created the heaven and the earth, and all things that are therein. By means of specious and plausible words, they cunningly allure the simple-minded to inquire into their system; but they nevertheless clumsily destroy them, while they initiate them into their blasphemous and impious opinions respecting the Demiurge;3and these simple ones are unable, even in such a matter, to distinguish falsehood from truth.
2. Error, indeed, is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to the inexperienced (ridiculous as the expression may seem) more true than the truth itself. One4far superior to me has well said, in reference to this point, "A clever imitation in glass casts contempt, as it were, on that precious jewel the emerald (which is most highly esteemed by some), unless it come under the eye of one able to test and expose the counterfeit. Or, again, what inexperienced person can with ease detect the presence of brass when it has been mixed up with silver? "Lest, therefore, through my neglect, some should be carried off, even as sheep are by wolves, while they perceive not the true character of these men, -because they outwardly are covered with sheep's clothing (against whom the Lord has enjoined5us to be on our guard), and because their language resembles ours, while their sentiments are very different,-I have deemed it my duty (after reading some of the Commentaries, as they call them, of the disciples of Valentinus, and after making myself acquainted with their tenets through personal intercourse with some of them) to unfold to thee, my friend, these portentous and profound mysteries, which do not fall within the range of every intellect, because all have not sufficiently purged6their brains. I do this, in order that thou, obtaining an acquaintance with these things, mayest in turn explain them to all those with whom thou art connected, and exhort them to avoid such an abyss of madness and of blasphemy against Christ. I intend, then, to the best of my ability, with brevity and clearness to set forth the opinions of those who are now promulgating heresy. I refer especially to the disciples of Ptolemaeus, whose school may be described as a bud from that of Valentinus. I shall also endeavour, according to my moderate ability, to furnish the means of overthrowing them, by showing how absurd and inconsistent with the truth are their statements. Not that I am practised either in composition or eloquence; but my feeling of affection prompts me to make known to thee and all thy companions those doctrines which have been kept in concealment until now, but which are at last, through the goodness of God, brought to light. "For there is nothing hidden which shall not be revealed, nor secret that shall not be made known."7
3. Thou wilt not expect from me, who am resident among the Keltae,8and am accustomed for the most part to use a barbarous dialect, any display of rhetoric, which I have never learned, or any excellence of composition, which I have never practised, or any beauty and persuasiveness of style, to which I make no pretensions. But thou wilt accept in a kindly spirit what I in a like spirit write to thee simply, truthfully, and in my own homely way; whilst thou thyself (as being more capable than I am) wilt expand those ideas of which I send thee, as it were, only the seminal principles; and in the comprehensiveness of thy understanding, wilt develop to their full extent the points on which I briefly touch, so as to set with power before thy companions those things which I have uttered in weakness. In fine, as I (to gratify thy long-cherished desire for information regarding the tenets of these persons) have spared no pains, not only to make these doctrines known to thee, but also to furnish the means of showing their falsity; so shalt thou, according to the grace given to thee by the Lord, prove an earnest and efficient minister to others, that men may no longer be drawn away by the plausible system of these heretics, which I now proceed to describe.9
Chapter I.-Absurd Ideas of the Disciples of Valentinus as to the Origin, Name, Order, and Conjugal Productions of Their Fancied Aeons, with the Passages of Scripture Which They Adapt to Their Opinions.
1. They maintain, then, that in the invisible and ineffable heights above there exists a certain perfect, pre-existent Aeon,10whom they call Proarche, Propator, and Bythus, and describe as being invisible and incomprehensible. Eternal and unbegotten, he remained throughout innumerable cycles of ages in profound serenity and quiescence. There existed along with him Ennoea, whom they also call Charis and Sige.11
