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ANTE-NICENE
CHRISTIAN LIBRARY
TRANSLATIONS OF
THE WRITINGS OF THE FATHERS
DOWN TO A.D. 325.
EDITED BY THE
REV. ALEXANDER ROBERTS, D.D.,
AND
JAMES DONALDSON, LL.D.
VOL. V.
I E E N iE U S.
VOL. I.
EDINBURGH:
T. & T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET.
MDCCCLXVIII.
THE W R I TINGS
.^- .■
I R E N il U S.
^<
TRANSLATED BY
7
REV. ALEXANDER ROBERTS, D. D.,
AND
REV. W. H. RAMBAUT, A.B.
VOL. I.
EDINBURGH:
T. & T. CLARK, 38, GEORGE STREET.
LONDON: HAMILTON & CO. DUBLIN: JOHN ROBERTSON & CO.
MDCCCLXVIIL
MURRAY AND GIBB, EDINBUROH,
PRINTERS TO HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE.
THE INSTSTUir OF f^LDiAEVAL £lUD:£a
JO clLJ^CLEY PLACE
TORONTO 6, CAHAOA,
DEC 10 teal
5509
MAR 2 5 1971
CONTENTS.
PAGK
Tntroductory Notice, ...... xv
BOOK L
CHAP.
Preface, ....... 1
1. Absurd ideas of the disciples of Valentinus as to the origin,
name, order, and conjugal productions of their fancied
-^ons, with the passages of Scripture which they adapt
to their opinions, ..... 4
2. The Propator was known to Monogcnes alone. Ambition,
disturbance, and danger into which Sophia fell ; her
shapeless offspring : she is restored by Horos. The pro-
duction of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, in order to the
completion of the ..(Eons. Manner of the production of
Jesus, ....... 7
3. Texts of Holy Scripture used by these heretics to support
their opinions, . . . . . .11
4. Account given by the heretics of the formation of Acha-
moth ; origin of the visible world from her disturb-
ances, . . . . . . . 16
5. Formation of the Demiurge ; description of him. He is the
creator of everytliing outside of the Pleroma, . . 20
6. The threefold kind of man feigned by these heretics : good
works needless for them, though necessary to othei-s :
their abandoned morals, .... 24
7. 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, .... 28
vi CONTENTS.
CHAP. I'A<;F.
8. How the Valentinians pervert the Scriptures to support
their own impious opinions, . , . .31
9. Refutation of the impious interpretations of these heretics, . 38
10. Unity of the faith of the church throughout the whole world, 42
11. The opinions of Valontinus, with those of his disciples and
others, .... . . . .45
12. The doctrines of the followers of Ptolemy and Colorbasus, . 49
13. The deceitful arts and nefarious practices of Marcus, . 51
14. The various hypotheses of Marcus and others. Theories
respecting letters and syllables, ... 56
15. Sige relates to Marcus the generation of the twenty-four
elements and of Jesus. Exposure of these absurdities, 64
16. Absurd interpretations of the Marcosians, ... 69
17. The theory of the Marcosians, that created things were made
after the image of things invisible, ... 72
1 8. Passages from Moses, which the heretics pervert to the sup-
port of their hypothesis, .... 74
19. Passages of Scripture by which they attempt to prove that
the Supreme Father was unknown before the coming
of Christ, ...... 7H
20. The apocryphal and spurious Scriptures of the Marcosians,
with passages of the Gospels which they pervert, . 79
21. The views of redemption entertained by these heretics, . 81
22. Deviations of heretics from the truth, . . . 84
23. Doctrines and practices of Simon Magus and Menander, . 86
24. Doctrines of Saturninus and Basilides, ... 89
25. Doctrines of Cai-pocrates, ..... 93
26. Doctrines of Cerinthus, the Ebionites, and Nicolaitanes, . 97
27. Doctrines of Cerdo and Marcion, .... 98
28. Doctrines of Tatian, the Encratites, and others, . . 100
29. Doctrines of various other Gnostic sects, and especially of
the Barbeliotes or Borborians, .... 101
30. Doctrines of the Ophites and Sethians, . . . 104
31. Doctrines of the Cainites, . . . . .113
BOOK II.
Preface, . . . . . . .116
1 . There is but one God : the impossibility of its being other-
wise, ....... 117
2. The world was not formed by angels, or by any other being,
CONTENTS. vii
CHAP. PAGE
contrary to the will of the most high God, but was
made by the Father through the "Word, . . 120
3. The By thus 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, 124
4. The absurdity of the supposed vacuum and defect of the
heretics is demonstrated, . . . .125
5. This world was not formed by any other beings within the
territory which is contained by the Father, . . 129
6. The angels and the Creator of the world could not have been
ignorant of the Supreme God, . . . 132
7. Created things are not the images of those ^ons who are
within the Pleroma, ..... 134
8. Created things are not a shadow of the Pleroma, . . 140
9. There is but one Creator of the world, God the Father : this
the constant belief of the church, . . . 142
10. Perverse interpretations of Scripture by the heretics: God
created all things out of nothing, and not from pre-
existent matter, . . . . .144
11. The heretics, from their disbelief of the truth, have fallen
into an abyss of error : reasons for investigating their
systems, . . . . . .146
12. The Triacontad of the heretics errs both by defect and ex-
cess : Sophia could never have produced anything apart
from her consort ; Logos and Sige could not have been
contemporaries, . . . . .147
13. The first order of production maintained by the heretics is
altogether indefensible, . . . . 152
14. Valentinus and his followers derived the principles of their
system from the heathen; the names only are changed, 160
15. No account can be given of these productions, . . 168
16. 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 ad injinitum^ ..... 170
17. Inquiry into the production of the ^ons : whatever its sup-
posed 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, . 172
18. Sophia was never really in ignorance or passion; her Enthy-
mesis could not have been separated from herself, or
exhibited special tendencies of its own, . . 180
; 529
viii CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
19. Absurdities of the heretics as to their own origin; their
opinions respecting the Demiurge shown to be equally
untenable and ridiculous, . . . .184
20. Futility of the arguments adduced to demonstrate the suf-
ferings of the twelfth ^on, from the parables, the
treachery of Judas, and the passion of our Saviour, . 190
21. The twelve apostles were not a type of the ^ons, . . 194
22. The thirty ^ons 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, . . . . 196
23. The woman who suffered from an issue of blood was no type
of the suffering ^on, ..... 203
24. Folly of the arguments derived by the heretics fi'om num-
bers, letters, and syllables, .... 204
25. God is not to be sought after by means of letters, syllables,
and numbers ; necessity of humility in such investiga-
tions, . . . . . . .212
26. " Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth," . . 215
27. Proper mode of interpreting parables and obscure passages
of Scripture, ...... 217
28. Perfect knowledge cannot be attained in the present life :
many questions must be submissively left in the hands
of God, . . . . . .219
29. Eefutation of the views of the heretics as to the future
destiny of the soul and body, .... 228
30. Absurdity of their styling themselves spiritual, while the
Demiurge is declared to be animal, . . . 231
31. Recapitulation and application of the foregoing arguments, 239
32. Further exposure of the wicked and blasphemous doctrines
of the heretics, ...... 242
33. Absurdity of the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, . 247
34. Souls can be recognised in the separate state, and are im-
mortal although they once had a beginning, . . 250
35. Refutation of Basilides, and of the opinion that the prophets
uttered their predictions uuder the inspu^ation of diffe-
rent gods, ...... 253
BOOK III.
Preface, . . . . . . .257
1. The apostles did not commence to preach the gospel, or to
place anything on record, imtil they were endowed
CONTENTS. ix
CilAP. PAGE
with the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit. They
preached one God alone, Maker of heaven and earth, . 258
2. The heretics follow neither Scripture nor tradition, . 259
3. A refutation of the heretics, from the fact that, in the various
churches, a perpetual succession of bishops was kept up, 260
4. 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, .... 264
5. 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
doctrine to the prepossessions of their hearers, . 266
6. The Holy Ghost, throughout the Old Testament Scriptures,
made mention of no other God or Lord, save Him who
is the true God, ..... 268
7. Reply to an objection founded on the words of St. Paul
(2 Cor. iv. 5). St. Paul occasionally uses words not
in their grammatical sequence, . . . 278
8. 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, . 275
9. 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, ..... 277
10. Proofs of the foregoing, drawn from the Gospels of Mark
and Luke, . . . . . .281
11. Proofs in continuation, extracted from St. John's Gospel.
The Gospels are four in number, neither more nor less.
Mystic reasons for this, . . . .287
12. The doctrine of the rest of the apostles, . . . 296
13. Refutation of the opinion, that Paul was the only apostle
who had knowledge of the truth, . . .314
14. If Paul had known any mysteries uiu-evealed 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 impor-
tant particulars of the gospel history, . . . 316
15. 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 hypo-
X CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGfc:
crisy, deceit, and pride of the Gnostics. The apostles
and their disciples knew and preached one God, the
Creator of the world, ..... 320
16. Proofs from the apostolic writings, that Jesus Christ was
one and the same, the only begotten Son of God, per-
fect God and perfect man, .... 323
17. 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, .... 334
18. 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, ..... 337
19. Jesus Christ was not a mere man, begotten from Joseph in
the ordinary course of nature, but was very God, be-
gotten of the Father Most High, and very man, born of
the Virgin, ...... 344
20. 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, ....... 347
21. 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, . 351
22. Christ assumed actual flesh, conceived and born of the
Virgin, ...... 359
23. 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, ...... 362
24. 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, . . .369
25. This world is ruled by the providence of one God, who is
both endowed with infinite justice to punish the wicked,
and with infinite goodness to bless the pious, and im-
part to them salvation, . . . .871
CONTENTS. xi
BOOK IV.
OHAI'. PAGE
Preface, ....... 375
1. The Lord acknowledged but one God and Father, . . 377
2. 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, . 378
3. 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, . . . 382
4. 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, . 383
5. The author returns to his former argument, and shows that
there was but one God announced by the law and pro-
phets, whom Christ confesses as His Father, and who,
through His Word, one living God with Him, made
Himself knovni to men in both covenants, . . 386
6. 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 bj-- the Son bemg revealed, the Father was
never unknown, . • . . . . 389
7. 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, . 39-4
8. 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, .... 396
9. There is but one author, and one end to both covenants, . 399
10. The Old Testament Scriptures, and those written by Moses
xii CONTENTS.
t-HAP. PAGE
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, ...... 403
11. 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, enrich-
ing men day by day with benefits, but conferring them
in greater abundance on later than on former genera-
tions, ....... 405
12. It clearly appears that there was but one author of both the
old and the new law, from the fact that Christ con-
demned 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, 408
13. 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, . . . .412
14. 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, : . . .416
15. At fii-st God deemed it suflScient to inscribe the natural law,
or the Decalogue, upon the hearts of men ; but after-
wards He found it necessary to bridle with the yoke
of the Mosaic law tbe desires of the Jews, who were
abusing their liberty ; and even after that, to add some
special commands, because of the hardness of their
hearts, ....... 419
16. 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 command-
ments, ....... 421
17. 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, . . 425
18. Concerning sacrifices and oblations, and those who truly
offer them, ...... 431
CONTENTS. xiii
CHAP. PAGE
19. 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, . . . . .436
20. 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, . . 439
21. Abraham's faith was identical with ours ; this faith was pre-
figured by the words and actions of the old patriarchs, 451
22. 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, ...... 453
23. 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, . . . 455
24. 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, . . . 457
25. Both covenants were prefigured in Abraham, and in the
labour of Tamar ; there was, however, but one and the
same God to each covenant, .... 459
26. The treasure hid in the Scriptures is Christ ; the true expo-
sition of the Scriptures is to be found in the church
alone, ....... 461
27. The sins of the men of old time, which incurred the dis-
pleasure 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, . . . 465
28. 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
2
xiv CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAOE
Testament ; but, forgetful of the greater degree of per-
fection which it demands from us, they endeavour to
show that there is another God beyond Him who
created the world, . . . . .471
29. Refutation of the arguments of the Marcionites, who attempted
to show that God was the author of sin, because He
blinded Pharaoh ai\d his servants, . . . 474
30. Refutation of another argument adduced by the Marcionites,
that God directed the Hebrews to spoil the Egyptians, 475
NOTE.
The first two books of Irenseus " Against Heresies" have been translated
by Dr. Roberts. The groundwork of the translation of the third book,
and that portion of the fourth book which is contained in this volume,
has been furnished by the Rev. W. H. Rambaut. An attempt has been
made, in rendering this important author into English, to adhere as
closely as possible to the original. It would have been far easier to give
a loose and flowing translation of the obscure and involved sentences of
Irenseus ; but the object has been studiously kept in view, to place the
English reader as much as possible in the position of one who has imme-
diate access to the Greek or Latin text.
INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.
HE work of Irenscus Against Heresies is one of
the most precious remains of early Christian anti-
quity. It is devotedj on the one hand, to an
account and refutation of those multiform Gnostic
heresies which prevailed in the latter half of the second cen-
tury ; 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 descrip-
tion of the tenets of the various heretical sects, with occasional
brief remarks in illustration of their absurdity, and in con-
firmation of the truth to which they were opposed. In his
second book, Irenseus 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 remainini^ books set forth more directlv
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 Irena^us is given to an exposition of the mani-
fold Gnostic speculations. Nothing more absurd than these
has probably ever been imagined by rational beings. Some
ingenious and learned men have indeed endeavoured to re-
concile the wild theories of these heretics with the principles
of reason ; but, as Bishop Kaye remarks {Eccl. Hist, of the
XV
xvi INTRODUCTORY NOTICE.
Second and Third Centuries, p. 524), *^ a more arduous or un
promising undertaking cannot well be conceived.'* The funda-
mental 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 recon-
cile 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 per-
nicious 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 specula-
tions. 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 unintellimble to the Eno;lish reader. And it is
scarcely more comprehensible to those who have pondered
long on the original. We have inserted brief notes of ex-
planation 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, his-
tory, 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 Ger-
INTRODUCTOnY NOTICE. xvii
mans, 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 Irenseus.
The great work of Irenseus, now for the first time trans-
lated 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 Epi-
phanius. 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 judg-
ment which can be formed, the work of translation remains ;
and that is, in this case, a matter of no small difficulty.
Irengeus, even in the original Greek, is often a very obscure
writer. At times he expresses himself with remarkable clear-
ness and terseness ; but, upon the whole, his style is very in-
volved and prolix. And the Latin version adds to these diffi
culties 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 cen-
tury ; 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 quaUfied 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.
xviii INTROD UCTOR Y NOTICE.
Irenacus liad manifestly taken great pains to make him-
self acquainted with the various heretical systems which he
descrihes. His mode of exposing and refuting these is gene-
rally 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 sar-
castic humour, while inveighing against the folly and impiety
of the heretics. But at tim.es 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 Irena^us 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.
AYe possess only very scanty accounts of the personal his-
tory of Irenseus. 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 sup-
poses 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 Irenseus was bishop of Lyons, in France,
during the latter quarter of the second century. The exact
period or circumstances of his ordination cannot be deter-
mined. 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 episco-
pate 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 en-
INTRO D UCTOR Y NOTICE. xix
forcing 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 Irenseus, as given
by Eusebius (Ilisf, Eccl, v. 7), and indicated frequently by
the author himself, was A Refutation and Subversion of Know-
ledge falsely so called, but it is generally referred to under the
shorter title, Aaainst Heresies. Several other smaller treatises
are ascribed to Irenaeus; viz. Aii 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 ScJiism, and another Oii 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, how-
ever, 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 yeai's after this
XX IN TROD UCTOR Y NOTICE.
there appeared the important Paris edition by the Benedic-
tine monk Massuet. This was reprinted at Venice in the
year 1724, in two thin folio vohimes, and again at Paris in a
large octavo, by the Abbe Migne, in 1857. A German
edition w^as 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 PhilosopJioiimena of Hippolytus ; and the further
addition of thirty-two fragments of a Svi'iac version of the
Greek text of Irenseus, culled from the Nitrian collection of
Syriac MSS. in the British ^luseum. 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.
IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES.
BOOK L
PREFACE.
fNASMUCH^ as certain men have set the truth
aside, and bring in lying words and vain
genealogies, which, as the apostle says," " mini-
ster questions rather than godly edifying which
is in faith," and by means of their craftily-constructed plau-
sibilities 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 coun-
teract 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] know-
ledge, from Him who founded and adorned the universe ; as
^ The Greek original of the work of Irengeus is from time to time
recovered through the numerous quotations made from it by subsequent
writers, especially by the author's pupil Hippolytus, and by Epiphanius.
The latter preserves {Ilxr. xxxi. sees. 9-32) the preface of Irenceus, and
most of the first book. An important difference of reading occurs be-
tween the Latin and Greek in the very first word. The translator
manifestly read i-ml^ quatcnus, while in Epiphanius we find scri, against.
The former is probably correct, and has been followed in our version.
We have also supplied a clause, in order to avoid the extreme length of
the sentence in the original, which runs on without any apodosis to the
words duccyKoclou viyyiax^uYiu^ " I have judged it necessary.''
- 1 Tim. i. 4. The Latin has here genealogias injinUas^ " endless
genealogies," as in teztus recejHus of New Testament.
A
2 IRENjEUS against heresies. [Book i.
if, forsoothj they had something more excellent and sublime
to reveal, than that God who created the lieaven 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;^ and 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. One^ far 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
enjoined^ us 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 Com-
mentaries, as they call them, of the disciples of Valentinus,
and after making myself acquainted wdth their tenets through
personal intercourse with some of them) to unfold to thee,
^ As will be seen by and by, this fancied being was, in the Yalentinian
system, the creator of the material universe, but far inferior to the
supreme ruler By thus.
- There are frequent references in Irenseus to some venerable men who
had preceded him in the church. It is supposed that Pothinus, whom he
succeeded at Lyons, is generally meant ; but the reference may some-
times be to Polycarp, with whom in early life he had been acquainted.
^ Comp. Matt. vii. 15.
Book I.] lUENJilUS AGAINST HERESIES. 3
my friend, these portentous and profound mysteries, whicli
do not fall within the range of every intellect, because all
have not sufficiently purged^ their 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 con-
nected, 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 Ptolemseus, whose school may
be described as a bud from that of Yalentinus. 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 whicli have been kept in
concealment until now, but which are at last, through the
o-oodness of God, brouMit to lii^ht. " For there is nothinii
hidden which shall not be revealed, nor secret that shall not
be made known." ^
3. Thou wilt not expect from me, wlio am resident among
the Kelta?,'^ and 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 whicli 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
^ The original is iyyA^^u^o'j s^sTrrv-ycaaiv, which the Latin translator
renders simply, " have not sufficient brains." He probably followed a
somewhat different reading. Various emendations have been proposed,
but the author may be understood by the ordinary text to be referring
ironically to the boasted subtlety and sublimity of the Gnostics.
2 Matt. X. 26.
^ As Caesar informs us {Comm. i. 1), Gaul was divided into three parts,
one of which was called Celtic Gaul, lying between the Seine and the
Garonne. Of this division Lyons was the principal city.
4 IRENu^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
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.
Chap. i. — Absurd ideas of the disciples of Valentinus as to
the origin, name, order, and conjugal productions of their
fancied JEons, with the passages of Scrip)tiire ivhich they
adapt to their opinions,
1. They maintain, then, that in the invisible and ineffable
heights above there exists a certain perfect, pre-existent
^on,^ whom they call Proarche, Propator, and Bythus, and
describe as being invisiole 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.^
^ This term ^on {Kiuu) seems to have been formed from the words
dii eov^ ever -existing. " We may take uiav., therefore," says Harvey
(Irejixus, cxix.), " in the Valentinian acceptation of the word, to mean
an emanation from the divine substance, subsisting co-ordinately and
co-eternally with the Deity, the Pleroma still remaining one."
2 Sige, however, was no true consort of Bythus, who included in him-
self the idea of male and female, and was the one cause of all things :
comp. Hippolytus, Philosop. vi. 29. There seems to have been consider-
able disagreement among these heretics as to the completion of the
mystical number thirty. Valentinus himself appears to have considered
Bythus as a monad, and Sige as a mere nonentity. The two latest
JEons, Christ and the Holy Spirit, would then complete the number
thirty. But other gnostic teachers included both Bythus and Sige in
that mystical number.
Book i.] IRENjEUS AGAINST IIEHESIES. 5
At last this Bytlius determined to send forth from himself
tlie beginning of all things, and deposited this production
(which he had resolved to bring forth) in his contemporary
Sige, even as seed is deposited in the womb. She then,
having received this seed, and becoming pregnant, gave birth
to Nous, who was both similar and equal to him who had
produced him, and was alone capable of comprehending his
father's greatness. This Nous they call also Monogenes, and
Father, and the Beginning of all Things. Along with him
was also produced Aletheia ; and these four constituted the
first and first-begotten Pythagorean Tetrad, which they also
denominate the root of all things. For there are first Bythus
and Sige, and then Nous and Aletheia. And Monogenes,
perceiving for what purpose he had been produced, also himself
sent forth Loi^os and Zoe, bcino; the father of all those who
were to come after him, and the beginning and fashioning of
the entire Pleroma. By the conjunction of Logos and Zoe
were brought forth Anthropos and Ecclesia; and thus was
formed the first-begotten Ogdoad, the root and substance of
all things, called among them by four names, viz. Bythus,
and Nous, and Logos, and Anthropos. For each of these is
masculo-feminine, as follows : Propator was united by con-
junction with his Ennoca; then Monogenes, that is Nous,
with Aletheia ; Logos with Zoe, and x\nthropos with Ecclesia.
2. These il^^ons having been produced for the glory of the
Father, and wishing, by their own efforts, to effect this object,
sent forth emanations by means of conjunction. Logos and
Zoe, after producing Anthropos and Ecclesia, sent forth
other ten ^ons, whose names are the following : Bythius
and ^lixis, Ageratos and Henosis, Autophyes and Iledone,
Acinctos and Syncrasis, Monogenes and Macaria.^ These
1 It may be well to give here the English equivalents of the names of
these iF]ons and their authors. They are as follow : Bythus, Profundity;
Proarche, First-Beginning; Propator, First-Father; Eniioea, Idea; Charis,
Grace; Sige, Silence ; 'ii^ous^ Intelligence ; AlethQia, Truth; Logos, Word;
Zoe, Life ; Anthropos, Man ; Ecclesia, Church ; Bythius, Deep ; Mixis,
Mingling ; Ageratos, Undccarjing ; Henosis, Union ; Autophyes, Self-
existent; Hedonc, Pleasure; Acinetos, Immoveable ; Syncrasis, Blending;
Monogenes, Only-Begotten ; [Macaria, Happiness ; Paracletus, Advocate ;
6 IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
are the ten iEons whom they declare to have been produced
by Logos and Zoe. They then add that Anthropos himself,
along with Ecclesia, produced twelve iEons, to whom they
give the following names : Paracletus and Pistis, Patricos
and Elpis, Metricos and Agape, Ainos and Synesis, Eccle-
siasticus and Macariotes, Theletos and Sophia.
3. Such are the thirty xEons in the erroneous system of
these men ; and they are described as being wrapped up,
so to speak, in silence, and known to none [except these pro-
fessing teachers]. Moreover, they declare that this invisible
and spiritual Pleroma of theirs is tripartite, being divided
into an Ogdoad, a Decad, and a Duodecad. And for this rea-
son they affirm it was that the " Saviour" — for they do not
please to call Him " Lord " — did no work in public during
the space of thirty years,^ thus setting forth the mystery of
these ^ons. They maintain also, that these thirty -^ons are
most plainly indicated in the parable^ of the labourers sent
into the vineyard. For some are sent about the first hour,
others about the third liour, others about the sixth hour,
others about the ninth hour, and others about the eleventh
hour. Now, if we add up the numbers of the hours here
mentioned, the sum total will be thirty ; for one, three, six,
nine, and eleven, when added together, form thirty. And
by the hours, they hold that the ^Eons were pointed out ;
while they maintain that these are great, and wonderful,
and hitherto unspeakable mysteries which it is their special
function to develop ; and so they proceed when they find
anything in the multitude'^ of things contained in the Scrip-
tures which they can adopt and accommodate to their baseless
speculations.
Pistis, Faith; Patricos, Ancestral; Elpis, Hope; Metricos, Metrical;
Agape, Love ; Ainos, Praise ; Synesis, Understanding ; Ecclesiasticus,
Ecclesiastical; Macariotes, Felicity; Tlieletos, Desiderated; Sophia,
Wisdom.
1 Luke iii. 23. 2 Matt. xx. 1-16.
^ Some omit h ttA'^^s/, while others render the words " a definite
number," thus : " And if there is anything else in Scripture which is
referred to by a definite number."
Book i.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES.
Chap. ii. — The Propator ims hnoivn to Monogenes alone.
AmhitioUy distui^hance^ and danger into luliicli SopJiia fell;
her shapeless offspring : she is restored hy Horos. The
production of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, in order to
the completion of the u^ons. Manner of the production
of Jesus.
1. They proceed to tell us that the Propator of their scheme
was known only to Monogenes, who sprang from him ; in
other words, only to Nous, while to all the others he was
invisible and incomprehensible. And, according to them,
Nous alone took pleasure in contemplating the Father, and
exulted in considering his immeasurable greatness ; while he
also meditated how he mioht communicate to the rest of the
iEons the greatness of the Father, revealing to them how vast
and mighty he was, and how he was without beginning, —
beyond comprehension, and altogether incapable of being
seen. Bat, in accordance with the will of the Father, Sige
restrained him, because it was his design to lead them all to
an acquaintance with the aforesaid Propator, and to create
within them a desire of investi^atino; his nature. In like
manner, the rest of the ^ons also, in a kind of quiet way,
had a wish to behold the Author of their being, and to con-
template that First Cause which had no beginning.
2. But there rushed forth in advance of the rest that -ZEon
wdio was much the latest of them, and was the youngest of
the Duodecad which sprang from Anthropos and Ecclesia,
namely Sophia, and suffered passion apart from the embrace
of her consort Theletos. This passion, indeed, first arose
among those who were connected with Nous and Aletheia,
but passed as by contagion to tliis degenerate iEon, who
acted under a pretence of love, but was in reality influenced
by temerity, because she had not, like Nous, enjoyed com-
munion with the perfect Father. This passion, they say,
consisted in a desire to search into the nature of the Father;
for she wished, according to them, to comprehend his o;reat-
ness. When she could not attain her end, inasmuch as she
8 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
aimed at an impossibility, and thus became involved in an
extreme agony of mind, while both on account of the vast
profundity as well as the unsearchable nature of the Father,
and on account of the love she bore him, she was ever
stretching herself forward, there was danger lest she should
at last have been absorbed by his sweetness, and resolved
into his absolute essence, unless she had met with that Power
which supports all things, and preserves them outside of the
unspeakable greatness. This power they term Horos ; by
whom, they say, she was restrained and supported ; and that
then, having with difficulty been brought back to herself, she
was convinced that the Father is incomprehensible, and so
laid aside her original design, along with that passion which
had arisen within her from the overwhelminfr influence of
her admiration.
3. But others of them fabulously describe the passion and
restoration of Sophia as follows : They say that she, having
engaged in an impossible and impracticable attempt, brought
forth an amorphous substance, such as her female nature
enabled her to produce.^ When she looked upon it, her first
feeling was one of grief, on account of the imperfection of
its generation, and then of fear lest this should end^ her
own existence. Next she lost, as it were, all command of
herself, and was in the greatest perplexity while endeavouring
to discover the cause of all this, and in what way she might
conceal what had happened. Being greatly harassed by
these passions, she at last changed her mind, and endeavoured
to return anew to the Father. When, however, she in some
measure made the attempt, strength failed her, and she became
a suppliant of the Father. The other ^ons. Nous in par-
ticular, presented their supplications along with her. And
^ Alluding to the gnostic notion that, in generation, the male gives
form, the female substance. Sophia, therefore, being a female -^on,
gave to her enthymesis substance alone, without form. Comp. Hippol.
Philosop. vi. 30.
^ Some render this obscure clause, " lest it should never attain perfec-
tion," but the above seems preferable. See Hippol. vi. 31, where the
fear referred to is extended to the whole Pleroma.
Book i.J IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 9
hence they declare material substance^ had its beginning
from ignorance and grief, and fear and bewilderment.
4. The Father afterwards produces, in his own image, by
means of Monogenes, the above-mentioned Horos, without
conjunction,^ masculo-feminine. For they maintain that
sometimes the Father acts in conjunction with Sige, but that
at other times he shows himself independent both of male and
female. They term this Horos both Stauros and Lytrotes,
and Carpistes, and Plorothetes, and Metagoges.'^ And by
this lloros they declare that Sophia was purified and estab-
lished, while she was also restored to her proper conjunction.
For her enthymesis (or inborn idea) having been taken away
from her, along with its supervening passion, she herself
certainly remained within the Pleroma ; but her enthymesis,
with its passion, was separated from her by Horos, fenced*
off, and expelled from that circle. This enthymesis was, no
doubt, a spiritual substance, possessing some of the natural
tendencies of an iEon, but at the same time shapeless and
without form, because it had received nothing.'" And on
this account they say that it was an imbecile and feminine
production.'^
1 " The reader will observe the parallel ; as the enthymesis of Bythiis
produced intelligent substance, so the enthymesis of Sophia resulted in
the formation of material substance." — Harvey.
- Some propose reading these words in the dative rather than the
accusative, and thus to make them refer to the image of the Father.
^ The meaning of these terms is as follows : Stauros means primarily a
stalr^ and then a cross ; Lytrotes is a Redeemer ; Carpistes, according to
Grabe, means aii Emancipator, according to Neander a Reaper ; Horo-
thctes is one that Jixes boundaries; and Metagoges is explained by
Neander as being one that hrinc/s hack^ from the supposed function of
Horos, to bring back all that sought to wander from the special grade of
being assigned them.
* The common text has ecToarspnSyiuxi^ was deprived ; but Billius pro-
poses to read cc-oarxvpu&r/jxi, in conformity with the ancient Latin
version, " crucifixam."
^ That is, had not shared in any male influence, but was a purely
female production.
^ Literally *' fruit." Harvey remarks on this expression, " that what
we understand by emanations, the Gnostic described as spiritual fructiji-
10 inENJEUS AGAIXST RETIESIES. [Book i.
5. After this substance had been placed outside of the
Pleroma of the JEiOns, and its mother restored to her proper
conjunction, they tell us that Monogenes, acting in accord-
ance with the prudent forethought of the Father, gave origin
to another conjugal pair, namely Christ and the Holy Spirit
(lest any of the zEons should fall into a calamity similar to
that of Sophia), for the purpose of fortifying and strengthen-
ing the Pleroma, and who at the same time completed the
number of the iEons. Christ then instructed them as to the
nature of their conjunction, and taught them that those who
possessed a comprehension of the Unbegotten were sufficient
for themselv'es.^ He also announced amons them wdiat re-
lated to the knowledge of the Father, — namely, that he cannot
be understood or comprehended, nor so much as seen or heard,
except in so far as he is known by Monogenes only. And
the reason why the rest of the ^ons possess perpetual exist-
ence is found In that part of the Father's nature which is in-
comprehensible ; but the reason of their origin and formation
was situated in that which may be comprehended regarding
him, that is, in the Son.^ Christ, then, who had just been
produced, effected these things among them.
6. But the Holy Spirit^ taught them to give thanks on
being all rendered equal among themselves, and led them to a
state of true repose. Thus, then, they tell us that the ^ons
were constituted equal to each other In form and sentiment,
so that all became as Nous, and Logos, and Anthropos, and
cation ; and as the seed of a tree is in itself, even in tlie embryo state,
so these various ^Eons, as existing always in the divine nature, were
co-cternal with it."
1 This is an exceedingly obscure and difficult passage. Harvey's ren-
dering is : " For, say they, Clirist taught them the nature of their
copulse, (namely,) that being cognisant of their (hmited) perception of the
Unbegotten, they needed no higher knowledge, and that He enounced,"
etc. The words seem scarcely capable of yielding this sense : we have
followed the interpretation of Billius.
2 Both the text and meaning are here very doubtful. Some think
that the import of the sentence is, that the knowledge that the Father is
incomprehensible secured the continued safety of the -^ons, while the
same knowledge conferred upon Monogenes his origin and form.
3 The Greek text inserts h, one^ before " Holy Spirit."
Book l] IEENjE US A GAINST HERESIES. 1 1
Cliristus. The female iEons, too, became all as Aletheia, and
Zoe, and Spirltus, and Ecclesia. Everything, then, being thus
established, and brought into a state of perfect rest, they next
tell us that these beings sang praises with great joy to the
Propator, who himself shared in the abounding exaltation.
Then, out of gratitude for the great benefit which had been
conferred on them, the whole Pleroma of the -ZEons, with one
design and desire, and with the concurrence of Christ and the
Holy Spirit, their Father also setting the seal of his approval
on their conduct, brought together whatever each one had in
himself of the greatest beauty and preciousness; and uniting
all these contributions so as skilfully to blend the whole, they
produced, to the honour and glory of Bythus, a being of most
perfect beauty, the very star of the Pleroma, and the perfect
fruit [of it], namely Jesus. Him they also speak of under
the name of Saviour, and Christ, and patronymically. Logos,
and Everything, because He was formed from the contribu-
tions of all. And then we are told that, by way of honour,
ani^els of the same nature as Himself were simultaneouslv
produced, to act as His body-guard.
Chap. hi. — Tea^ts of Holy Scripture used hy these heretics to
support their opinions.
1. Such, then, is the account they give of what took place
within the Pleroma ; such the calamities that flowed from the
passion which seized upon the iEon who has been named,
and who was Avithin a little of perishing by being absorbed
in the universal substance, through her inquisitive searching
after the Fatlier ; such the consolidation ^ [of that ili^on] from
her condition of agony by Horos, and Stauros, and Lytrotes,
and Carpistes, and Horothetcs, and Metagoges." Such also
is the account of the sjeneration of the later iEons, namelv
1 The reading is here very doubtful. We have followed the text of
Grabe (approved by Harvey), si dyuvoi avf^Trn^ig.
^ These are all names of the same person : see above, ii. 4. Hence
some have proposed the reading f|a/6j://o? instead of t-| a^iyo;, alluding
to the sixfold appellation of the yEon Horos.
12 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
of tlie first Christ and of the Holy Spirit, both of whom were
produced by the Father after the repentance ^ [of Sophia],
and of the second ^ Christ (whom they also style Saviour),
who owed his being to the joint contributions [of the iEons],
They tell us, however, that this knowledge has not been
openly divulged, because all are not capable of receiving it,
but has been mystically revealed by the Saviour through
means of parables to those qualified for understanding it.
This has been done as follows. The thirty ^ons are indi-
cated (as w^e have already remarked) by the thirty years
during which they say the Saviour performed no public act,
and by the parable of the labourers in the vineyard. Paul
also, they affirm, very clearly and frequently names these
^ons, and even goes so far as to preserve their order, when
he says, "To all the generations of the iEons of the ^on."^
Nay, we ourselves, when at the giving^ of thanks we pro-
nounce the words, " To ^ons of ^ons " (for ever and ever),
do set forth these iEons. And, in fine, wherever the words
jEon or JEons occur, they at once refer them to these
bein2;s.
2. The production, again, of the Duodecad of the -ZEons,
is indicated by the fact that the Lord was twelve'' years of
age when He disputed with the teachers of the law, and by
the election of the apostles, for of these there were twelve.^
The other eighteen ^ons are made manifest in this w^av :
that the Lord, [according to them,] conversed with His dis-
1 Billius renders, " from the repentance of the Father," but the above
seems preferable.
- Harvey remarks, " Even in their Christology the Yalentinians must
have their part and counterpart."
" Or, " to all the generations of the ages of the age." See Eph. iii, 21.
The apostle, of course, simply uses these words as a strong expression to
denote " for ever."
^ Literally, " at the thanksgiving," or " eucharist." Massuet, the
Benedictine editor, refers this to the Lord's Supper, and hence concludes
that some of the ancient liturgies still extant must even then have been
in use. Harvey and others, however, deny that there is any necessity
for supposing the Holy Eucharist to be referred to ; the ancient Latin
version translates in the plural, " in gratiarum actionibus."
5 Luke ii. 42. '^ Luke vi. 13.
Book l] IRENJEU8 AGAINST HERESIES, 13
ciples for eighteen months ^ after His resurrection from the
dead. They also affirm that these eighteen ^ons are strik-
ingly indicated by the first two letters of His name ['It^ctoi)?],
namely Iota " and Eta. And, in like manner, they assert that
the ten ^ons are pointed out by the letter lota^ which begins
His name ; while, for the same reason, they tell us the Saviour
said, " One Iota, or one tittle, shall by no means pass away
until all be fulfilled."^
3. They further maintain that the passion wdiich took place
in the case of the twelfth iEon is pointed at by the apostasy
of Judas, who was the twelfth apostle, and also by the fact
that Christ suffered in the twelfth month. For their opinion
is, that He continued to preach for one year only after His
baptism. The same thing is also most clearly indicated by
the case of the woman who suffered from an issue of blood.
For after she had been thus afflicted during twelve years, she
was healed by the advent of the Saviour, when she had
touched the border of His garment ; and on this account the
Saviour said, "Who touched me?"^ — teaching His disciples
the mystery which had occurred among the iEons, and the
healinir of that 2^on ^Yho had been involved in sufferino;.
For she who had been afflicted twelve years represented that
power whose essence, as they narrate, was stretching itself
forth, and flowing into immensity ; and unless she had
touched the garment of the Son,^ that is, Aletheia of the first
Tetrad, who is denoted by the hem spoken of, she would
have been dissolved into the general essence ^ [of which she
participated]. She stopped short, however, and ceased any
^ This opinion is in positive contradiction to i]iQ forty days mentioned
by St. Luke (Acts i. 3). But the Yalentiuians seem to have followed a
spurious writing of their own called ''The Gospel of Truth." See iii. 11, 8.
- The numeral value of Iota in Greek is ten, and of Eta^ eight.
3 Matt. V. 18. ^ Mark v. 31.
* The Latin reads " filii," which we have followed. Keference is made
in this word to Nous, who was, as we have already seen, also called Sou^
and who interested himself in the recovery of Sophia. Aletheia was his
consort, and was typified by the hem of the Saviour's garment.
^ Her individuality (^&jo:f /j) would have been lost, while her substance
(oiaia,) would have survived in the common essence of the -^ons.
14 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
longer to suffer. For the power that went forth from the
Son (and this power they term Horos) healed her, and sepa-
rated the passion from her.
4. They moreover affirm that tlie Saviour ^ is shown to be
derived from all the ^ons, and to be in Himself everything
by the following passage : " Every male that openeth the
womb." ^ For He, being everything, opened the womb^ of
the enth3"mesis of the suffering iEon, when it had been
expelled from the Pleroma. This they also style the second
Ogdoad, of which we shall speak presently. And they state
that it was clearly on this account that Paul said, " And He
Himself is all things ;"^ and again, "All things are to Him,
and of Plim are all things ; "^ and further, " In Him dwelleth
all the fulness of the Godhead ; " ^ and yet again, " All things
are gathered together by God in Christ." ^ Thus do they
interpret these and any like passages to be found in Scripture.
5. They show, further, that that Horos of theirs, whom
they call by a variety of names, has two faculties, — the one of
supporting, and the other of separating ; and in so far as
he supports and sustains, he is Stauros, while in so far as he
divides and separates, he is Horos. They then represent the
Saviour as having indicated this twofold faculty : first, the
sustaining power, when He said, " Whosoever doth not bear
his cross (Stauros), and follow after me, cannot be my dis-
ciple ; "^ and again, " Taking up the cross, follow me ; " ^ but
the separating power when He said, " I came not to send
peace, but a sword." ^^ They also maintain that John indi-
^ That is, the "second Christ" referred to above, sec. 1.
2 Ex. xiii. 2 ; Luke ii. 23.
2 Not as being bom of it, but as fecundating it, and so producing a
manifold offspring. See below.
4 Col. iii. 11. " Rom. xi. 3G. « Col. ii. 9. ^ Eph. i. 10.
s Luke xiv. 27. It "svill be observed that the quotations of Scripture
made by Irenreus often vary somewhat from the received text. This
may be due to various reasons — his quoting from memory ; his giving
the texts in the form in which they were quoted by the heretics ; or, as
Harvey conjectures, from his having been more familiar with a Syriac
version of the New Testament than with the Greek original.
9 Matt. X. 21. 1" Matt. x. 34.
Book i.] IRENjEVS AGAINST HERESIES. 15
catccl the same thing when he said, " The fan is in Ilis hand,
and He will thoroughly purge the floor, and will gather the
wheat into His garner ; but the chaff He will burn with fire
unquenchable."^ By this declaration He set forth the faculty
of Horos. For that fan they explain to be the cross (Stauros),
which consumes, no doubt, all material ^ objects, as fire does
chaff, but it purifies all them that are saved, as a fan does
wheat. Moreover, they affirm that the Apostle Paul himself
made mention of this cross in the following words : " The
doctrine of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to
us who are saved it is the power of God." ^ And again :
" God forbid that I should glory in anything ^ save in the
cross of Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I
unto the world."
6. Such, then, is the account which they all give of their
Pleroma, and of the formation '^ of the universe, striving, as
they do, to adapt the good words of revelation to their own
wicked inventions. And it is not only from the WTitings of
the evangelists and the apostles that they endeavour to
derive proofs for their opinions by means of perverse inter-
pretations and deceitful expositions : they deal in the same
way with the law and the prophets, which contain many
parables and allegories that can frequently be drawn into
various senses, according to the kind of exeifesis to wdiicli
they are subjected. And others^ of them, with great crafti-
ness, adapting such parts of Scripture to their own figments,
lead aw^ay captive from the truth those who do not retain a
stedfast faith in one God, the Father Almighty, and in one
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
1 Luke iii. 17.
- Hence Stauros was called by the agricultural name Carpistes, as
separating what was gross and material from the spiritual and heavenly.
« 1 Cor. i. 18.
* Gal. vi. 14. The words su (/.riovA do not occur in the Greek text.
^ BiUius renders, *' of their opinion."
^ The punctuation and rendering are here slightly doubtful.
IG IRENjEUS against heresies. [Book i.
CllAP. IV. — Account (jicen hy the heretics of the formation
of Achamoth ; origin of the visible world from her dis-
turbances,
1. The following are the transactions which they narrate
as having occurred outside of the Pleroma : The enthymesis
of that Sophia who dwells above, which they also term Acha-
moth/ being removed from the Pleroma, together with her
passion, they relate to have, as a matter of course, become
violently excited in those places of darkness and vacuity [to
which she had been banished]. For she was excluded from
light ^ and the Pleroma, and was without form or figure,
like an untimely birth, because she had received nothing^
[from a male parent]. But the Christ dwelling on high
took pity upon her; and having extended himself througli
and beyond Stauros,^ he imparted a figure to her, but merely
as respected substance, and not so as to convey intelligence."'"
Havino" effected this, he withdrew his influence, and re-
turned, leaving Achamoth to herself, in order that she, be-
coming sensible of her suffering as being severed from the
Pleroma, might be influenced by the desire of better things,
while she possessed in the meantime a kind of odour of
immortality left in her by Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Wherefore also she is called by two names — Sophia after her
father (for Sophia is spoken of as being her father), and Holy
Spirit from that Spirit who is along with Christ. Having
then obtained a form, along with intelHgence, and being
immediately deserted by that Logos who had been invisibly
1 This term, though Tertiillian declares himself to have been ignorant
of its derivation, was evidently formed from the Hebrew word T\'C)'2r\ —
chockmah, loisdom.
2 The reader will observe that liglit and fulness are the exact correlatives
of the darkness and vacuity which have just been mentioned.
3 As above stated (ii. 3), the Gnostics held that form and figure were
due to the male, substance to the female parent.
* The Valentinian Stauros was tlie boundary fence of the Pleroma,
beyond which Christ extended himself to assist the enthymesis of Sophia.
5 The peculiar gnosis which Nous received from his father, and com-
muuicated to the other -^ons.
Book i.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 17
present with her — that is, by Christ — she strained herself to
discover that hght which had forsaken her, but could not
effect her purpose, inasmuch as she was prevented by Horos.
And as Horos thus obstructed her further progress, he ex-
claimed, lAO,^ whence, they say, this name lao derived its
origin. And when she could not pass by Horos on account
of that passion in which she had been involved, and because
she alone had been left without, she then resigned herself to
every sort of that manifold and varied state of passion to
which she was subject ; and thus she suffered grief on the
one hand because she had not obtained the object of her
desire, and fear on the other hand, lest life itself should fail
her, as light had already done, while, in addition, she was in
the greatest perplexity. All these feelings were associated
Avith ignorance. And this ignorance of hers was not, like
that of her mother, the first Sophia, an iEon, due to degene-
racy by means of passion, but to an [innate] opposition [of
nature to knowledge].^ ^loreover, another kind of passion
fell upon her (Achamoth), namely, that of desiring to return
to him who gave her life.
2. This collection [of passions] they declare was the sub-
stance of the matter from which this world was formed.
For from [her desire of] returning [to him who gave her
life], every soul belonging to this world, and that of the
Demiurge' himself, derived its origin. All other things
owed their benjinninfir to her terror and sorrow. For from
her tears all that is of a liquid nature was formed ; from her
smile all that is lucent ; and from her grief and perplexity
all the corporeal elements of the world. For at one time, as
they affirm, she would weep and lament on account of being
left alone in the midst of darkness and vacuity ; while, at
another time, reflecting on the light which had forsaken her,
^ Probably corresponding to tlio Hebrew mnV Jehovah.
2 This sentence is very elliptical in the original, but the sense is as
given above. Sophia fell from Gnosis by degradation ; Achamoth never
possessed this knowledge, her nature being from the first opposed to it.
^ " The Demiiu-ge derived from Enthymcsis an animal, and not a
spiritual nature." — IlAUVEr.
B
18 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
she would be filled with joy, and laugh ; then, again, she
would be struck with terror ; or, at other times, would sink
into consternation and bewilderment.
3. Now what follows from all this? No licrlit traixecly
comes out of it, as the fancy of every man among them
pompously explains, one in one way, and another in another,
from what kind of passion and from what element being
derived its origin. They have good reason, as seems to me,
why they should not feel inclined to teach these things to all
in public, but only to such as are able to pay a high price for
an acquaintance with such profound mysteries. For these
doctrines are not at all similar to those of which our Lord said,
"Freely ye have received, freely give."^ They are, on the
contrary, abstruse, and portentous, and profound mysteries,
to be got at only with great labour by such as are in love with
falsehood. For who would not expend all that he possessed,
if only he might learn in return, that from the tears of the
enthymesis of the -^on involved in passion, seas, and foun-
tains, and rivers, and every liquid substance derived its
origin ; that light burst forth from her smile ; and that from
her perplexity and consternation the corporeal elements of
the world had their formation ?
4. I feel somewhat inclined myself to contribute a few
hints towards the development of their system. For when I
perceive that waters are in part fresh, such as fountains,
rivers, showers, and so on, and in part salt, such as those in
the sea, I reflect with myself that all such waters cannot be
derived from her tears, inasmuch as these are of a saline
quality only. It is clear, therefore, that the waters which
are salt are alone those which are derived from her tears.
But it is probable that she, in her intense agony and per-
plexity, was covered with perspiration. And hence, following
out their notion, we may conceive that fountains and rivers,
and all the fresh water in the world, are due to this source.
For it is difficult, since we know that all tears are of the same
quality, to believe that waters both salt and fresh proceeded
from them. The more plausible supposition is, that some are
1 Matt. X. 8.
Book i.] UlENJE US A GA INST IIEBESIES. 1 9
from her tears, and some from her perspiration. And since
thei'e arc also in the world certain waters which are hot
and acrid in their nature, thou must be left to guess their
origin, how and whence. Such are some of the results of
their hypothesis.
5. They go on to state that, when the mother Achamoth
had passed through all sorts of passion, and had with diffi-
culty escaped from them, she turned herself to supplicate the
light which had forsaken her, that is, Christ. He, however,
having returned to the Pleroma, and being probably unwilling
again to descend from it, sent forth to her the Paraclete, that is,
the Saviour.-^ This being was endowed with all power by the
Father, who placed everything under his authority, the iEons^
doin<y so likewise, so that ^^ bv him were all thinf^s, visible and
invisible, created, thrones, divinities, dominions." ^ lie then
was sent to her along with his contemporary angels. And
they relate that Achamoth, filled with reverence, at first veiled
herself through modesty, but that by and by, when she had
looked upon him with all his endowments, and had acquired
strength from his appearance, she ran forward to meet him.
lie then imparted to her form as respected intelligence, and
brought healing to her passions, separating them from her,
but not so as to drive them out of thought altoiicther. For
it was not possible that they should be annihilated as in the
former case,"* because they had already taken root and ac-
quired strength [so as to possess an indestructible existence].
All that he could do was to separate them and set them
apart, and then commingle and condense them, so as to trans-
mute them from incorporeal passion into unorganized matter.^
^ " Jesus, or Soter, was also called the Paraclete in the sense of Advo-
cate, or one acting as the representative of others." — Harvey.
- Both the Father and the other iEons constituting Sotcr an imper-
sonation of the entire Pleroma.
3 Col. i. IG.
■* That is, as in the case of her mother Sophia, who is sometimes
called " the Sophia above," Achamoth being " the Sophia below," or
*' the second Sophia."
^ Thus Harvey renders oiauf/,cx.TQ'j v'hnv ; so Baur, Chr. Gnos.^ as quoted
by Stieren. Billius proposes to read suauccxrov, corporeol.
20 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
He tlicn by this process conferred upon them a fitness and a
nature to become concretions and corporeal structures, in
order that two substances should be formed, — the one evil,
resulting from the passions, and the other subject indeed to
suffering, but originating from her conversion. And on this
account {i.e. on account of this hypostatizing of ideal matter)
they say that the Saviour virtually^ created the world. But
when Achamoth w^as freed from her passion, she gazed with
rapture on the dazzling vision of the angels that were with
him ; and in her ecstasy, conceiving by them, they tell us that
she brought forth new beings, partly after her own image,
and partly a spiritual progeny after the image of the
Saviour's attendants.
Chap. v. — Formation of the Demiurge ; description of Jiim.
He is the creator of everything outside of the Pleroma.
1. These three kinds of existence, then, having, according
to them, been now formed, — -one from the passion, w^hicli
was matter; a second from the conversion, wdiich was animal;
and the third, that which she (Achamoth) herself brought
forth, which was spiritual, — she next addressed herself to the
task of giving these form. But she could not succeed in
doing this as respected the spiritual existence, because it was
of the same nature with herself. She therefore applied her-
self to give form to the animal substance which had pro-
ceeded from her ow^n conversion, and to bring forth to light
the instructions of the Saviour.^ And they say she first
formed out of animal substance him who is Father and Kini^
of all things, both of these which are of the same nature
with himself, that is, animal substances, which they also call
right-handed, and those which sprang from the passion, and
from matter, which they call left-handed. For they affirm
^ Thougli not actually, for tliat was the work of the Demiurge. See
next chapter.
2 " In order that," says Grabe, '• this formation might not be merely
according to essence^ but also according to knowledge^ as the formation of
the mother Achamoth was characterized above."
Book i.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 21
that he formed all the things which came into existence after
liim, being secretly impelled thereto by his mother. From
this circumstance they style him Metropator,^ Apator,
Demiurge, and Father, saying that he is Father of the
substances on the right hand, that is, of the animal, but
Demiurge of those on the left, that is, of the material, while
he is at the same time the king of all. For they say that this
Enthymesis, desirous of making all things to the honour of
the -<3Eons, formed images of them, or rather that the Saviour^
did so through her instrumentality. And she, in the image "
of the invisible Father, kept herself concealed from the
Demiurge. But he was in the image of the only-begotten
Son, and the angels and archangels created by liim were in
the imafTe of the rest of the JEons.
2. They affirm, therefore, that he was constituted the
Father and God of everything outside of the Pleroma, being
the creator of all animal and material substances. For he it
was that discriminated these two kinds of existence hitherto
confused, and made corporeal from incorporeal substances,
fashioned things heavenly and earthly, and became the
Framer (Demiui-ge) of things material and animal, of those
on the riiiht and those on the left, of the lIo;ht and of the
heavy, and of those tending upwards as well as of those
tending downwards. He created also seven heavens, above
which they say that he, the Demiurge, exists. And on
this account they term him Hebdomas, and his mother
Achanioth Ogdoas, preserving the number of the first-begot-
ten and primary Ogdoad of the Pleroma. They affirm,
^ ^^etropato^, ns proceeding only from liis mother Acbamoth : Apator,
as having no male progenitor.
- Harvey remarks, " The Yalentinian Saviour being an aggregation of
all the ajonic perfections, the images of them were reproduced by the
spiritual conception of Achamoth beholding the glory of lurvip. The
reader Avill not fail to observe that every successive development is the
reflex of a more divine antecedent."
^ The relation indicated seems to be as follows : Achamoth, after being
formed " according to knowledge," was outside of the Pleroma as the
image of Propator, the Demiurge was as Nous, and the nnmdane angels
which he formed corresponded to the other -<Eons of the Pleroma.
22 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
moreover, that these seven heavens arc intelligent, and speak
of tliem as being angels, while they refer to the Demiurge
himself as being an angel bearing a likeness to God ; and in
the same strain, they declare that Paradise, situated above
the third heaven, is a fourth angel possessed of poNver, from
whom Adam derived certain qualities while he conversed
with him.
3. They go on to say that the Demiurge imagined that he
created all these things of himself, while he in reality made
them in conjunction with the productive power of Achamoth.
He formed the heavens, yet was ignorant of the heavens ;
he fashioned man, yet knew not man ; he brought to light
the earth, yet had no acquaintance with the earth ; and, in
like manner, they declare that he was ignorant of the forms
of all that he made, and knew not even of the existence of
his own mother, but imagined that he himself was all things.
They further affirm, that his mother originated this opinion
in his mind, because she desired to bring him forth possessed
of such a character that he should be the head and source
of his own essence, and the absolute ruler over every kind
of operation [that was afterwards attempted]. This mother
they also call Ogdoad, Sophia, Terra, Jerusalem, Holy
Spirit, and, with a masculine reference, Lord.^ Her place
of habitation is an intermediate one, above the Demiurge
indeed, but below and outside of the Pleroma, even to the
end.^
4. As, then, they represent all material substance to be
formed from three passions, viz. fear, grief, and perplexity,
the account they give is as follows : Animal substances origi-
nated from fear and from conversion ; the Demiurge they also
describe as owino* his orii^in to conversion ; but the existence
^ "Achamoth by these names must be understood to have an inter-
mediate position between the divine prototypal idea and creation : she
Avas the reflex of the one, and therefore masculo-feminine ; she was the
pattern to be reahzed in the latter, and therefore was named Earth and
Jerusalem^ — Harvey.
2 But after the consummation here referred to, Achamoth regained
the Pleroma: see below, chap. vii. 1.
Book i.] IllENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 23
of all tlie other animal substances they ascribe to fear, such
as the souls of irrational animals, and of wild beasts, and
men. And on this account, he (the Demiurge), being in-
capable of recognising any spiritual essences, imagined him-
self to be God alone, and declared through the prophets, " I
am God, and besides me there is none else." ^ They further
teach that the spirits of wickedness derived their origin from
grief. Hence the devil, whom they also call Cosmocrator (the
ruler of the world), and the demons, and the angels, and every
wicked spiritual being that exists, found the source of their
existence. They represent the Demiurge as being the son of
that mother of theirs (Achamoth), and Cosmocrator as the
creature of the Demiurge. Cosmocrator has knowledge of
what is above himself, because he is a spirit of wickedness ;
but the Demiuroje is ii^norant of such thino^s, inasmuch as he
is merely animal. Their mother dwells in that place which is
above the heavens, that is, in the intermediate abode ; the
Demiurge in the heavenly place, that is, in the hebdomad ;
but the Cosmocrator in this our world. The corporeal ele-
ments of the world, again, sprang, as we before remarked,
from bewilderment and perplexity, as from a more ignoble
source. Thus the earth arose from her state of stupor ; water
from the agitation caused by her fear ; air from the consoli-
dation of her grief ; while fire, producing death and corrup-
tion, was inherent in all these elements, even as they teach
that ignorance also lay concealed in these three passions.
5. Having thus formed the world, he (the Demiurge) also
created the earthy [part of] man, not taking him from this
dry earth, but from an invisible substance consisting of
fusible and fluid matter, and then afterwards, as they define
the process, breathed into him the animal part of his nature.
It was this latter which was created after his imao^c and like-
ness. The material part, indeed, was very near to God, so
far as the image went, but not of the same substance with
him. The animal, on the other hand, was so in respect to like-
ness; and hence his substance was called the spirit of life,
because it took its rise from a spiritual outflowing. After
1 Isa. xlv. 5, C, xlvi. 9.
24 lEENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
all this, he was, they say, enveloped all round with a covering
of skin ; and by this tliey mean the outward sensitive flesh.
6. But they further affirm that the Demiurge himself was
ignorant of that offspring of his mother Achamoth, which
she brought forth as a consequence of her contemplation of
those angels who waited on the Saviour, and which was, like
herself, of a spiritual nature. She took advantage of this
ignorance to deposit it (her production) in him without his
knowledge, in order that, being by his instrumentality infused
into that animal soul proceeding from himself, and being
thus carried as in a womb in this material body, while it
gradually increased in strength, might in course of time
become fitted for the reception of perfect rationality.^ Thus
it came to pass, then, according to them, that, without any
knowledge on the part of the Demiurge, the man formed by
his inspiration was at the same time, through an unspeakable
providence, rendered a spiritual man by the simultaneous
inspiration received from Sophia. For, as he was ignorant
of his mother, so neither did he recognise her offspring. This
[offspring] they also declare to be the Ecclesia, an emblem
of the Ecclesia which is above. This, then, is the kind of
man whom they conceive of: he has his animal soul from
the Demiurge, his body from the earth, his fleshy part from
matter, and his spiritual man from the mother Achamoth.
Chap. yi. — The tlireefoUl hind of man feigned hy these
heretics : good loorks needless for them, though necessary
to others : their abandoned morals,
1. There being thus three kinds of substances, they declare
of all that is material (which they also describe as being " on
the left hand") that it must of necessity perish, inasmuch as
^ An account is here given of the infusion of a spiritual principle into
mankind. The Demiurge himself could give no more than the animal
soul ; but, unwittingly to himself, he was made the instrument of con-
veying that spiritual essence from Achamoth, which had grown up
within her from the contemplation of those angels who accompanied the
Saviour.
Book l] IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 25
it is incapable of receiving any afflatus of incorruptlon. As
to every animal existence (which they also denominate " on
the right hand"), they hold that, inasmuch as it is a mean
between the spiritual and the material, it passes to the side
to which inclination draws it. Spiritual substance, again,
they describe as having been sent forth for this end, that,
being here united with that which is animal, it might assume
shape, the two elements being simultaneously subjected to
the same discipline. And this they declare to be " the salt" ^
and " the light of the w^orld." For the animal substance had
need of training by means of the outward senses; and on
this account they affirm that the w^orld was created, as well
as that the Saviour came to the animal substance (which was
possessed of free-will), that He might secure for it salva-
tion. For they affirm that He received the first-fruits of
those wdiom He was to save [as follows], from Achamoth that
which was spiritual, while He was invested by the Demiurge
with the animal Christ, but was begirt^ by a [special] dispen-
sation with a body endowed with an animal nature, yet con-
structed w'ith unspeakable skill, so that it might be visible
and tangible, and capable of enduring suffering. At the
same time, they deny that He assumed anything material
[Into His nature], since indeed matter Is incapable of salva-
tion. They further hold that the consummation of all things
will take place when all that is spiritual has been formed and
perfected by Gnosis (knowledge) ; and by this they mean
spiritual men who have attained to the perfect knowledge of
God, and been initiated into these mysteries by Achamoth.
And they represent themselves to be these persons.
2. Animal men, again, are Instructed In animal things ;
such men, namely, as arc established by their works, and by
a mere faith, while they have not perfect knowledge. We
of the church, they say, are these persons. Wherefore also
1 Matt. v. 13, U.
2 " The doctrine of Yalentinus, therefore," says Harvey, " as regards
the human nature of Christ, Avas essentially Docetic. His body -was
animal^ but not material^ and only visible and tangible as having been
formed xar' oiKouoinia'j and KocriQKivuay.ivQv uppviTu Ti-^vyj.^''
2G IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
they maintain that good works are necessary to us, for that
otherwise it is impossible we should be saved. But as to
themselves, they hold that they shall be entirely and un-
doubtedly saved, not by means of conduct, but because they
are spiritual by nature.^ For, just as it is impossible that
material substance should partake of salvation (since, indeed,
they maintain that it is incapable of receiving it), so again it
is impossible that spiritual substance (by which they mean
themselves) should ever come under the power of corruption,
whatever the sort of actions in wdiicli they indulged. For
even as gold, when submersed in filth, loses not on that
account its beauty, but retains its own native qualities,
the filth having no power to injure the gold, so they affirm
that they cannot in any measure suffer hurt, or lose their
spiritual substance, whatever the material actions in which
they may be involved.
3. Wherefore also it comes to pass, that the ^'most perfect"
amonoj them addict themselves without fear to all those kinds
of forbidden deeds of which the Scriptures assure us that
" they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of
God."^ For instance, they make no scruple about eating
meats offered in sacrifice to idols, imagining that they can
in this way contract no defilement. Then, again, at every
heathen festival celebrated in honour of the idols, these men
are the first to assemble ; and to such a pitch do they go, that
some of them do not even keep away from that bloody spec-
tacle hateful both to God and men, in which gladiators either
fight with wild beasts, or singly encounter one another.
Others of them yield themselves up to the lusts of the flesh
with the utmost greediness, maintaining that carnal things
should be allowed to the carnal nature, while spiritual
things are provided for the spiritual. Some of them, more-
over, are in the habit of defiling those women to whom they
have taught the above doctrine, as has frequently been con-
fessed by those women who have been led astray by certain
of them, on their returning to the church of God, and
^ On account of what they had received from Acharaoth.
2 Gal. V. 21.
Book l] IEENMUS AGAINST IIEllESIES. 27
acknowledging this along with the rest of their errors. Others
of them, too, openly and without a blush, having become
passionately attached to certain women, seduce them away
from their husbands, and contract marriages of their own
with them. Others of them, again, wlio pretend at first to
live in all modesty with them as with sisters, have in course
of time been revealed in their true colours, when the sister
has been found with child by her [pretended] brother.
4. And committing many other abominations and im-
pieties, they run us dow^n (who from the fear of God guard
against sinning even in thought or word) as utterly contemp-
tible and ignorant persons, while they highly exalt them-
selves, and claim to be perfect, and the elect seed. For they
declare that we simply receive grace for use, wherefore also
it will again be taken away from us; but that they themselves
have grace as their own special possession, which has descended
from above by means of an unspeakable and indescribable con-
junction; and on this account more will be given them.^ They
maintain, therefore, that in every way it is always necessary
for them to practise the mystery of conjunction. And that
they may persuade the thoughtless to believe this, they are
in the habit of using these very words, " Whosoever being in
this world does not so love a woman as to obtain possession of
her, is not of the truth, nor shall attain to the truth. But
whosoever being of^ this world has intercourse with woman,
shall not attain to the truth, because he has so acted under
the power of concupiscence." On this account, they tell us
that it is necessary for us whom they call animal men, and
describe as being of the world, to practise continence and
good works, that by this means we may attain at length to
the intermediate habitation, but that to them who are called
" the spiritual and perfect " such a course of conduct is not
at all necessary. For it is not conduct of any kind which
leads into the Pleroma, but the seed sent forth thence in a
feeble, immature state, and here brought to perfection.
^ Comp. Luke xix. 26.
- Comp. John xvii. IG. The Yalentinians, while in the world, claimed
to be not of the icorld^ as auimal men were.
28 IliENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
Chap. vii. — The mother Achamoth, ichen all her seed are
perfected^ shall pass into the Fleroma, accompanied hy
those men ivho are spiritual ; the Demiurge, ivith animal
men, shall pass into the intermediate habitation ; hut all
material men shall go into corruj^tion. Their blasphemous
opinions against the true incarnation of Clirist by the
Virgin Mary, Their views as to the propliecies. Stupid
ignorance of the Demiurge.
1. Vv'hen all the seed shall have come to perfection, they
state that then their mother Achamoth shall pass from the
intermediate place, and enter in within the Pleroma, and
shall receive as her spouse the Saviour, who sprang from all
the ^ons, that thus a conjunction may be formed between
the Saviour and Sophia, that is, Achamoth. These, then, are
the bridegroom and bride, while the nuptial chamber is the
full extent of the Pleroma, The spiritual seed, again, being
divested of their animal souls,^ and becoming intelligent
spirits, shall in an irresistible and invisible manner enter in
within the Pleroma, and be bestowed as brides on those angels
who wait upon the Saviour. The Demiurge himself will pass
into the place of his mother Sophia;' that is, the intermediate
habitation. In this intermediate place, also, shall the souls
of the righteous repose ; but nothing of an animal nature
shall find admittance to the Pleroma. When these things
have taken place as described, then shall that fire which lies
hidden in the world blaze forth and burn ; and while destroy-
ing all matter, shall also be extinguished along with it, and
have no further existence. Tliev affirm that the Demiurf:fe
was acquainted with none of these things before the advent
of the Saviour.
2. There are also some who maintain that he also pro-
duced Christ as his own proper son, but of an animal nature,
^ Their spiritual substance was received from Achamotti ; their animal
souls were created by the Demiurge. These are now separated ; the
spirit enters the Pleroma, while the soul remains in heaven.
^ Viz. Achamoth.
Book i.] IBENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 20
and that mention was-^ made of him by the prophets. This
Christ passed through Mary^ just as water flows through a
tube ; and there descended upon liim in the form of a dove
at the time of his baptism, that Saviour who belonged to the
Pleroma, and was formed by the combined efforts of all its
inhabitants. In him there existed also that spiritual seed
which proceeded from Achamoth. They hold, accordingly,
that our Lord, while preserving the type of the first-begotten
and primary tetrad, was compounded of these four substances,
— of that which is spiritual, in so far as He was from Acha-
moth ; of that which is animal, as being from the Demiurge
by a special dispensation, inasmuch as He was formed [cor-
poreally] with unspeakable skill ; and of the Saviour, as
respects that dove which descended upon Him. He also
continued free from all suffering, since indeed it was not
possible that He should suffer who was at once incomprehen-
sible and invisible. And for this reason the Spirit of Christ,
who had been placed within Him, was taken away when He
was brought before Pilate. They maintain, further, that not
even the seed which He had received from the mother [xVcha-
moth] was subject to suffering; for it, too, was impassible,
as being spiritual, and invisible even to the Demiurge him-
self. It follows, then, according to them, that the animal
Christ, and that which had been formed mysteriously by a
special dispensation, underwent suffering, that the mother
might exhibit through him a type of the Christ above,
namely, of him who extended himself through Stauros,"
and imparted to Achamoth shape, so far as substance was
concerned. For they declare that all these transactions were
counterparts of what took place above.
3. They maintain, moreover, that those souls which possess
1 A Syriac fragment here reads, " He spake by the prophets through
him."
- " Thus," says Harvey, " \\q mny trace Lack to the Gnostic period the
Apolliuariau error, closely allied to the Docctic, that the body of Christ
^vas not derived from the blessed Virgin, but that it was of heavenly sub-
stance, and was only brought forth into the world through her instru-
mentality."
^ By thus extending himself through Stauros, who bounded the Pie-
30 IRENjEJJS against heresies. [Book i.
the seed of Achamoth are superior to the rest, and are more
dearl}^ loved by tlie Demiurge than others, while he knows
not the true cause thereof, but imagines that they are what
they are through his favour towards them. Wherefore, also,
they say he distributed them to prophets, priests, and kings ;
and they declare that many things were spoken^ by this
seed through the prophets, inasmuch as it was endowed with
a transcendently lofty nature. The mother also, they say,
spake much about things above, and that both through him
and through the souls which were formed by him. Then,
again, they divide the prophecies [into different classes],
maintaining that one portion was uttered by the mother, a
second by her seed, and a third by the Demiurge. In like
manner, they hold that Jesus uttered some things under the
influence of the Saviour, others under that of the mother, and
others still under that of the Demiurge, as v;c shall show
further on in our work.
4. The Demiurge, while ignorant of those things which
were higher than himself, was indeed excited by the an-
nouncements made [through the prophets], but treated them
with contempt, attributing them sometimes to one cause and
sometimes to another ; either to the prophetic spirit (which
itself possesses the power of self-excitement), or to [mere
unassisted] man, or that it was simply a crafty device of the
lower [and baser order of men].^ He remained thus ignorant
until the aj)pearlng of the Lord. But they relate that wdien
the Saviour came, the Demiurge learned all things from Ilim,
and gladly with all his power joined himself to Him. They
maintain that he is the centurion mentioned in the gospel,
who addressed the Saviour in these words : " For I also am
one having soldiers and servants under my authority; and
roma, the Christ above became the type of the Christ below, who was
extended upon the cross.
1 Billius, following the old Latin version, reads, " They interpret
many things, spoken by the prophets, of this seed."
^ Such appears to be the meaning of this sentence, but the original is
very obscure. The writer seems to refer to the spiritual, the animal, and
the material classes of men, and to imply that the Demiurge supposed
some prophecies to be due to one of these classes, and some to the others.
Book l] IRENjEUS, AGAINST HERESIES. 31
whatsoever I command they do." ^ They further hold that
he will continue administering the affairs of the world as
long as that is fitting and needful, and specially that he
may exercise a care over the church ; while at the same time
he is influenced by the knowledge of the reward prepared
for him, namely, that he may attain to the habitation of his
mother.
5. They conceive, then, of three kinds of men, spiritual,
material, and animal, represented by Cain, Abel, and Seth.
These three natures are no longer found in one person,^ but
constitute various kinds [of men]. The material goes, as a
matter of course, into corruption. The animal, if it make
choice of the better part, finds repose in the intermediate
place ; but if the worse, it too shall pass into destruction. But
they assert that the spiritual principles which have been sown
by Achamoth, being disciplined and nourished here from that
time until now in righteous souls (because when given forth
by her they were yet but weak), at last attaining to perfection,
shall be given as brides to the angels of the Saviour, while
their animal souls of necessity rest for ever with the Demiurge
in the intermediate place. And again subdividing the animal
souls themselves, they say that some are by nature good, and
others by nature evil. The good are those who become
capable of receiving the [spiritual] seed ; the evil by nature
are those who are never able to receive that seed.
Chap. viii. — How the Valentinians pervert the Scriptures
to support their oion impious opinions,
1. Such, then, is their system, which neither the prophets
announced, nor the Lord taught, nor the apostles delivered,
but of which they boast that be^'ond all others they have a
perfect knowledge. They gather their views from other
sources than the Scriptures ;^ and, to use a common proverb,
they strive to weave ropes of sand, while they endeavour to
1 Matt. viii. 9 ; Luke vii. 8.
- As was the case at first, in Adam.
''^ Literally, " reading from things umvritten."
32 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
adapt with an air of probability to their own peculiar asser-
tions the parables of the Lord, the sayings of the prophets,
and the words of the apostles, in order that their scheme may
not seem altogether without support. In doing so, however,
they disregard the order and the connection of the Scriptures,
and so far as in them lies, dismember and destroy the truth.
By transferring passages, and dressing them up anew, and
making one thing out of another, they succeed in deluding
many through their wicked art in adapting the oracles of the
Lord to their opinions. Their manner of acting is jast as if
one, when a beautiful image of a king has been constructed by
some skilful artist out of precious jewels, should then take
this likeness of the man all to pieces, should re-arrange the
gems, and so fit them together as to make them into the form
of a dog or of a fox, and even that but poorly executed ; and
should then maintain and declare that this was that beautiful
image of the king which the skilful artist constructed, point-
ing to the jewels which had been admirably fitted together by
the first artist to form the image of the king, but have been
with bad effect transferred by the later one to the shape of a
dog, and by thus exhibiting the jewels, should deceive the
ignorant who had no conception what a king's form was like,
and persuade them that that miserable likeness of the fox
was, in fact, the beautiful image of the king. In like manner
do these persons patch together old wives' fables, and then
endeavour, by violently drawing away from their proper con-
nection, words, expressions, and parables whenever found, to
adapt the oracles of God to their baseless fictions. We
have already stated how far they proceed in this way with
respect to the interior of the Pleroma.
2. Then, again, as to those things outside of their Pleroma,
the following are some specimens of what they attempt to
accommodate out of the Scriptures to their opinions. They
affirm that the Lord came in the last times of the world to
endure suffering, for this end, that He might indicate the
passion which occurred to the last of the ^ons, and might
by His own end announce the cessation of that disturbance
which had arisen among the iEons. They maintain, further,
Book l] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 33
that that girl of twelve years old, the daughter of the ruler
of the synagogue/ to whom the Lord approached and raised
lier from the dead, was a type of Achamoth, to whom their
Christ, by extending himself, imparted shape, and whom he
led anew to the perception of that light which had forsaken
her. And that the Saviour appeared to her when she lay out-
side of the Pleroma as a kind of abortion, they affirm Paul to
have declared in his Epistle to the Corinthians [in these words],
" And last of all. Pic appeared to me also, as to one born out
of due time."""^ x\gain, the coming of the Saviour with His
attendants to Achamoth is declared in like manner by him in
the same epistle, when he says, " A woman ought to have a
veil upon her head, because of the angels."*^ Now, that Acha-
moth, when the Saviour came to her, drew a veil over herself
through modesty, Moses rendered manifest when he put a
veil upon his face. Then, also, they say that the passions
which she endured were indicated by the Lord upon the
cross. Thus, when He said, "My God, my God, why hast
Thou forsaken me?'"^ He simply showed that Sophia was
deserted by the light, and was restrained by Horos from
making any advance forward. Her anguish, again, was indi-
cated when He said, " My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death ; " ^ her fear by the words, " Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me ;"^ and her perplexity, too, when He
said, " And what I shall say, I know not."^
3. And they teach that He pointed out the three kinds of
men as follows : the material^ when He said to him that
asked Him, "Shall I follow Thee?"^ "The Son of man
hath not where to lay His head ;" — the animal, when He said
to him that declared, " I will follow Thee, but suffer me first
to bid them farewell that are in ray house," " No man, put-
1 Luke viii. 41. - 1 Cor. xv. 8.
^ 1 Cor. xi. 10. Ircnreiis here reads KuT^v/xfcx, veil, instead of t-|oy-
fftuu, power, as in the received text.
4 Matt, xxvii. 46. « j^jj.^t xxvi. 38. ^ Matt. xxvi. 39.
"^ John xii. 27. The Yalentinians seem, for their own purposes, to have
added ovk oJqoc to this text.
« Luke Lx. 57, 58.
C
34 IUENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book i.
ting his hand to the plough, and looking hack, is fit for the
kingdom of heaven"^ (for this man they declare to be of the
intermediate class, even as they do that other who, though he
professed to have wrought a large amount of righteousness,
yet refused to follow Him, and was so overcome by [the love
of] riches, as never to reach perfection) — this one it pleases
them to place in the animal class ; — the spiritual, again, when
He said, " Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and
preach the kingdom of God," ^ and when He said to Zaccheus
the publican, " Make haste, and come down, for to-day I
must abide in thine house "^ — for these they declared to have
belonged to the spiritual class. Also the parable of the leaven
w^hich the woman is described as having hid in three measures
of meal, they declare to make manifest the three classes. For,
according to their teaching, the woman represented Sophia ;
the three measures of meal, the three kinds of men — spiritual,
animal, and material ; while the leaven denoted the Saviour
Himself. Paul, too, very plainly set forth the material,
animal, and spiritual, saying in one place, " As is the earthy,
such are they also that are earthy ;"* and in another place,
" But the animal man recelveth not the things of the Spirit ;" ^
and again : " He that is spiritual judgeth all things."^ And
this, " The animal man receive th not the things of the Spirit,"
they affirm to have been spoken concerning the Demiurge,
who, as being animal, knew neither his mother who was
spiritual, nor her seed, nor the ^ons in the Pleroma. And
that the Saviour received first-fruits of those whom He was
to save, Paul declared when he said, " And if the first-fruits
be holy, the lump is also holy,"^ teaching that the expression
" first-fruits" denoted that which is spiritual, but that " the
lump" meant us, that is, the animal church, the lump of
which they say He assumed, and blended it with Himself,
inasmuch as He is " the leaven."
4. Moreover, that Achamoth wandered beyond the Pleroma,
and received form from Christ, and was sought after by the
1 Luke ix. 61, 62. ^ Luke ix. 60. s Luke xix. 5.
4 1 Cor. XV. 48. ^ 1 Cor. ii. 14.
6 1 Cor. ii. 15. ^ Rom. xi. 16.
Book i.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 35
Saviour, they declare that He indicated when He said, that
He had come after that sheep which was gone astray.^ For
they explain the wandering sheep to mean their mother, by
whom they represent the church as having been sown. The
wandering itself denotes her stay outside of the Pleroma in a
state of varied passion, from which they maintain that matter
derived its origin. The woman, again, who sweeps the house
and finds the piece of money, they declare to denote the Sophia
above, who, having lost her enthymesis, afterwards recovered
it, on all things being purified by the advent of the Saviour.
Wherefore this substance also, according to them, was rein-
stated in the Pleroma. They say, too, that Simeon, "who
took Christ into his arms, and gave thanks to God, and said.
Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, accord-
ing to Thy word,"^ was a type of the Demiurge, who, on the
arrival of the Saviour, learned his own change of place, and
gave thanks to Bythus. They also assert that by Anna, who
is spoken of in the gospel^ as a prophetess, and who, after
living seven years with her husband, passed all the rest of her
life in widowhood until she saw the Saviour, and recognised
Him, and spoke of Him to all, was most jolainly indicated
Achamoth, who, having for a little while looked upon the
Saviour with His associates, and dwelling all the rest of the
time in the intermediate place, waited for Plim till He should
come again, and restore her to her proper consort. Her
name, too, was indicated by the Saviour, when He said, " Yet
wisdom is justified by her children." ^ This, too, was done by
Paul in these words, " But we speak wisdom among them
that are perfect.'*^ They declare also that Paul has referred
to the conjunctions within the Pleroma, showing them forth
by means of one ; for, when writing of the conjugal union
in this life, he expressed himself thus : " This is a great
mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church."^
5. Further, they teach that John, the disciple of the Lord,
indicated the first Ogdoad, expressing themselves in these
words : John, the disciple of the Lord, wishing to set forth the
1 Luke XV. 4, 8. 2 i^-y^^Q ij 28. 3 i^^\q jj^ 36^
-» Luke vii. 35. « 1 Cor. ii. 6. « Eph. v. 32.
3G IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
origin of all things, so as to explain how the Father produced
the whole, lays down a certain principle, — that, namely, which
was first-begotten by God, which Being he has termed both
the only-begotten Son and God, in whom the Father, after
a seminal manner, brought forth all things. By hi in the
Word was produced, and in him the whole substance of the
iEons, to which the Word himself afterwards imparted form.
Since, therefore, he treats of the first origin of things, he
rightly proceeds in his teaching from the beginning, that is,
from God and the Word. And he expresses himself thus :
" In the beginning was the AYord, and the Word was with
God, and the AYord was God ; the same was in the beijinnin^c
with God." ^ Havincr first of all distino;uislied these three —
God, the Beginning, and the Word — he again unites them,
that he may exhibit the production of each of them, that is,
of the Son and of the Word, and may at the same time
show their union with one another, and with the Father.
For "the beginning" is in the Father, and of tlie Father,
while " the Word" is in the bemnninf]^, and of the bemnninfr.
Very properly, then, did he say, " In the beginning was the
Word," for He was in the Son ; " and the Word was with
God," for He was the beginning ; " and the Word was God,"
of course, for that which is begotten of God is God. " The
same was in the beginning with God" — this clause discloses
the order of production. " All things were made by Him,
and without Him was nothing made;"^ for the Word was
the author of form and beginning to all the ^ons that came
into existence after Him. But " what was made in Him,"
says John, " is life."^ Here again he indicated conjunction ;
for all things, he said, were made by Him, but in Him was
life. This, then, which is in Him, is more closely connected
with Him than those things which were simply made by Him,
for it exists along with Him, and is developed by Him.
When, again, he adds, " And the life was the light of men,"
1 John i. 1, 2. 2 John i. 3.
^ John i. 3, 4. The punctuation here followed is different from that
now commonly adopted, but is found in many of the fathers, and in i^
some of the most ancient mss. .t
y .
I
Book i.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 37
while thus mentioning Anthropos, he indicated also Ecclesia
by that one expression, in order that, by using only one name,
he might disclose their fellowship with one another, in virtue
of their conjunction. For Anthropos and Ecclesia spring
from Logos and Zoe. Moreover, he styled life (Zoe) the
light of men, because they are enlightened by her, that is,
formed and made manifest. This also Paul declares in
these words : " For whatsoever doth make manifest is light." ^
Since, therefore, Zoe manifested and begat both Anthropos
and Ecclesia, she is termed their light. Thus, then, did John
by these words reveal both other things and the second
Tetrad, Logos and Zoe, Anthropos and Ecclesia. And
still further, he also indicated the first Tetrad. For, in
discoursing of the Saviour, and declaring that all things
beyond the Pleroma received form from Him, he says that
He is the fruit of the entire Pleroma. For he styles Him a
" light which shineth in darkness, and which was not com-
prehended""'^ by it, inasmuch as, when He imparted form to
all those things which had their origin from passion, He was
not known by it.^ He also styles Him Son, and Aletheia,
and Zoe, and the " Word made flesh, whose glory," he says,
" we beheld ; and His glory was as that of the Only-begotten
(given to Him by the Father), full of grace and truth." ^
(But what John really does say is this : " And the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us ; and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth."'') Thus, then, does he [according to them] dis-
tinctly set forth the first Tetrad, when he speaks of the
Father, and Charis, and Monogcnes, and Aletheia. In this
way, too, does John tell of the first Ogdoad, and that which
is the mother of all the iEons. For he mentions the Father,
1 Eph. V. 13. 2 John i. 5.
^ UTT ocvrij;, occurring twice, is rendered both times in the old Latin
version, " ab cis." The reference is to axor/cc, darkness^ i.e. all those not
belonging to the spiritual seed.
* Comp. John i. 14.
^ This is parenthetically inserted by the author, to show the misquo-
tation of Scriptiu-e by these heretics.
38 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book i.
and Charis, and Monogenes, and Aletlieia, and Logos, and
Zoe, and Antliropos, and Ecclesia. Such are the views of
Ptolemitius.^
Chap. ix. — Refutation of the impious interpretations of these
lieretics,
1. You see, my friend, the method which these men
employ to deceive themselves, while they abuse the Scrip-
tures by endeavouring to support their own system out of
them. For this reason, I have brought forward their modes
of expressing themselves, that thus thou mightest understand
the deceitfulness of their procedure, and the wickedness of
their error. For, in the first place, if it had been John's
intention to set forth that Ogdoad above, he would surely
have preserved the order of its production, and would doubt-
less have placed the primary Tetrad first, as being, according
to them, most venerable, and would then have annexed the
second, that, by the sequence of the names, the order of the
Ogdoad might be exhibited, and not after so long an inter-
val, as if forgetful for the moment ; and then ao;ain callintr
' O ■'Co
the matter to mind, he, last of all, made mention of the pri-
mary Tetrad. In the next place, if he had meant to indicate
their conjunctions, he certainly w^ould not have omitted the
name of Ecclesia ; while, with respect to the other conjunc-
tions, he either would have been satisfied with the mention
of the male [^ons] (since the others [like Ecclesia] might
be understood), so as to preserve a uniformity throughout ;
or if he enumerated the conjunctions of the rest, he would
also have announced the spouse of Antliropos, and would
not have left us to find out her name by divination.
2. The fallacy, then, of this exposition is manifest. For
when John, proclaiming one God, the Almighty, and one
Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten, by whom all things were
made, declares that this was the Son of God, this the Only-
begotten, this the Former of all things, this the true Light
^ These words are ^vanting in the Greek, but are inserted in the old
Latin version.
Book i.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 39
who enlighteneth every man, this the Creator of the world,
this He that came to His own, this He that became flesli
and dwelt among us, — these men, by a plausible kind of
exposition, perverting these statements, maintain that there
was another Monogenes, according to production, whom they
also style Arche. They also maintain that there was another
Saviour, and another Logos, the son of Monogenes, and
another Christ produced for the re-establishment of the Ple-
roma. Thus it is that, wresting from the truth every one of
the expressions which have been cited, and taking a bad
advantage of the names, they have transferred them to their
own system ; so that, according to them, in all these terms
John makes no mention of the Lord Jesus Christ. For if
he has named the Father, and Charis, and Monogenes, and
Aletheia, and Logos, and Zoe, and Anthropos, and Ecclesia,
according to their hypotliesis, he has, by thus speaking, re-
ferred to the primary Ogdoad, in which there was as yet no
Jesus, and no Christ, the teacher of John. But that the
apostle did not speak concerning their conjunctions, but con-
cerning our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he also acknowledges
as the Word of God, he himself has made evident. For,
summing up his statements respecting the Word previously
mentioned by him, he further declares, " And the AYord was
made flesh, and dwelt among us." But, according to their
hypothesis, the Word did not become flesh at all, inasmuch
as He never went outside of the Pleroma, but that Saviour
[became flesh] who was formed by a special dispensation
[out of all the iEons], and was of later date than the Word.
3. Learn then, ye foolish men, that Jesus who suffered
for us, and who dwelt among us, is Himself the Word of
God. For if any other of the iEons had become flesh for
our salvation, it would have been probable that the apostle
spoke of another. But if the Word of the Father who
descended is the same also that ascended. He, namely, the
only-bcgottcn Son of the only God, who, according to the
good pleasure of the Father, became flesh for the sake of
men, the apostle certainly does not speak regarding any other,
or concerning any Ogdoad, but respecting our Lord Jesus
40
IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
Christ. For, according to them, the Word did not originally
become flesh. For they maintain that the Saviour assumed
an animal body, formed in accordance with a special dispen-
sation by an unspeakable providence, so as to become visible
and palpable. But flesli is that which was of old formed for
Adam by God out of the dust, and it is this that John has
declared the Word of God became. Thus is their primary
and first-begotten Ogdoad brought to nought. For, since
Logos, and Monogenes, and Zoe, and Phos, and Soter, and
Christus, and the Son of God, and He who became incar-
nate for us, have been proved to be one and the same, the
Ogdoad which they have built up at once falls to pieces.
And when this is destroyed, their whole system sinks into
ruin, — a system which they falsely dream into existence, and
thus inflict injury on the Scriptures, while they build up
their own hypothesis.
4. Then, again, collecting a set of expressions and names
scattered here and there [in Scripture], they twist them, as
we have already said, from a natural to a non-natural sense.
In so doing, they act like those who bring forward any kind
of hypothesis they fancy, and then endeavour to support^
them out of the poems of Homer, so that the ignorant imagine
that Homer actually composed the verses bearing upon that
hypothesis, which has, in fact, been but newly constructed ;
and many others are led so far by the regularly-formed
sequence of the verses, as to doubt whether Homer may not
have composed them. Of this kind^ is the following passage,
where one, describing Hercules as having been sent by Eurys-
theus to the dog in the infernal regions, does so by means of
these Homeric verses, — for there can be no objection to our
citing these by way of illustration, since the same sort of
attempt appears in both :
^ It is difficult to give an exact rendering of ^ihira.y in this passage ;
the old Lat. version translates it by meditari^ which Massuet proposes to
render " skilfully to fit."
2 Tertullian refers (Prsescrip. Hser.) to those Homeric centos of which
a specimen follows. "We have given each line as it stands in the original :
the text followed by Irenaeus differs slightly from the received text.
Book i.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES, 41
" Thus saying, there sent forth from his house deeply groaning." — Od. a
76.
" The hero Hercules conversant with mighty deeds." — Od. tp 26.
" Eurysthcus, the son of Sthenelus, descended from Perseus." — //. r 123.
" That he might bring from Erebus the dog of gloomy Pluto."—//. ^ 368.
" And he advanced like a mountain-bred lion confident of strength." —
Od. K, 130.
"Rapidly through the city, Avhile all his friends followed." — 11. u 327.
"Both maidens, and youths, and much-enduring old men." — Od. x 38.
" Mourning for him bitterly as one going forward to death." — //. o 328.
" But Mercury and the blue-eyed Minerva conducted him." — Od. A 625.
" For she knew the mind of her brother, how it laboured with grief." —
//. /3 409.
Now, what simple-minded man, I ask, would not be led
away by such verses as these to think that Homer actually
framed them so with reference to the subject indicated ? But
he who is acquainted with the Homeric writings will recognise
the verses indeed, but not the subject to which they are
applied, as knowing that some of them were spoken of
Ulysses, others of Hercules himself, others still of Priam,
and others acjain of Menelaus and Asjamemnon. But if he
takes them and restores each of them to its proper position, he
at once destroys the narrative in question. In like manner he
also who retains unchano;eable^ in his heart the rule of the truth
which he received by means of baptism, will doubtless recog-
nise the names, the expressions, and the parables taken from
the Scriptures, but will by no means acknowledge the blasphe-
mous use which these men make of them. For, though he
will acknowledge the gems, he will certainly not receive the
fox instead of the likeness of the king. But when he has
restored every one of the expressions quoted to its proper
position, and has fitted it to the body of the truth, he will
lay bare, and prove to be without any foundation, the figment
of these heretics.
5. But since what may prove a finishing-stroke"" to this
^ Literally, " immoveable in himself," the word a.y.'hi'rt) being used with
an apparent reference to the original meaning of kuvovx., a builders rule.
2 The meaning of the word dTroT^vrpuaig here is not easily determined ;
but it is probably a scenic term equivalent to a^roAi/o-zc, and may be
rendered as above.
42
IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
exlilbltlon is wanting, so that any one, on following out their
farce to the end, may then at once append an argument which
shall overthrow it, we have judged it well to point out, first of
all, in what respects the very fathers of this fable differ among
themselves, as if they were inspired by different spirits of
error. For this very fact forms an a priori proof that the
truth proclaimed by the church is immoveable, and that the
theories of these men are but a tissue of falsehoods.
Chap. x. — Unity of the faith of the church throughout the
ivhole world,
1. The church, though dispersed throughout the whole world,
even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles
and their disciples this faith : [She believes] in one God, the
Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea,
and all things that are in them ; and in one Christ Jesus,
the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation ; and
in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the
dispensations^ of God, and the advents, and the birth from a
virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead,
and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved
Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future] manifestation from
heaven in the glory of the Father " to gather all things in
one," ^ and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human
race, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and
Saviour, and King, according to the will of the invisible
leather, " every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and
thino;s in earth, and thino;s under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess"^ to Him, and that He should execute
just judgment towards all ; that He may send " spiritual
wickednesses,"* and the angels who transgressed and became
apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and
wicked, and profane among men, into everlasting fire ; but
may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the
righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His command-
1 " Of God" is added from the old Latin. ^ gph. i. 10.
3 Phil. ii. 10, 11. * Eph. vi. 12.
Book i.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 43
ments, and have persevered in His love, some from the begin-
ning [of their Christian course], and others from [the date
of] their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting
glory.
2. As I have already observed, the church, having received
this preaching and this faith, although scattered through-
out the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house,
carefully preserves it. She also believes these points [of
doctrine] just as if she had but one soul, and one and the
same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches them, and
hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed
only one mouth. For, although the languages of the world
are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and
the same. For the churches which have been planted in
Germany do not believe or hand down anything different,
nor do those in Spain, nor those in Gaul, nor those in the
East, nor those in Egypt, nor those in Libya, nor those which
have been established in the central regions^ of the world.
But as the sun, that creature of God, is one and the same
throughout the whole world, so also the preaching of the
truth shineth everywhere, and enlightens all men that are
willing to come to a knowledge of the truth. Nor will any
one of the rulers in the churches, however highly gifted he
may be in point of eloquence, teach doctrines different from
these (for no one is greater than the Master) ; nor, on the
other hand, will he who is deficient in power of expression
inflict injury on the tradition. For the faith being ever one
and the same, neither does one who is able at OTeat leno^th to
discourse regarding it, make any addition to it, nor does one,
who can say but little, diminish it.
3. It does not follow because men are endowed with greater
and less degrees of intelligence, that they should therefore
change the subject-matter [of the faith] itself, and should
conceive of some other God besides Him who is the Framer,
[Maker, and Preserver of this universe, (as if He were not
sufficient^ for them), or of another Christ, or another Only-
1 Probably referring to the churches in Palestine.
" The text here is doKov/xivovg rovrovg, which is manifestly corrupt.
44 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
begotten. But the fact referred to simply implies this, that
one may [more accurately than another] bring out the mean-
ing of those things which have been spoken in parables, and
accommodate them to the general scheme of the faith ; and
explain [with special clearness] the operation and dispensa-
tion of God connected with human salvation ; and show that
God manifested longsuffering in regard to the apostasy of
the angels who transgressed, as also with respect to the dis-
obedience of men ; and set forth why it is that one and the
same God has made some things temporal and some eternal,
some heavenly and others earthly ; and understand for what
reason God, though invisible, manifested Himself to the pro-
phets not under one form, but differently to different indivi-
duals ; and show why it was that more covenants than one were
given to mankind ; and teach what was the special character of
each of these covenants ; and search out for what reason " God^
hath concluded every man^ in unbelief, that He may have
mercy upon all;" and gratefully^ describe on what account
the Word of God became flesh and suffered ; and relate why
the advent of the Son of God took place in these last times,
that is, in the end, rather than in the beginning [of the
world] ; and unfold what is contained in the Scriptures con-
cerning the end [itself], and things to come; and not be
silent as to how it is that God has made the Gentiles, whose
salvation was despaired of, fellow-heirs, and of the same body,
and partakers with the saints ; and discourse how it is that
" this mortal body shall put on immortality, and this cor-
ruptible shall put on incorruption ; " * and proclaim in what
sense [God] says, ^' That is a people who was not a people ;
and she is beloved who was not beloved;"^ and in what sense
Various emendations have been proposed : we prefer reading ctpKov/Lcsuos
rovroi;, and have translated accordingly.
1 Rom. xi. 32.
2 Irenseus here reads 'Trccvrct instead of Truvrec;, as in Text. Rec. of New
Testament.
3 tvy^ocpiaruu — this word has been deemed corrupt, as it certainly
appears out of keeping with the other verbs ; but it may be rendered as
above.
* 1 Cor. XV. 54. ^ Hos. ii. 23 ; Rom. ix. 25.
Book l] IREN^EUS AGAINST HERESIES. 45
He says that " more are the children of her that was deso-
late, than of her who possessed a husband."^ For in reference
to these points, and others of a Hke nature, the apostle ex-
claims : '^ Oh ! the depth of the riches both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God ; how unsearchable are His judg-
ments, and His ways past finding out!"^ But [the superior
skill spoken of] is not found in this, that any one should,
beyond the Creator and Framer [of the world], conceive of
the Enthymesis of an erring ^on, their mother and his,
and should thus proceed to such a pitch of blasphemy ; nor
does it consist in this, that he should again falsely imagine,
as being above this [fancied being], a Pleroma at one time
supposed to contain thirty, and at another time an innume-
rable tribe of ^ons, as these teachers who are destitute of
truly divine wisdom maintain ; while the Catholic church
possesses one and the same faith throughout the whole world,
as we have already said.
Chap, xi, — The opinions of Valentinnsj ivith those of his
discijyles and others.
1. Let us now look at the inconsistent opinions of those
heretics (for there are some two or three of them), how they
do not agree in treating the same points, but alike, in things
and names, set forth opinions mutually discordant. The first '^
of them, Valentinus, who adapted the principles of the heresy
called " Gnostic" to the peculiar character of his own school,
tau£i;ht as follows : He maintained that there is a certain
Dyad (twofold being), who is inexpressible by any name, of
whom one part should be called Arrhetus (unspeakable), and
the other Sige (silence). But of this Dyad a second was pro-
duced, one part of whom he names Pater, and the other
Aletheia. From this Tetrad, again, arose Logos and Zoe,
Anthropos and Ecclesia. These constitute the primary
Osfdoad. He next states that from Looos and Zoe ten
1 Isa. liv. 1 ; Gal. iv. 27. - Rom. xi. 33.
2 That is, the first of the two or three liere referred to, not the first of
the Gnostic teachers, as some have imagined.
46
IRENjEUS against heresies, [Book I.
powers were produced, as we have before mentioned. But
from Anthropos and Ecclesia proceeded twelve, one of which
separating from the rest, and faUing from its original condi-
tion, produced the rest^ of the universe. He also supposed
two beings of the name of Horos, the one of wdiom has his
place between Bythus and the rest of the Pleroma, and
divides the created -^ons from the uncreated Father, while
the other separates their mother from the Pleroma. Christ
also was not produced from the ^ons within the Pleroma,
but was brouMit forth bv the mother who had been excluded
from it, in virtue of her remembrance of better things, but
not without a kind of shadow. He, indeed, as being mascu-
line, having severed the shadow from himself, returned to
the Pleroma ; but his mother being left with the shadow, and
deprived of her spiritual substance, brought forth another son,
namely, the Demiurge, whom he also styles the supreme
ruler of all those things which are subject to him. He also
asserts that, along with the Demiurge, there was produced a
left-hand power, in which particular he agrees with those
falsely called Gnostics, of whom we have yet to speak. Some-
times, again, he maintains that Jesus was produced from him
who was separated from their mother, and united to the rest,
that is, from Theletus, sometimes as springing from him who
returned into the Pleroma, that is, from Christ; and at
other times still as derived from Anthropos and Ecclesia.
And he declares that the Holy Spirit was produced by Ale-
theia^ for the inspection and fructification of the ^ons, by
entering invisibly into them, and that, in this way, the ^ons
brought forth the plants of truth.
2. Secundus again affirms that the primary Ogdoad consists
of a right hand and a left hand Tetrad, and teaches that the
one of these is called light, and the other darkness. But he
maintains that the power which separated from the rest, and
fell away, did not proceed directly from the thirty ^ons, but
from their fruits.
^ Viz. all outside of the Pleroma.
2 Corrected from Ecclesia in the text.
Book i.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 47
3. There is another,^ who is a renowned teacher amonir
them, and who, struggling to reach something more sublime,
and to attain to a kind of higher knowledge, has explained
the primary Tetrad as follows : There is [he says] a certain
Proarche who existed before all things, surpassing all thought,
speech, and nomenclature, whom I call Monotes (unity).
Together with this Monotes there exists a power, which
again I term Ilenotes (oneness). This Henotes and Mo-
notes, being one, produced, yet not so as to bring forth
[apart from themselves, as an emanation] the beginning of
all things, an intelligent, unbegotten, and invisible being,
which beginning language terms " Monad." With this
Monad there co-exists a power of the same essence, which
again I term Plen (One). These powers then — Monotes,
and Henotes, and Monas, and Hen — produced the remaining
company of the ^ons.
4. lu, lu ! Pheu, Phen ! — for well may we utter these
tragic exclamations at such a pitch of audacity in the coining
of names as he has displayed without a blush, in devising a
nomenclature for his system of falsehood. For wdien he de-
clares : There is a certain Proarche before all things, surpass-
ing all thought, whom I call Monotes ; and again, with this
Monotes there co-exists a power which I also call Henotes, — it
is most manifest that he confesses the thinf^s which have been
said to be his own invention, and that he himself has given
names to his scheme of things, which had never been previously
suggested by any other. It is manifest also, that he himself
is the one who has had sufficient audacity to coin these names ;
so that, unless he had appeared in the world, the truth would
still have been destitute of a name. But, in that case,
nothing hinders any other, in dealing with the same subject,
to affix names after such a fashion as the following: There "^
is a certain Proarche, royal, surpassing all thought, a power
existing before every other substance, and extended into space
1 Some have supposed that the name of this teacher was Epiphancs^
and that the old Latin mistakenly translates this by dams ; others think
that Colorbasus is the teacher in question.
2 The Greek text is wantinir till the end of this section.
48 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
in every direction. But along with it there exists a power
which I term a Gourd; and alono; with this Gourd there
exists a power which again I term Utter-Emptiness, This
Gourd and Emptiness, since they are one, produced (and yet
did not simply produce, so as to be apart from themselves) a
fruit, everywhere visible, eatable, and delicious, which fruit-
language calls a Cuciimher. Along with this Cucumber
exists a power of the same essence, which again I call a
Melon. These powers, the Gourd, Utter - Emptiness, the
Cucumber, and the Melon, brought forth the remaining
multitude of the delirious melons of Valentinus. For if it
is fitting that that language which is used respecting the
universe be transformed to the primary Tetrad, and if any one
may assign names at his pleasure, who shall prevent us from
adopting these names, as being much more credible [than the
others], as well as in general use, and understood by all?
5. Others still, however, have called their primary and first-
begotten Ogdoad by the following names : first, Proarche ;
then Anennoetos ; thirdly, Arrhetos ; and fourthly, Aoratos.
Then, from the first, Proarche, there was produced, in the first
and fifth place, Arche ; from Anennoetos, in the second and
sixth place, Acataleptos ; from Arrlietos, in the third and
seventh place, Anonomastos ; and from Aoratos, in the fourth
and eight place, Agennetos. This is the Pleroma of the first
Ogdoad. They maintain that these powers were anterior to
Bythus and Sige, that they may appear more perfect than
the perfect, and more knowing than the very Gnostics !
To these persons one may justly exclaim : " O ye trifling
sophists !" since, even respecting Bythus himself, there are
among them many and discordant opinions. For some declare
him to be without a consort, and neither male nor female, and,
in fact, nothing at all ; while others affirm him to be masculo-
feminine, assigning to him the nature of a hermaphrodite;
others, again, allot Sige to him as a spouse, that thus may be
formed the first conjunction.
Book i.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 49
CnAP. XII. — The doctrines of the followers of Ptolemy and
Coloj'hasus.
1. But the followers of Ptolemy say^ that he [Bythos] has
two consorts, which they also name Diatheses (affections),
viz. Ennoea and Thelesis. For, as they affirm, he first con-
ceived the thought of producing something, and then willed
to that effect. Wherefore, again, these two affections, or
powers, Ennoea and Thelesis, having intercourse, as it were,
between themselves, the production of Monogenes and Ale-
theia took place according to conjunction. These two came
forth as types and images of the two affections of the Father, —
visible representations of those that were invisible, — Nous (i.e.
Monogenes) of Thelesis, and Aletheia of Ennoea, and accord-
ingly the image resulting from Thelesis was masculine," while
that from Ennoea was feminine. Thus Thelesis (will) be-
came, as it were, a faculty of Ennoea (thought). For Ennoea
continually yearned after offspring ; but she could not of her-
self bring forth that which she desired. But when the power
of Thelesis (the faculty of will) came upon her, then she
brought forth that on which she had brooded.
2. These fancied beings^ (like the Jove of Homer, who is
represented^ as passing an anxious sleepless night in devising
plans for honouring Achilles and destroying numbers of the
Greeks) will not appear to you, my dear friend, to be pos-
sessed of greater knowledge than He who is the God of the
universe. He, as soon as He thinks, also performs what He
has willed ; and as soon as He wills, also thinks that which
He has willed ; then thinking when He wills, and then
willing when He thinks, since He is all thought, [all will,
1 Wc licre follow the Greek as preserved by Hippolytus (PhilosopJi. vi.
o8). The text followed by Epipbauius {Hxr. xxxiii. 1) docs not so well
agree with the Latin.
2 The text is here hopelessly corrupt ; but the general meanmg seems
to be that given above.
^ This sentence exists only in the Latin version, and we can give only
a free translation.
* Iliad^ ii. 1, etc.
D
50 IRENjEUS against heresies, [Book l
all mind, all UglitJ^ all cyCj all ear, the one entire fountain
of all good things.
3. Those of them, however, who are deemed more skilful
than the persons who have just been mentioned, say that tlie
first Ogdoad was not produced gradually, so that one iEon
was sent forth by another, but that all^ the iEons were
brought into existence at once by Propator and his Ennoea.
He (Colorbasus) affirms this as confidently as if he had
assisted at their birth. Accordingly, he and his followers
maintain that Anthropos and Ecclesia were not produced,'' as
others hold, from Logos and Zoe ; but, on the contrary.
Logos and Zoe from Anthropos and Ecclesia. But they
express this in another form, as follows : When the Propator
conceived the thought of producing something, he received
the name of Father, But because what he did produce was
truej it was named Aletheia. Again, when he wished to
reveal himself, this was termed Anthropos. Finally, when
he produced those whom he had previously thought of,
these were named Ecclesia. Anthropos, by speaking, formed
Logos : this is the first-born son. But Zoe followed upon
Logos ; and thus the first Ogdoad was completed.
4. They have much contention also among themselves
respecting the Saviour. For some maintain that he was
formed out of all ; wherefore also he was called Eudocetos,
because the whole Pleroma was ivell pleased through him to
glorify the Father. But others assert that he was produced
from those ten ^ons alone who sprung from Logos and
Zoe, and that on this account he was called Logos and Zoe,
thus preserving the ancestral names.^ Others, again, affirm
that he had his being from those twelve ^ons who were
^ These words are found in EpipJianius, but omitted in the old Latin
version. The Latin gives " sense " instead of " light."
2 The text is here very uncertain. Some propose to read six .^ons
instead of all.
^ Here again the text is corrupt and obscure. We have followed what
seems the most probable emendation.
•^ Harvey justly remarks, that "one cause of perplexity in unravelling
the Valentinian scheme is the recurrence of similar names at different
points of the system, e.g. the Enthymesis of Sophia was called Sophia
Book i.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 51
the offspring of Anthropos and Ecclesia ; and on this account
he acknowledges himself the Son of man, as being a de-
scendant of Anthropos. Others still, assert that he was pro-
duced by Christ and the Holy Spirit, who were brought
forth for the security of the Plcroma ; and that on this
account he was called Christ, thus preserving the appellation
of the Father, by whom he was produced. And there are
yet others among them who declare that the Propator of
the whole, Proarche, and Proanennoetos is called Anthropos ;
and that this is the great and abstruse mystery, namely, that
the Power which is above all others, and contains all in his
embrace, is termed Anthropos ; hence does the Saviour style
himself the " Son of man."
Chap. xiii. — The deceitful arts and nefarious practices of
Marcus,
1. But^ there is another among these heretics, Marcus by
name, who boasts of himself as having improved upon his
master. lie is a perfect adept in magical impostures, and
by this means drawing away a great number of men, and
not a few women, he has induced them to join themselves to
him, as to one who is possessed of the greatest knowledge
and perfection, and who has received the highest power from
the invisible and ineffable regions above. Thus it appears as
if he really were the precursor of Antichrist. For, joining
the buffooneries of Anaxilaus' to the craftiness of the maciiy
as they are called, he is regarded by his senseless and crack-
brained followers as working miracles by these means.
2. Pretending^ to consecrate cups mixed with wine, and
and Spiritus; and Pater, Arche, Monogcncs, Christus, Anthropos,
Ecclesia, wore all of them terms of a double denomination.*'
^ The Greek text of this section is preserved both by Epiphanius {Ilxr.
xxxiv. 1) and by Ilippolytus (PliUosoph. vi. 39, 40). Their citations are
somewhat discordant, and we therefore follow the old Latin version.
2 Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxxv. 15, etc.
3 Epiphanius now gives the Greek text vcrlatim^ to which, therefore,
■we return.
52 lUENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
protracting to great lengtli the word of invocation, he con-
trives to give them a purple and reddish colour, so that
Charis,^ who is one of those that are superior to all things,
should be thought to drop her own blood into that cup
through means of his invocation, and that thus those who
are present should be led to rejoice to taste of that cup, in
order that, by so doing, the Charis, who is set forth by this
magician, may also flow into them. Again, handing mixed
cups to the women, he bids them consecrate these in his
presence. Yfhen this has been done, he himself produces
another cup of much larger size than that which the deluded
woman has consecrated, and pouring from the smaller one
consecrated by the woman into that which has been brought
forward by himself, he at the same time pronounces these
words : " May that Charis who is before all things, and who
transcends all knowledge and speech, fill thine inner man,
and multiply in thee her own knowledge, by sowing the grain
of mustard seed in thee as in good soil." Repeating certain
other like words, and thus goading on the wretched woman
[to madness], he then appears a worker of wonders when the
large cup is seen to have been filled out of the small one, so
as even to overflow by what has been obtained from it. By
accomplishing several other similar things, he has completely
deceived many, and drawn them away after him.
3. It appears probable enough that this man possesses a
demon as his familiar spirit, by means of whom he seems
able to prophesy, and also enables as many as he counts
Avorthy to be partakers of his Charis themselves to prophesy.
He devotes himself especially to women, and those such
as are well-bred, and elegantly attired, and of great wealth,
whom he frequently seeks to draw after him, by addressing
them in such seductive words as these : " I am eas-er to make
thee a partaker of my Charis, since the Father of all doth
continually behold thy angel before His face. Now the
place of thy angel is among us:^ it behoves us to become
one. Receive first from me and by me [the gift of] Charis.
^ Probably refemng to Sige, the consort of Bythus.
2 Literally, " tbe place of thy mightiness is in us."
Book i.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 53
Adorn thyself as a bride who is expecting her bridegroom,
that thou mayest be what I am, and I what thou art.
Establish the germ of light in thy nuptial chamber. Receive
from me a spouse, and become receptive of him, while thou
art received by him. Behold Cliaris has descended upon
thee ; open thy mouth and prophesy." On the woman
replying, " I have never at any time prophesied, nor do I
know how to prophesy ;" then engaging, for the second time,
in certain invocations, so as to astound his deluded victim, he
says to her, " Open thy mouth, speak whatsoever occurs to
thee, and thou shalt prophesy." She then, vainly puffed up
and elated by these words, and greatly excited in soul by the .
expectation that it is herself who is to prophesy, her heart
beating violently [from emotion], reaches the requisite pitch
of audacity, and idly as well as impudently utters some non-
sense as it happens to occur to her, such as might be expected
from one heated by an empty spirit. (Referring to this, one
superior to me has observed, that the soul is both audacious
and impudent when heated with empty air.) Henceforth
she reckons herself a prophetess, and expresses her thanks to
Marcus for having imparted to her of his own Charis. She
then makes the effort to reward him, not only by the gift of
her possessions (in which way he has collected a very large
fortune), but also by yielding up to him her person, desiring
in every way to be united to him, that she may become alto-
gether one with him.
4. But already some of the most faithful women, possessed
of the fear of God, and not being deceived (whom, never-
theless, he did his best to seduce like the rest by bidding
them prophesy), abhorring and execrating him, have with-
drawn from such a vile company of revellers. This they
have done, as being well aware that the gift of prophecy is
not conferred on men by Marcus, the magician, but that
only those to whom God sends His grace from above possess
the divinely-bestowed power of prophesying ; and then they
speak where and when God pleases, and not when Marcus
orders them to do so. For that which commands is (greater
and of higher authority than that which is commanded, in-
54 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
asmucli as the former rules, while the latter is in a state of
subjection. If, then, Marcus, or any one else, does com-
mand,— as these are accustomed continually at their feasts to
play at drawing lots, and [in accordance with the lot] to
command one another to prophesy, giving forth as oracles
what is in harmony with their own desires, — it will follow
that he who commands is greater and of higher authority
than the prophetic spirit, though he is but a man, which is
impossible. But such spirits as are commanded by these
men, and speak when they desire it, are earthly and weak,
audacious and impudent, sent forth by Satan for the seduc-
tion and perdition of those who do not hold fast that well-
compacted faith wdiich they received at first through the
church.
5. Moreover, that this Marcus compounds philters and love-
potions, in order to insult the persons of some of these women,
if not of all, those of them wdio have returned to the church
of God — a thing which frequently occurs — have acknow^-
ledged, confessing, too, that they have been defiled by him,
and that they were filled with a burning passion towards
him. A sad example of this occurred in the case of a certain
Asiatic, one of our deacons, who had received him (Marcus)
into his house. His wife, a woman of remarkable beauty,
fell a victim both in mind and body to this magician, and,
for a long time, travelled about with him. At last, when,
with no small difficulty, the brethren had converted her, she
spent her whole time in the exercise of public confession,
weeping over and lamenting the defilement which she had
received from this magician.
6. Some of his disciples, too, addicting themselves^ to the
same practices, have deceived many silly women, and defiled
them. They proclaim themselves as being " perfect," so that
no one can be compared to them with respect to the immen-
sity of their knowledge, nor even were you to mention Paul
or Peter, or any other of the apostles. They assert that they
^ We here follow the rendering of Billius, " in iisdem studiis versan-
tes." Others adhere to the received text, and translate 'TrspiTroT^t^oursg
*' going about idly."
Book i.] IUENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 55
themselves know more than all others, and that they alone
liave imbibed the greatness of the knowledge of that power
which is unspeakable. They also maintain that they have
attained to a height above all power, and that therefore they
are free in every respect to act as they please, having no one
to fear in anything. For they affirm, that because of the
" Redemption"^ it has come to pass that they can neither be
apprehended, nor even seen by the judge. But even if he
should happen to lay hold upon them, then they might
simply repeat these words, while standing in his presence
along with the " Redemption :" *' O thou, who sittest beside
God,""^ and the mystical, eternal Sige, thou through whom the
angels (mightinesses), who continually behold the face of the
Father, having thee as their guide and introducer, do derive
tlieir forms ^ from above, which she in the greatness of her
daring inspiring with mind on account of the goodness of the
Propator, produced us as their images, having her mind then
intent upon the things above, as in a dream, — behold, the
judge is at hand, and the crier orders me to make my defence.
But do thou, as being acquainted with the affairs of both,
present the cause of both of us to the judge, inasmuch as it
is in reality but one cause."'* Now, as soon as the Mother
hears these words, she puts the Homeric'^ helmet of Pluto
^ Grabe is of opinion that reference is made in this term to an impre-
catory formula in use among the Marcosians, analogous to the form of
thanksgiving employed night and morning by the Jews for their redemp-
tion from Egypt, Harvey refers the word to the second baptism prac-
tised among these and other heretics, by which it was supposed they
were removed from the cognizance of the Demiurge, who is styled the
" judge" in the close of the above sentence.
2 That is, Sophia, of whom Achamoth, afterwards referred to, was the
emanation.
" The angels accompanying Soter were the consorts of spiritual Gnos-
tics, to whom they were restored after death.
^ The syntax in this long sentence is very confused, but the meaning
is tolerably plain. The gist of it is, that these Gnostics, as being the
spiritual seed, claimed a consubstantiality with Achamoth, and conse-
quently escaped from the material Demiurge, and attained at last to
'the Plcroma.
* Rendering the wearer invisible. See //. v. 8J.-4.
56 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
upon them, so that they may invisibly escape the judge.
And then she immediately catches them up, conducts them
into the bridal chamber, and hands them over to their con-
sorts.
7. Such are the words and deeds by which, in our own
district of the Rhone, they have deluded many women, who
have their consciences seared as with a hot iron.^ Some
of them, indeed, make a public confession of their sins ;
but others of them are ashamed to do this, and in a tacit
kind of way, despairing of [attaining to] the life of God,
have, some of them, apostatized altogether; while others
hesitate between the two courses, and incur that which is
implied in the proverb, " neither without nor within ;"
possessing this as the fruit from the seed of the children of
knowledge.
Chap. xiy. — The various hypotheses of Marcus and others,
Tlieories respecting letters and syllables.
1. This Marcus^ then, declariug that he alone was the
matrix and receptacle of the Sige of Colorbasus, inasmuch as
he was only-begotten, has brought to the birth in some such
way as follows that which was committed to him of the de-
fective Enthymesis. He declares that the infinitely exalted
Tetrad descended upon him from the invisible and indescrib-
able places in the form of a woman (for the world could not
have borne it coming in its male form), and expounded to him
alone its own nature, and the origin of all things, which it
had never before revealed to any one either of gods or men.
This was done in the following terms : When first the
unoriginated, inconceivable Father, who is without material
1 2 Tim. iii. 6.
2 This sentence has completely baffled all the critics. We cannot enter
upon the wide field of discussion which it has opened up, but would
simply state that Irenseus here seems to us, as often, to be playing upon
the terms which were in common use among these heretics. Marcus pro-
bably received his system from Colorbasus, and is here declared, by the
use of that jargon which Irenseus means to ridicule while so employing
it, to have proceeded to develop it in the way described.
Book i.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 57
substance,^ and is neither male nor female, willed to l3ring
forth that which is ineffable in Him, and to endow with form
that which is invisible, He opened His mouth, and sent forth
the Word similar to Himself, who, standing near, showed Him
what He Himself was, inasmuch as He had been manifested
in the form of that which was invisible. Moreover, the pro-
nunciation of His name took place as follows : — He spake
the first word of it, which was the beginning^ [of all the
rest], and that utterance consisted of four letters. He added
the second, and this also consisted of four letters. Next
He uttered the third, and this again embraced ten letters.
Finally, He pronounced the fourth, which was composed of
tw^elve letters. Thus took place the enunciation of the whole
name, consisting of thirty letters, and four distinct utter-
ances. Each of these elements has its own peculiar letters,
and character, and pronunciation, and forms, and images,
and there is not one of them that perceives the shape of that
[utterance] of which it is an element. Neither does any one
know^ itself, nor is it acquainted with the pronunciation of
its neighbour, but each one imagines that by its own utter-
ance it does in fact name the whole. For while every one
of them is a part of the whole, it imagines its own sound to
be the whole name, and does not leave off sounding until, by
its own utterance, it has reached the last letter of each of the
elements. This teacher declares that the restitution of all
things will take place, when all these, mixing into one letter,
shall utter one and the same sound. He imacrines that the
emblem of this utterance is found in Amen, which we pro-
nounce in concert. The diverse sounds (he adds) are those
^ Such appears to be the meaning of duovaiog in this passage. The
moaning of ovaloc fluctuated for a time in the early church, and was
sometimes used to denote material substance, instead of its usual signifi-
cance of being.
2 The old Latin preserves upxy; untranslated, implying that this was the
first word which the Father spoke. Some modern editors adopt this
view, while others hold the meaning simply to be, as given above, that
that first sound which the Father uttered was the origin of all the rest.
3 The letters are here confounded with the ^ons, which they repre-
sented.
58 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book i.
which give form to that ^on who is without material sub-
stance and unbegotten, and these, again, are the forms which
the Lord has called angels, who continually behold the face
of the Father.-^
2. Those names of the elements which may be told, and
are common, he has called ^ons, and words, and roots, and
seeds, and fulnesses, and fruits. He asserts that each of
these, and all that is peculiar to every one of them, is to be
understood as contained in the name Ecclesia. Of these
elements, the last letter of the last one uttered its voice, and
this sound '^ goii\? forth generated its own elements after the
image of the [other] elements, by which he affirms, that both
the things here below were arranged into the order they
occupy, and those that preceded them were called into exist-
ence. He also maintains that the letter itself, the sound of
which followed that sound below, was received up again by
the syllable to which it belonged, in order to the completion
of the whole, but that the sound remained below as if cast
outside. But the element itself from which the letter with
its special pronunciation descended to that below, he affirms
to consist of thirty letters, while each of these letters, again,
contains other letters in itself, by means of which the name
of the letter is expressed. And thus, again, others are named
by other letters, and others still by others, so that the multi-
tude of letters swells out into infinitude. You may more
clearly understand what I mean by the following example :
— The word Delta contains five letters, viz. D, E, L, T, A :
these letters, again, are written by other letters,^ and others
still by others. If, then, the entire composition of the word
Delta [when thus analyzed] runs out into infinitude, letters
continually generating other letters, and following one an-
other in constant succession, how much vaster than that [one]
word is the [entire] ocean of letters ! And if even one letter
be thus infinite, just consider the immensity of the letters in
1 Matt, xviii. 10.
2 By tliis Achamoth is denoted, who was said to give rise to the
material elements, after the image of the Divine.
2 That is, their names are spelt by other letters.
Book i.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 59
the entire name, out of which the Sige of Marcus has tauglit
us the Propator is composed. For which reason the Father,
knowing the incomprehensibleness of His own nature, as-
siirned to the elements, which He also terms ^ons, [the
power] of each one uttering its own enunciation, because
no one of them was capable by itself of uttering the
whole.
3. Moreover, the Tetrad, explaining these things to him
more fully, said : — I wish to show thee Aletheia (Truth) her-
self ; for I have brought her down from the dwellings above,
that thou mayest see her without a veil, and understand her
beauty — that thou mayest also hear her speaking, and admire
her wisdom. Behold, then, her head on high, Alpha and
Omega ; her neck, Beta and Fsi ; her shoulders with her hands,
Gamma and Chi ; her breast, Delta and Phi ; her diaphragm,
Epsilon and Upsilon; her back, Zeta and T'au; her belly. Eta
and Sigma ; her thighs, Theta and Rho; her knees. Iota and Pi;
her legs, Kappa and Omicron ; her ancles. Lambda and Xi;
her feet, Mu and Na. Such is the body of Truth, according
to this magician, such the figure of the element, such the
character of the letter. And he calls this element Anthropos
(^lan), and says that is the fountain of all speech, and the
beginning of all sound, and the expression of all that is
unspeakable, and the mouth of the silent Sige. This indeed
is the body of Truth. But do thou, elevating the thoughts
of thy mind on high, listen from the mouth of Truth to the
self-begotten Word, who is also the dispenser of the bounty
of the Father.
4. When she (the Tetrad) had spoken these things, Ale-
theia looked at him, opened her mouth, and uttered a word.
That word was a name, and the name was this one which we
do know and speak of, viz. Christ Jesus. AVhen she had
uttered this name, she at once relapsed into silence. And
as Marcus waited in the expectation that she would say
something more, the Tetrad again came forward and said,
" Thou hast reckoned as contemptible that word which thou
hast heard from the mouth of Aletheia. This which thou
knowest and seemest to possess, is not an ancient name. For
60 lUENJEVS AGAXNST HERESIES. [Book i.
thou posscssest the sound of it merely, wliilst thou art igno-
rant of its power. For Jesus ('It^ctoO?) is a name arithmeti-
cally^ symbolical, consisting of six letters, and is known by
all those that belong to the called. But that which is among
the ^ons of the Pleroma consists of many parts, and is of
another form and shape, and is known by those [angels] who
are joined in affinity with Him, and whose figures (mighti-
nesses) are always present with Him.
5. Know, then, that the four-and-twenty letters which you
possess are symbolical emanations of the three powers that
contain the entire number of the elements above. For you
are to reckon thus — that the nine mute" letters are [the
images] of Pater and Aletheia, because they are without
voice, that is, of such a nature as cannot be uttered or pro-
nounced. But the semi- vowels^ represent Logos and Zoe,
because they are, as it were, midway between the consonants
and the vowels, partaking^ of the nature of both. The
vowels, again, are representative of Anthropos and Ecclesia,
inasmuch as a voice proceeding from Anthropos gave being
to them all ; for the sound of the voice imparted to them
form. Thus, then. Logos and Zoe possess eight [of these
letters] ; Anthropos and Ecclesia seven ; and Pater and
Aletheia nine. But since the number allotted to each was
unequal, He wdio existed in the Father came down, having
been specially sent by Plim from w^hom He was separated,
for the rectification of what had taken place, that the unity
of the Pleromas, being endowed with equality, might develop
in all that one power which flows from all. Thus that divi-
sion which had only seven letters, received the power of
* The old Latin version renders e'Trla^fcou, insigne, illustrious, but there
seems to be a reference to the Valentinian notion of the mystic number
of 888 formed (10+8 + 200+70+400+200) by the numerical value of
the letters in the word 'Jri^ov;.
2 The mutes are (p, Xi ^i '^j ^j '^■> Z^? v-i ^•
3 The semi-vowels are A, ^., v, /?, a, ^, |, ■^.
* It seems scarcely possible to give a more definite rendering of this
clause: it may be literally translated thus: "And because they receive
the outflowing of those above, but the turning back again of those
below."
Book i.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 61
eight, ^ and the three sets were rendered alike in point of
number, all becoming Ogdoads ; which three, when brought
together, constitute the number four-and-twenty. The three
elements, too (which lie declares to exist in conjunction with
three powers,^ and thus form the six from which have flowed
the twenty-four letters), being quadrupled by the word of the
ineffable Tetrad, give rise to the same number with them ;
and these elements he maintains to belong to Him who can-
not be named. These, again, were endowed by the three
powers with a resemblance to Him who is invisible. And
he says that those letters which we call double^ are the
images of the images of these elements ; and if these be
added to the four-and-twenty letters, by the force of analogy
they form the number thirty.
6. He asserts that the fruit of this arrann-ement and
analogy has been manifested in the likeness of an image,
namely. Him who, after six days, ascended'^ into the moun-
tain along with three others, and then became one of six
(the sixth), ^ in which character He descended, and was con-
tained in the Hebdomad, since He was the illustrious Og-
doad,^ and contained in Himself the entire number of the
elements, which the descent of the dove (who is Alpha and
Omega) made clearly manifest, when Pie came to be bap-
tized ; for the number of the dove is eight hundred and
one.' And for this reason did Moses declare that man was
formed on the sixth day ; .and then, again, according to
arrangement, it was on the sixth day, wliicli is the prepara-
tion, that the last man appeared, for the regeneration of the
first. Of this arrangement, both the bei^innino: and the end
^ The ninth letter being taken from the mutes and added to the semi-
vowels, an eqnal division of the twenty-foiu' was thns secured.
- Viz. Pater, Antliropos, and Logos. ^ Viz. ^ ,^, \^=o,', x;, cr;.
* Matt. xvii. 7 ; Mark ix. 2.
^ Moses and Elias being added to the company.
^ Referring to the word XpiKjro;^ according to Harvey, who remarks,
that "generally the Ogdoad was the receptacle of the spiritual seed."
^ The Saviour, as Alpha and Omega, was symbolized by the dove, the
sum of the Greek numerals, tt, s, p, /, (7, r, f, p, u {77spia-ipa^ dove)^ being,
like that of A and a, 801.
G2 IBENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
were formed at that sixth hour, at -which He was nailed to the
tree. For that perfect being Nous, knowing that the number
six had the power both of formation and regeneration,
declared to the children of light, that regeneration which
has been wrought out by Him who appeared as the E^nsemon
in regard to that number. Whence also he declares it is that
the double letters ^ contain the Episemon number ; for this
Episemon, when joined to the twenty-four elements, completed
the name of thirty letters.
7. He employed as his instrument, as the Sige of Marcus
declares, the power of seven letters,^ in order that the fruit of
the independent will [of Achamoth] might be revealed. " Con-
sider this present Episemon^^ she says — " Him who was formed
after the [original] Episemon^ as being, as it were, divided or
cut into two parts, and remaining outside ; who, by His own
power and wisdom, through means of that which had been
produced by Himself, gave life to this world, consisting of
seven powers,^ after the likeness of the power of the Hebdo-
mad, and so formed it, that it is the soul of everything visible.
And He indeed uses this work Himself as if it had been
formed by His own free will ; but the rest, as being images
of what cannot be [fully] imitated, are subservient to the
Entliymesis of the mother. And the first heaven indeed
pronounces A Ipha^ the next to this Epsilon, the third Eta^ the
fourth, which is also in the midst of the seven, utters the
sound of Iota, the fifth Omicron, the sixth Upsilon, the
seventh, which is also the fourth from the middle, utters the
element Omegay^ — as the Sige of Marcus, talking a deal of
nonsense, but uttering no word of truth, confidently asserts.
" And these powers," she adds, " being all simultaneously
clasped in each other's embrace, do sound out the glory of
Him by whom they were produced ; and the glory of that
sound is transmitted upwards to the Propator." She asserts,
' That is, tlie letters ^, |, 4^ all contain ?, whose value is six^ and
which was called sTrian/^civ by the Greeks.
2 Referring to Aletlieia, which, in Greek, contains seven letters.
^ By these seven powers are meant the seven heavens (also called
angels), formed by the Demiurge.
Book i.j IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. G3
moreover, that " the sound of this uttering of praise, having
been wafted to the earth, has become the Framer and the
Parent of those things which are on the earth."
8. He instances, in proof of this, the case of infants who
liave just been born, the cry of whom, as soon as tliey have
issued from the womb, is in accordance with the sound of
every one of these elements. As, then, he says, the seven
powers glorify the Word, so also does the complaining soul of
infants.^ For this reason, too, David said : " Out of the
mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise;"^
and again : " The heavens declare the glory of God."^ Hence
also it comes to pass, that when the soul is involved in diffi-
culties and distresses, for its own relief it calls out, " Oh"
(/2), in honour of the letter in question,* so that its cognate
soul above may recognise [its distress], and send down to it
relief.
9. Thus it is, that in re2:ard to the whole name." which con-
sists of thirty letters, and Bythus, who receives his increase
from the letters of this [name], and, moreover, the body of
Aletheia, which is composed of twelve members, each of
which consists of two letters, and the voice which she uttered
without having spoken at all, and in regard to the analysis
of that name which cannot be expressed in words, and the
soul of the world and of man, according as they possess that
arrangement, which is after the image [of things above], he
has uttered his nonsensical opinions. It remains tliat I
relate how the Tetrad showed him from the names a power
equal in number ; so that nothing, my friend, which I have
received as spoken by him, may remain unknown to thee ;
and thus thy request, often proposed to me, may be fulfilled.
1 We here follow the text of Hippolytiis : the ordinary text and the
old Latin read, " So does the soul of infants, weeping and mourning over
Marcus, deify him."
- Ps. viii. 2. 3 pg, ^i^. 1^
^ The text is here altogether uncertain : we have given the probable
meaning.
^ That is. the name of Soter, the perfect result of the whole Pleroma.
64 IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
Chap. xv. — Slge relates to Marcus the generation of the tioenty-
four elements and of Jesus, Exposure of these absurdities.
1. The all-wise Sige then announced the production of the
four-and-twenty elements to him as follows : — Along with
Monotes there co-existed Henotes, from which sprang two
productions, as we have remarked above, Monas and Hen,
which, added to the other two, make four, for twice two are
four. And again, two and four, when added together, exhibit
the number six. And further, these six being quadrupled,
give rise to the twenty-four forms. And the names of the
first Tetrad, which are understood to be most holy, and not
capable of being expressed in words, are known by the Son
alone, while the Father also knows what they are. The other
names which are to be uttered with respect, and faith, and
reverence, are, according to him, Arrhetos and Sige, Pater
and Aletheia. Now the entire number of this Tetrad
amounts to four-and-twenty letters ; for the name Arrhetos
contains in itself seven letters, Seige^ five. Pater five, and
Aletheia seven. If all these be added together — twice five,
and twice seven — they complete the number twenty-four. In
like manner, also, the second Tetrad, Logos and Zoe, Anthro-
pos and Ecclesia, reveal the same number of elements.
Moreover, that name of the Saviour which may be pro-
nounced, viz. Jesus \^Iri(7ov<;\ consists of six letters, but His
unutterable name comprises four-and-twenty letters. The
name Christ the Son^ (vlo<; Xpecaro^) comprises twelve
letters, but that which is unpronounceable in Christ contains
thirty letters. And for this reason he declares that He is
Alpha and Omega, that he may indicate the dove, inasmuch
as that bird has this number [in its name].
2. But Jesus, he affirms, has the following unspeakable
origin. From the mother of all things, that is, the first
Tetrad, there came forth the second Tetrad, after the manner
of a daughter; and thus an Ogdoad was formed, from which,
^ Manifestly to be so spelt here, as in the sequel Chreistus, for
Christus.
2 The text is here altogether uncertain, and the meaning obscure.
Book i.] IRENJSUS AGAINST HERESIES. C5
ao'ain, a Decad proceeded : thus was produced a Decad and an
Ogdoad. The Decad, then, being joined with the Ogdoad,
and multiplying it ten times, gave rise to the number eighty ;
and, again, multiplying eighty ten times, produced the number
eight hundred. Thus, then, the whole number of the letters
proceeding from the Ogdoad [multiplied] into the Decad, is
eight hundred and eighty-eight/ This is the name of Jesus ;
for this name, if you reckon up the numerical value of the
letters, amounts to eight hundred and eighty-eight. Thus,
then, you have a clear statement of their opinion as to the
origin of the supercelestial Jesus. Wherefore, also, the
alphabet of the Greeks contains eight Monads, eight Decads,
and eight Hecatads,^ which present the number eight hun-
dred and eighty-eight, that is, Jesus, who is formed of all
numbers ; and on this account He is called Alpha and Omega,
indicating His origin from all. And, again, they put the
matter thus : If the first Tetrad be added up according to the
2:)rogression of number, the number ten appears. For one,
and two, and three, and four, when added together, form ten ;
and this, as they will have it, is Jesus. Lloreover, Chreistus,
he says, being a word of eight letters, indicates the first
Ogdoad, and this, when multiplied by ten, gives birth to
Jesus (888). And Christ the Son, he says, is also spoken of,
that is, the Duodecad. For the name Son (yib^) contains
four letters, and Christ (Chreistus) eight, which, being com-
bined, point out the greatness of the Duodecad. But, he
alleges, before the Episemon of this name appeared, that is
Jesus the Son, mankind were involved in great ignorance
and error. But when this name of six letters was manifested
(the person bearing it clothing Himself in flesh, that He
might come under the apprehension of man's senses, and
1 The reading is exceedingly doubtful : some prefer tXxQwmwhQv eigldij-
eiglit.
- Tlicre were, as llarvcy here observes, three extraneous characters
introduced into the Greek alphabet for the sake of numeration — the three
episema for 6, 90, and 900 respectively. The true alphabet, then, as
employed to denote number, included eight units, eight tens, and eight
hundreds.
E
GG IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES, [Book i.
having in Himself these six and twenty-four letters), then,
becoming acquainted with Ilim, they ceased from their igno-
rance, and passed from death unto life, this name serving as
their guide to the Father of truth.^ For the Father of all
had resolved to put an end to ignorance, and to destroy death.
But this abolishing of ignorance was just the knowledge of
Him. And therefore that man (Anthropos) was chosen
according to His will, having been formed after the image of
the [corresponding] power above.
3. As to the ^ons, they proceeded from the Tetrad, and
in that Tetrad were Anthropos and Ecclesia, Logos and Zoe.
The powers, then, he declares, who emanated from these,
generated that Jesus who appeared upon the earth. The
angel Gabriel took the place of Logos, the Holy Spirit that
of Zoe, the Power of the Highest that of Anthropos, while
the Virgin pointed out the place of Ecclesia. And thus, by a
special dispensation, there was generated by Him, through
Mary, that man, whom, as He passed through the womb, the
Father of all chose to [obtain] the knowledge of Himself by
means of the Word. And on His coming to the water [of
baptism], there descended on Him, in the form of a dove, that
Being who had formerly ascended on high, and completed
the twelfth number, in whom there existed the seed of those
who were produced contemporaneously with Himself, and
who descended and ascended along with Him. Moreover, he
maintains that that power which descended was the seed of
the Father, which had in itself both the Father and the Son,
as well as that power of Sige which is known by means of
them, but cannot be expressed in language, and also all the
^F^ons. And this was that Spirit who spoke by the mouth
of Jesus, and who confessed that He was the Son of Man as
well as revealed the Father, and who, having descended into
Jesus, was made one with Him. And he says that the
Saviour formed by special dispensation did indeed destroy
death, but that Christ made known the Father.^ He main-
^ Or, according to the Greek text, " being as tlie way to the Father ; "
comp. John xiv. 6.
2 The text is here uncertain : we follow that suggested by Grabe.
Book i.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 67
tains, therefore, that Jesus is tlie name of that man formed
by a special dispensation, and that He was formed after the
likeness and form of that [heavenly] Anthropos, who was
about to descend upon Him. After He had received that
jEton, He possessed Anthropos himself, and Logos him-
self, and Pater, and Arrhetus, and Sige, and Aletheia, and
Ecclesia, and Zoe.
4. Such ravings, we may now well say, go beyond /w, lu,
Pheu^ Plieu, and every kind of tragic exclamation or utterance
of misery. For who would not detest one who is the wretched
contriver of such audacious falsehoods, when he perceives the
truth turned by Marcus into a mere image, and that punc-
tured all over with the letters of the alphabet ? The Greeks
confess that they first received sixteen letters from Cadmus,
and that but recently, as compared with the beginning, [the
vast antiquity of which is implied] in the common proverb :
" Yesterday and before ; " ^ and afterwards, in the course of
time, they themselves invented at one period the aspirates,
and at anotlicr the double letters, while, last of all, they say
Palamedes added the long letters to the former. Was it so,
then, that until these things took place among the Greeks,
truth had no existence ? For, according to thee, Marcus, the
body of truth is posterior to Cadmus and those who preceded
him — posterior also to those who added the rest of the letters
— posterior even to thyself ! For thou alone hast formed
that which is called by thee the truth into an [outward, visible]
imaire.
5. But who will tolerate thy nonsensical Sige, who names
Him that cannot be named, and expounds the nature of Him
that is unspeakable, and searches out Him that is unsearch-
able, and declares that He whom thou maintainest to be
destitute of body and form, opened His mouth and sent forth
:he Word, as if He were included among organized beings ;
and that Plis Word, while like to His Author, and bearing
the image of the invisible, nevertheless consisted of thirty
•^ Comp. Gen. xxxi. 2. — We here follow the punctuation of Scaliger,
low generally accepted by the editors, though entirely different from
-he old Latin.
C8 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
elements and four syllables ? It \y111 follow, tlien, according
to thy theory, that the Father of all, in accordance with the
likeness of the Word, consists of thirty elements and four
syllables ! Or, again, who will tolerate thee in thy juggling
with forms and numbers, — at one time thirty, at another
twenty-four, and at another, again, only six, — whilst thou
shuttest up [in these] the Word of God, the Founder, and
Framer, and Maker of all things ; and then, again, cutting
Him up piecemeal into four syllables and thirty elements ;
and bringing down the Lord of all who founded the heavens
to the number eight hundred and eighty-eight, so that He
should be similar to the alphabet ; and subdividing the Father,
who cannot be contained, but contains all things, into a
Tetrad, and an Ogdoad, and a Decad, and a Duodccad ; and
by such multiplications, setting forth the unspeakable and in-
conceivable nature of the Father, as thou thyself declarest it to
be ? And showing thyself a very Doedalus for evil invention,
and the wicked architect of the supreme power, thou dost
construct a nature and substance for Him whom thou callest
incorporeal and immaterial, out of a multitude of letters,
generated the one by the other. And that power whom thou
affirmest to be indivisible, thou dost nevertheless divide into
consonants, and vowels, and semi-vowels ; and, falsely ascrib-
ing those letters which are mute to the Father of all things,
and to His Ennoea (thought), thou hast driven on all that
place confidence in thee to the highest point of blasphemy,
and to the grossest impiety.
6. With good reason, therefore, and very fittingly, in
reference to thy rash attempt, has that divine elder and
preacher of the truth burst forth in verse against thee as
follows :
*' Marcus, thou former of idols, inspector of portents,
Skiird in consulting the stars, and deep in the black arts of
magic,
Ever by tricks such as these confirming the doctrines of error,
Furnishing signs unto those involved by thee in deception,
AVonders of power that is utterly severed from God and apostate,
Which Satan, thy true father, enables thee still to accomplish,
Book i.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 69
By means of Azazel, that fallen and yet mighty angel,—'
Thus making thee the precursor of his own impious actions."
Such are the words of the saintly elder. And I shall
endeavour to state the remainder of their mystical system,
which runs out to great length, in brief compass, and to
bring to the light what has for a long time been concealed.
For in this way such things will become easily susceptible of
exposure by all.
Chap. xvi. — Absurd interpretations of the Marcosians.
1. Blending in one the production of their own -^ons,
and the straying and recovery of the sheep [spoken of in the
gospel^], these persons endeavour to set forth things in a more
mystical style, while they refer everything to numbers, main-
taining that the universe has been formed out of a Monad
and a Dyad. And then, reckoning from unity on to four,
they thus generate the Decad. For when one, two, three,
and four are added together, they give rise to the number of
the ten JEons. And, again, the Dyad advancing from itself
[by twos] up to six — two, and four, and six — brings out the
Duodccad. Once more, if we reckon in the same way up to
ten, the number thirty appears, in which are found eight, and
ten, and twelve. They therefore term the Duodecad — because
it contains the Episemon,'"' and because the Episemon [so to
speak] waits upon it — the passion. And for this reason,
because an error occurred in connection with the twelfth
number," the sheep frisked off, and went astray ; for they
assert that a defection took place from the Duodecad. In
the same way they oracularly declare, that one; power having
departed also from the Duodecad, has perished ; and this was
represented by the woman who lost the drachma/ and,
^ Luke XV. 4.
2 All the editors, Grabc, Massuet, Stieren, and Harvey, differ as to
the text and interpretation of this sentence. We have given what seems
the simplest rendering of the text as it stands.
^ Referring to the last of the twelve yEons.
* Luke XV. 8.
70 IRENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
ligliting a lamp, again found it. Tims, therefore, the num-
bers that were left, viz. nine, as respects the pieces of money,
and eleven in regard to the sheep,^ when multiplied together,
give birth to the number ninety-nine, for nine times eleven
are ninety-nine. Yv^herefore also they maintain the word
" Amen " contains this number.
2. I will not, however, weary thee by recounting their
other interpretations, that you may perceive the results every-
where. They maintain, for instance, that the letter Eta {rj)
along with the Episemon {^) constitutes an Ogdoad, inasmuch
as it occupies the eighth place from the first letter. Then,
again, without the Episemon, reckoning the number of the
letters, and adding them up till we come to Eta, they bring
out the Triacontad. For if one begins at Alpha and ends
with Eta, omitting the Episemon, and adds together the value
of the letters in succession, he will find their number alto-
gether to amount to thirty. For up to Epsilon (e) fifteen
are formed ; then adding seven to that number, the sum of
twenty-two is reached. Next, Eta being added to these,
since its value is eight, the most wonderful Triacontad is com-
pleted. And hence they give forth that the Ogdoad is the
mother of the thirty ^ons. Since, therefore, the number
thirty is composed of three powers [the Ogdoad, Decad, and
Duodecad], when multiplied by three, it produces ninety, for
three times thirty are ninety. Likewise this Triad, when
multiplied by itself, gives rise to nine. Thus the Ogdoad
generates, by these means, ninety-nine. And since the twelfth
-^on, by her defection, left eleven in the heights above, they
maintain that therefore the position of the letters is a true
co-ordinate of the method of their calculation " (for Lambda
is the eleventh in order among the letters, and represents the
number thirty), and also forms a representation of the ar-
rangement of affairs above, since, on from Alpha, omitting
Episemon,the number of the letters up to Lambda, when added
^ Meaning the JEon who left the Duodecad, when eleven remained,
and not referring to the lost sheep of the parable.
2 Harvey gives the above paraphrase of the very obscure original ;
others propose to read x' instead of "hoyov.
Book i.] LRENjETJS AGAINST IIEUESIES. 71
together according to the successive value of the letters, and
including Lambda itself, forms the sum of ninety-nine ; but
that this Lambda^ being the eleventh in order, descended to
seek after one equal to itself, so as to complete the number
of twelve letters, and when it found such an one, the number
was completed, is manifest from the very configuration of the
letter ; for Lambda being engaged, as it were, in the quest
of one similar to itself, and finding such an one, and clasping
it to itself, thus filled up the place of the twelfth, the letter
Ma (M) being composed of two Lambdas (A A). Where-
fore also they, by means of their " knowledge," avoid the
place of ninety-nine, that is, the defection — a type of the
left hand,^ — but endeavour to secure one more, which, when
added to the ninety and nine, has the effect of changing their
reckoninfij to the ri^ht hand.
3. I well know, my dear friend, that when thou hast read
through all this, thou wilt indulge in a hearty laugh over this
their inflated wise folly ! But those men are really worthy
of being mourned over, who promulgate such a kind of
religion, and who so frigidly and perversely pull to pieces
the greatness of the truly unspeakable power, and the
dispensations of God in themselves so striking, by means
of Alpha and Beta, and through the aid of numbers. But
as many as separate from the church, and give heed to such
old wives' fables as these, are truly self-condemned ; and
these men Paul commands us, '^ after a first and second
admonition, to avoid."' And John, the disciple of the Lord,
has intensified their condemnation, when he desires us not
even to address to them the salutation of "good-speed;"
for, says he, "He that bids them be of good-speed is a
partaker with their evil deeds ;"^ and that with reason, " for
there is no good-speed to the ungodly,"^ salth the Lord.
Impious indeed, beyond all impiety, are these men, who
^ Massuct explains this and the following reference, by remarking that
the ancients used the fingers of the hand in counting ; by the left hand
they indicated all the numbers below a hundred, but by the right hand
all above that sum. — Corap. Juvenal, Sat. x. 249.
- Tit. iii. 10. - 2 John v. 11. ■» Isa. xlviii. 22.
72 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
assert that the Maker of heaven and earth, the only
God Almiglity, besides whom there is no God, was produced
by means of a defect, which itself sprang from another
defect, so that, according to them. He was the product of
the third defect.^ Such an opinion we should detest and
execrate, while we ought everywhere to flee far apart from
those that hold it ; and in proportion as they vehemently
maintain and rejoice in their fictitious doctrines, so much
the more should we be convinced that they are under the
influence of the wicked spirits of the Ogdoad, — just as
those persons who fall into a fit of frenzy, the more they
laugh, and imagine themselves to be well, and do all things
as if they were in good health [both of body and mind],
yea, some things better than those who really are so, are
only thus shown to be the more seriously diseased. In like
manner do these men, the more they seem to excel others
in wisdom, and waste their strength by drawing the bow
too tightly,^ the greater fools do they show themselves. For
when the unclean spirit of folly has gone forth, and when
afterwards he finds them not waiting upon God, but occupied
with mere worldly questions, then, "taking seven other
spirits more wicked than himself,"^ and inflating the minds
of these men with the notion of their beino; able to conceive
of something beyond God, and having fitly prepared them for
the reception of deceit, he implants within them the Ogdoad
of the foolish spirits of wickedness.
Chap. xvii. — The theory of the MarcosianSj that created things
were made after the image of things invisible.
1. I wish also to explain to thee their theory as to the
way in which the creation itself was formed through the
1 The Demiurge being the fruit of the abortive convcrsioii of the
abortive passion of Achamoth, who, again, was the abortive issue of
Sophia.
^ i.e. by aiming at what transcends their ability, they fall into
absurdity, as a bow is broken by bending it too far.
3 Matt. xii. 43.
Book I.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 73
mother by the Demiurge (as it were without his knowledge),
after the image of things invisible. They maintain, then,
that first of all the four elements, fire, water, earth, and air,
were produced after the image of the primary Tetrad above,
and that then, if we add their operations, viz. heat, cold, dry-
ness, and humidity, an exact likeness of the Ogdoad is pre-
sented. They next reckon up ten powers in the following
manner : — There are seven globular bodies, which they also
call heavens ; then that globular body which contains these,
which also they name the eighth heaven ; and, in addition to
these, the sun and moon. These, being ten in number, they
declare to be types of the invisible Decad, which proceeded
from Logos and Zoe. As to the Duodecad, it is indicated by
the zodiacal circle, as it is called ; for they affirm that the
twelve signs do most manifestly shadow forth the Duodecad,
the daughter of Anthropos and Ecclesia. And since the
highest heaven, bearing upon the very sphere [of the seventh
heaven], has been linked with the most rapid precession of the
whole system, as a check, and balancing that system with its
own gravity, so that it completes the cycle from sign to sign
in thirty years, — they say that this is an image of Horus,
encircling their thirty-named mother.-^ And then, again, as
the moon travels through her allotted space of heaven in
thirty days, they hold, that by these days she expresses the
number of the thirty iEons. The sun also, who runs through
his orbit in twelve months, and then returns to the same point
in the circle, makes the Duodecad manifest by these twelve
months ; and the days, as being measured by twelve hours,
are a type of the invisible Duodecad. Moreover, they declare
that the hour, which is the twelfth part of the day, is com-
posed"' of thirty parts, in order to set forth the image of the
Triacontad. Also the circumference of the zodiacal circle
itself contains three hundred and sixty degrees (for each of
its signs comprises thirty) ; and thus also they affirm, that by
means of this circle an image is preserved of that connection
^ Such is the translation which Harvey, following the text preserved
by Hippolytus, gives of the above intricate and obscure sentence.
- Literally, '' is adorned with."
74 lEENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
which exists between the twelve and the thirty. Still further,
asserting that the earth is divided into twelve zones, and that
in each zone it receives power from the heavens, according to
the perpendicular [position of the sun above it], bringing
forth productions corresponding to that power which sends
down its influence upon it, they maintain that this is a most
evident type of the Duodecad and its offspring.
2. In addition to these things, they declare that the Demi-
urge, desiring to imitate the infinitude, and eternity, and
immensity, and freedom from all measurement by time of
the Ogdoad above, but, as he was the fruit of defect, being
unable to express its permanence and eternity, had recourse
to the expedient of spreading out its eternity into times, and
seasons, and vast numbers of years, imagining, that by the
multitude of such times he might imitate its immensity.
They declare further, that the truth having escaped him,
he followed that which was false, and that, for this reason,
when the times are fulfilled, his work shall perish.
Chap, xviii. — Passages from MoseSy icldch the heretics pervert
to the siqjport of their hypothesis.
1. And while they affirm such things as these concerning
the creation, every one of them generates something new,
day by day, according to his ability : for no one is deemed
" perfect," who does not develop among them some mighty
fictions. It is thus necessary, first, to indicate what things
they metamorphose [to their own use] out of the prophetical
writings, and next, to refute them. Moses, then, they declare,
by his mode of beginning the account of the creation, has
at the commencement pointed out the motlier of all things
when he says, " In the beginning God created the heaven
and the earth ;"^ for, as they maintain, by naming these
four — God, beginning, heaven, and earth, — he set forth their
Tetrad. Indicating also its invisible and hidden nature, he
said, "Kow the earth was invisible and unformed."^ They
will have it, moreover, that he spoke of the second Tetrad, the
1 Gen. i. 1. 2 Qen. i. 2.
Book l] IREl^JEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 75
offspring of the first, in this way — by naming an abyss and
darkness, in which were also water, and the Spirit moving
upon the water. Then, proceeding to mention the Decad,
he names h'ght, day, night, the firmament, the evening, the
morning, dry land, sea, plants, and, in the tenth place, trees.
Thus, by means of these ten names, he indicated the ten
^ons. The power of the Duodecad, again, was shadowed
forth by him thus : — He names the sun, moon, stars, seasons,
years, whales, fishes, reptiles, birds, quadrupeds, wild beasts,
and after all these, in the twelfth place, man. Thus they
teach that the Triacontad was spoken of through Moses by the
Spirit. Moreover, man also, being formed after the image of
the power above, had in himself that ability which flows from
the one source. This ability was seated in the region of the
brain, from which four faculties proceed, after the image of
the Tetrad above, and these are called : the first, sight, the
second, hearing, the third, smell, and the fourth,^ taste. And
they say that the Ogdoad is indicated by man in this way :
that he possesses two ears, the like number of eyes, also two
nostrils, and a twofold taste, namely, of bitter and sweet.
Moreover, they teach that the whole man contains the entire
image of the Triacontad as follows : In his hands, by means
of his fingers, he bears the Decad ; and in his whole body
the Duodecad, inasmuch as his body is divided into twelve
members ; for they portion that out, as the body of Truth
is divided by them — a point of which we have already spoken."
But the Ogdoad, as being unspeakable and invisible, is under-
stood as hidden in the viscera.
2. Again, they assert that the sun, the great light-giver, was
formed on the fourth day, with a reference to the number of
the Tetrad. So also, according to them, the courts^ of the
tabernacle constructed by IMoses, being composed of fine
linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, pointed to the same
image. ^Moreover, they maintain that the long robe of the
^ Ouc of the senses was thus capriciously cancelled by these
heretics.
- See above, chap. xiv. 2.
3 Or, rather, i-)erhaps "curtains." Exod. xxvi. 1.
76 IRENj^US AGAINST HERESIES, [Book i.
priest falling over his feet, as being adorned witli four rows
of precious stones/ indicates the Tetrad ; and if there are
any other things In the Scriptures which can possibly be
dragged into the number four, they declare that these had
their being with a view to the Tetrad. The Ogdoad, again,
was shown as follows : — They affirm that man was formed on
the eighth day, for sometimes they wall have him to have
been made on the sixth day, and sometimes on the eighth,
unless, perchance, they mean that his earthly part was formed
on the sixth day, but his fleshly part on the eighth, for these
two things are distinguished by them. Some of them also
hold that one man was formed after the ima^e and likeness
of God, masculo-femlnine, and that this was the spiritual
man ; and that another man was formed out of the earth.
3. Further, they declare that the arrangement made with
respect to the ark in the Deluge, by means of which eight
persons were saved," most clearly Indicates the Ogdoad which
brings salvation. David also shows forth the same, as holding
the eighth place In point of age among his brethren.^ More-
over, that circumcision wdilch took place on the eighth day,^
represented the circumcision of the Ogdoad above. In a
word, whatever they find In the Scriptures capable of being
referred to the number eigid, they declare to fulfil the mys-
tery of the Ogdoad. With respect, again, to the Decad, they
maintain that it is indicated by those ten nations which God
promised to Abraham for a possession.^ The arrangement
also made by Sarah when, after ten years, she gave ^ her
handmaid Hagar to him, that by her he might have a son,
showed the same thing. Moreover, the servant of Abraham
who was sent to Rebekah, and presented her at the w^ell with
ten bracelets of gold, and her brethren who detained her for
ten days;^ Jeroboam also, who received the ten sceptres^
(tribes), and the ten courts^ of the tabernacle, and the
columns of ten cubits ^^ [high], and the ten sons of Jacob who
^ Exod. xxviii. 17. ^ Qen. vi. 18 ; 1 Pet. iii. 20.
3 1 Sam. xvi. 10. "* Gen. xvii. 12. « Gen. xv. 19.
6 Gen. xvi. 2. ^ Gen. xxiv. 22, 25. ^ i Kings xi. 31.
^ Exod. xxvi. 1, xxxvi. 8. ^^ Exod. xxxvi. 21.
Book l] JLENJEUS. AGAINST HERESIES. 77
were at first sent into Egypt to buy corn/ and the ten
apostles to whom the Lord appeared after His resurrection
— Thomas^ being absent, — represented, according to them,
the invisible Decad.
4. As to the Duodecad, in connection with which the
mystery of the passion of the defect occurred, from which
passion they maintain that all things visible were framed, they
assert that is to be found strikingly and manifestly everywhere
[in Scripture]. For they declare that the twelve sons of
Jacob,^ from whom also sprung twelve tribes, — the breastplate
of the high priest, which bore twelve precious stones and
twelve little bells,^ — the twelve stones which were placed by
Moses at the foot of the mountain,^ — the same number which
was placed by Joshua in the river,^ and again, on the other
side, the bearers of the ark of the covenant,^ — those stones
which were set up by Elijah when the heifer was offered as
a burnt-offering;^ the number, too, of the apostles; and, in
fine, every event which embraces in it the number ticelce, —
set forth their Duodecad. And then the union of all these,
which is called the Triacontad, they strenuously endeavour
to demonstrate by the ark of Noah, the height of which was
thirty cubits ; ^ by the case of Samuel, who assigned Saul the
chief place among thirty guests ; ^^ by David, when for thirty
days he concealed himself in the field ;^^ by those who entered
along with him into the cave ; also by the fact that the length
(height) of the holy tabernacle was thirty cubits ; ^' and if
they meet with any other like numbers, they still apply these
to their Triacontad.
1 Gen. xlii. 3. ' John. xx. 24. « Gen. xxxv. 22, xlix. 28.
* Exod. xxviii. 2. — There is no mention of the numbei' of the bells in
Scripture.
fi Exod. xxiv. 4. ^ Josh. iv. 3. " Josh, iii. 12.
s 1 Kings xviii. 31. '' Gen. vi. 15. ^^ 1 Sam. xx. 5.
11 1 Sam. ix. 22.
12 Exod. xxvi. 8. Numhcrs appear to have been often capriciously
introduced by these heretics to give a colour of support to their cwa
theories.
78 IRENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
Chap. xix. — Passages of Scripture hy xddch they attempt to
prove that the Supreme Father zvas unknown before the
coming of Christ.
1. I judge it necessary to add to these details also what,
by garbling passages of Scripture, they try to persuade us
concerning their Propator, who was unknown to all before
the coming of Christ. Their object in this is to show that
our Lord announced another Father than the Maker of this
universe, whom, as we said before, they impiously declare to
have been the fruit of a defect. For instance, when the
prophet Isaiah says, " But Israel hath not known me, and my
people have not understood me," ^ they pervert his words to
mean ignorance of the invisible Bythus. And that which is
spoken by Hosea, " There is no truth in them, nor the know-
ledge of God," ^ they strive to give the same reference. And,
" There is none that understandeth, or that seeketh after
God : they have all gone out of the way, they are together
become unprofitable,"^ they maintain to be said concerning
ignorance of Bythus. Also that which is spoken by Moses,
" No man shall see God and live," ^ has, as they would persuade
us, the same reference.
2. For they falsely hold, that the Creator was seen by the
prophets. But this passage, " No man shall see God and
live," they would interpret as spoken of His greatness un-
seen and unknown by all ; and indeed that these words,
" No man shall see God," are spoken concerning the invisible
Father, the Maker of the universe, is evident to us all ; but
that they are not used concerning that Bythus whom they
conjure into existence, but concerning the Creator (and He
is the invisible God), shall be shown as we proceed. They
maintain that Daniel also set forth the same thing when he
begged of the angels explanations of the parables, as being
himself ignorant of them. But the angel, hiding from him
the great mystery of Bythus, said unto him, "Go thy way
quickly, Daniel, for these sayings are closed up until those
1 Isa. i. 3. 2 Hos. iv. 1.
3 Rom. iii. 11 ; Ps. xiv. 3. ^ Exod. xxxiii. 20.
Book i.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 7D
who have understanding do understand them, and those
who are white be made white." ^ Moreover, they vaunt
themselves as being the white and the men of good under-
standing,
CliAF. XX. — The apocryphal and spurious Scriptures of the
MarcosianSj with passages of the Gospels which they pervert.
1. Besides the above [misrepresentations], they adduce an
unspeakable number of apocryphal and spurious writings,
which they themselves have forged, to bewilder the minds of
foolish men, and of such as are ignorant of the Scriptures of
truth. Among other things, they bring forward that false
and wicked story which relates that our Lord, when He was
a boy learning Ilis letters, on the teacher saying to Him, as
is usual, "Pronounce Alpha," replied [as He was bid],
" Alpha." But when, again, the teacher bade Him say,
" Beta," the Lord replied, " Do thou first tell me what Alpha
is, and then I will tell thee what Beta is." This they ex-
])ound as meaning that He alone knew" the Unknown, which
He revealed under its type Alpha.
2. Some passages, also, which occur in the Gospels, receive
from them a colouring of the same kind, such as the answer
which He gave His mother when He was twelve years of a^e :
" Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ? " "
Thus, they say. He announced to them the Father of whom
they were ignorant. On this account, also. He sent forth the
disciples to the twelve tribes, that they might proclaim to
them the unknown God. And to the person who said to
Him, " Good Master," ^ He confessed that God who is truly
good, saying, " Why callest thou me good : there is one who
is good, the Father in the heavens ;" "^ and they assert that in
this passage the iEons receive the name of heavens. [More-
over, by His not replying to those who said to Him, " By
^ Dan. xii. 9, 10. The words in the above quotation not occurring in
the Hebrew text of the passage, seem to have been interpolated by these
heretics.
2 Luke ii. -19. ^ ^^ij^rij x. 17. * Luke xviii. 18.
80 lEENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
what power doest thou this?"^ but by a question on His own
side, put them to utter confusion ; by His thus not replying,
according to their interpretation, He showed the unutterable
nature of the Father. Moreover, when He said, " I have
often desired to hear one of these words, and I had no one
who could utter it," ^ they maintain, that by this expression
" one" He set forth the one true God whom they knew not.
Further, when, as He drew nigh to 'Jerusalem, He wept over
it and said, " If thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day,
the things that belong unto thy peace, but they are hidden
from thee," '^ by this word " hidden " He showed the abstruse
nature of Bythus. And again, when He said, " Come unto
me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest, and learn of me," * He announced the Father of
truth. For what they knew not, these men say that He
promised to teach them.
3. But they adduce the following passage as the highest
testimony,^ and, as it were, the very crown of their system : —
"I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, be-
cause Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent,
and hast revealed them to babes. Even so, my Father ; for
so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things have been
delivered to me by my Father ; and no one knoweth the
Father but the Son, or the Son but the Father, and he to
whom the Son will reveal Him."^ In these words they affirm
that He clearly showed that the Father of truth, conjured
into existence by them, was known to no one before His
advent. And they desire to construe the passage as if teach-
ing that the Maker and Framer [of the world] was always
known by all, while the Lord spoke these words concerning
the Father unknown to all, whom they now proclaim.
^ Matt. xxi. 23. ^ Taken from some apocryphal writing.
3 Luke xix. 42, loosely quoted. * Matt, xi. 28.
^ The translator evidently read to)!j for ri^v, in which case the rendering
will be " proof of those most high," but the Greek text seems preferable,
c Matt. xi. 25-27.
Cook i.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 81
CnAr. XXI. — The views of redemption entertained hy these
heretics,
1. It happens that their tradition respecting redemption^ is
invisible and incomprehensible, as being the mother of things
which are incomprehensible and invisible; and on this account,
since it is fluctuating, it is impossible simply and all at once to
make known its nature, for every one of them hands it down
just as his own inclination prompts. Thus there are as many
sclicmes of "redemption" as there are teachers of these mystical
opinions. And when we come to refute them, we shall show-
in its fitting-place, that this class of men have been instigated
by Satan to a denial of that baptism which is regeneration to
God, and thus to a renunciation of the whole [Christian] faitli.
2. They maintain that those who have attained to perfect
knowledge must of necessity be regenerated into that power
whicli is above alL For it is otherwise impossible to find
admittance within the Pleroma, since this [regeneration] it is
which leads them down into the depths of Bythus. For the
baptism instituted by the visible Jesus was for the remission
of sins, but the redemption brought in by that Christ who
descended upon Him, was for perfection ; and they allege
that tlic former is animal, but the latter spiritual. And the
baptism of John was proclaimed with a view to repentance,
but the redemption by Jesus ^ was brought in for the sake of
perfection. And to this He refers when He says, "And I
have another baptism to be baptized with, and I hasten eagerly
towards it." " Moreover, they affirm that the Lord added this
redemption to the sons of Zebedee, when tlieir mother asked
that they might sit, the one on His right hand, and the otlier
on His left, in His kingdom, saying, "Can ye be baptized with
the baptism which I shall be baptized wdth?"* Paul, too,
they declare, has often set forth, in express terms, the re-
demption which is in Christ Jesus; and this was the same which
is handed down by them in so varied and discordant forms.
^ Comp. chap. xiii. G. - The Latin reads "Christ."
^ Luke xii. 50. The text was probably thus corrupted by the heretics.
* Mai'k X. 38.
82 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES, [Book i.
3. For some of them prepare a nuptial couch, and perform
a sort of mystic rite (pronouncing certain expressions) with
those who are being initiated, and affirm that it is a spiritual
marriage which is celebrated by them, after the Hkeness of
the conjunctions above. Others, again, lead them to a place
where water is, and baptize them, with the utterance of these
words, " Into the name of the unknown Father of the uni-
verse— into truth, the mother of all things — into Him who
descended on Jesus — into union, and redemption, and com-
munion W'ith the powers." Others still repeat certain Hebrew
words, in order the more thoroughly to bewilder those who are
being initiated, as follows: "Basema, Chamosse, Baoenaora,
Mistadia, Ruada, Kousta, Babaphor, Kalachthei." ^ The in-
terpretation of these terms runs thus : " I invoke that which
is above every powder of the Father, which is called light, and
good Spirit, and life, because Thou hast reigned in the body."
Others, again, set forth the redemption thus : The name which
is hidden from every deity, and dominion, and truth, which
Jesus of Nazareth was clothed with in the lives ^ of the light '
of Christ — of Christ, who lives by the Holy Ghost, for the
angelic redemption. The name of restitution stands thus :
Messia, Uphareg, Namempsoeman, Chaldoeaur, Mosomedoea,
Acphranoe, Psaua, Jesus Nazaria.^ The interpretation of these
words is as follows : ^' I do not divide the Spirit of Christ,
neither the heart nor the supercelestial power which is merciful ;
may I enjoy Thy name, O Saviour of truth I" Such are the
words of the initiators ; but he who is initiated, replies, " I am
established, and I am redeemed ; I redeem my soul from this
age (world), and from all things connected with it in the name
of lao, who redeemed his own soul into redemption in Christ
wdio liveth." Then the bystanders add these w^ords, " Peace
be to all on whom this name rests." After this they anoint the
initiated person with balsam ; for they assert that this unguent
is a type of that sweet odour which is above all things.
^ We have given these words as they stand in the Greek text : a very
different list, but equally unmeaning, is found in the Latin.
2 The Latin reads zonis^ "zones," instead of "lives," as in the Greek.
2 Here, again, arc many variations.
1
Book l] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 83
4. But there are some of them who assert that it is super-
fluous to bring persons to the water, but mixing oil and water
together, they place this mixture on the heads of those who
are to be initiated, with the use of some such expressions as we
have already mentioned. And this they maintain to be the
redemption. They, too, are accustomed to anoint with balsam.
Others, however, reject all these practices, and maintain that
the mystery of the unspeakable and invisible power ought
not to be performed by visible and corruptible creatures, nor
should that of those [beings] who are inconceivable, and in-
corporeal, and beyond the reach of sense, [be performed] by
such as are the objects of sense, and possessed of a body.
These hold that the knowledge of the unspeakable Greatness
is itself perfect redemption. For since both defect and
passion flowed from ignorance, the whole substance of what
was thus formed is destroyed by knowledge ; and therefore
knowledge is the redemption of the inner man. This, how-
ever, is not of a corporeal nature, for the body is corruptible ;
nor is it animal, since the animal soul is the fruit of a defect,
and is, as it were, the abode of the spirit. Tlie redemption
must therefore be of a spiritual nature; for they affirm that
the inner and spiritual man is redeemed by means of know-
ledge, and that they, having acquired the knowledge of all
things, stand thenceforth in need of nothing else. This, then,
is the true redemption.
5. Others still there arc who continue to redeem persons
even up to the moment of death, by placing on their heads
oil and water, or the pre-mentioned ointment with water,
using at the same time the above-named invocations, that
the persons referred to may become incapable of being seized
or seen by the principalities and powers, and that their inner
man may ascend on high in an invisible manner, as if their
body were left among created things in this world, while their
soul is sent forward to the Demiurge. And they instruct them,
on their reaching the principalities and powers, to make use of
these words: "I am a son from the Father — the Father who had
a pre-existencc, and a son in Ilim who is pre-cxistent. I have
come to behold all things, both those which belong to myself
84 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
and others, altliough, strictly speaking, they do not belong to
others, but to Achamoth, who is female in nature, and made
these thinfTs for herself. For I derive beinf^ from Him who
is pre-existent, and I come again to my own place whence I
went forth." And they affirm that, by saying these things,
he escapes from the powers. He then advances to the com-
panions of the Demiurge, and thus addresses them: — " I am a
vessel more precious than the female who formed you. If
your mother is ignorant of her own descent, I know myself,
and am aware whence I am, and I call upon the incorruptible
Sophia, who is in the Father, and is the mother of your
mother, who has no father, nor any male consort ; but a
female springing from a female formed you, while ignorant
of her own mother, and imagining that she alone existed;
but I call upon her mother." And they declare, that when
the companions of the Demiurge hear these words, they are
greatly agitated, and upbraid their origin and the race of
their mother. But he goes into his own place, having thrown
[off] his chain, that is, his animal nature. These, then, are
the particulars which have reached us respecting redemption.^
But since they differ so widely among themselves both as
respects doctrine and tradition, and since those of them who
are recognised as being most modern make it their effort
daily to invent some new opinion, and to bring out what no
one ever before thought of, it is a difficult matter to describe
all their opinions.
Chap. xxii. — Deviations of heretics from the truth.
1. The rule^ of truth which we hold, is, that there is one
Ood Almighty, who made all things by His Word, and
^ The Greek text, whicli has hitherto been preserved almost entire, ends
at this point. With only brief extracts from the original, now and then,
we are henceforth exclusively dependent on the old Latin version, with
some Syriac and Armenian fragments recently discovered.
- The Latin here begins with the words " cum teneamus," and the
apodosis is found afterwards at " facile arguimus." But we have broken
up the one long sentence into several.
Book i.] IRENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 85
fashioned and formed, out of that which had no existence, all
things which exist. Thus saith the Scripture, to that effect :
" By the Word of the Lord were the heavens established,
and all the might of them, by the spirit of His mouth." ^
And again, " All things were made by Him, and without
Him was notliing made."^ There is no exception or deduc-
tion stated ; but the Father made all things by Him, whether
visible or invisible, objects of sense or of intelligence, tem-
poral, on account of a certain character given them, or eternal;
and these eternal'^ things He did not make by angels, or by
any powers separated from His Ennoea. For God needs
none of all these things, but is He who, by His Word and
Spirit, makes, and disposes, and governs all things, and com-
mands all things into existence, — He w^ho formed the world
(for the world is of all), — He who fashioned man, — He [who]"^
is the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob, above whom there is no other God, nor initial prin-
ciple, nor power, nor pleroma, — He is the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, as we shall prove. Holding, therefore, this
rule, we shall easily show, notwithstanding the great variety
and multitude of their opinions, that these men have deviated
from the truth ; for almost all the different sects of heretics
admit that there is one God ; but then, by their pernicious
doctrines, they change [this truth into error], even as the Gen-
tiles do through idolatry, — thus proving themselves ungrate-
ful to Him that created them, ^loreovcr, they despise the
workmanship of God, speaking against their own salvation,
becoming their own bitterest accusers, and being false wit-
nesses [against themselves]. Yet, reluctant as they may be,
these men shall one day rise again in the flesh, to confess the
power of Him who raises them from the dead; but they shall not
be numbered amons; the riMiteous on account of their unbelief.
2. Since, therefore, it is a complex and multiform task to
detect and convict all the heretics, and since our design is to
1 Ps. xxxiii. 6. 2 j^-^ij,^ j 3^
^ The text is here uncertain and obscure : eternal things seem to be
referred to, not as regarded substance, but the forms assigned them.
* This word would perhaps be better cancelled.
86 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
reply to them all according to their special characters, we
have judged it necessary, first of all, to give an account of
their source and root, in order that, by getting a knowledge
of their most exalted Bythus, thou mayest understand the
nature of the tree which has produced such fruits.
Chap, xxiii. — Doctrines and j^ractices of Simon Magus
and Menander,
1. Simon the Samaritan was that mamcian of whom
Luke, the disciple and follower of the apostles, says, " But
there was a certain man, Simon by name, who beforetime
used magical arts in that city, and led astray the people of
Samaria, declaring that he himself was some great one, to
whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying.
This is the power of God, which is called great. And to him
they had regard, because that of long time he had driven
them mad by his sorceries." ^ This Simon, then — who feigned
faith, supposing that the apostles themselves performed their
cures by the art of magic, and not by the power of God ; and
with respect to their filling with the Holy Ghost, through the
imposition of hands, those that believed in God through Him
who was preached by them, namely, Christ Jesus — suspect-
in<x that even this was done throuMi a kind of £!;reater know-
ledge of magic, and offering money to the apostles, thought
he, too, might receive this power of bestowing the Holy Spirit
on whomsoever he would, — was addressed in these words by
Peter : '^ Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast
thought that the gift of God can be purchased with money :
thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is
not right in the sight of God ; for I perceive that thou art in
the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." ^ He, then,
not putting faith in God a whit the more, set himself eagerly
to contend against the apostles, in order that he himself might
seem to be a wonderful being, and applied himself with still
greater zeal to the study of the whole magic art, that he
might the better bewilder and overpower multitudes of men.
1 Acts viii. 9-11. ^ Acts viii. 20, 21, 23.
Book i.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 87
Such was his procedure in the reign of Claudius Caesar, by
whom also he is said to have been honoured with a statue, on
account of his magical power.^ This man, then, was glorified
by many as if he w^ere a god ; and he taught that it was him-
self who appeared among the Jews as the Son, but descended
in Samaria as the Father, while he came to other nations in
the character of the Ploly Spirit. He represented himself,
in a word, as being the loftiest of all powers, that is, the
Being who is the Father over all, and he allowed himself to be
called by whatsoever title men were pleased to address him.
2. Now this Simon of Samaria, from whom all sorts of
heresies derive their origin, formed his sect out of the follow-
ing materials : — Having redeemed from slavery at Tyre, a
city of Phoenicia, a certain woman named Helena, he was in
the habit of carrying her about with him, declaring that this
woman was the first conception of his mind, the mother of
all, by whom, in the beginning, he conceived in his mind [the
thought] of forming angels and archangels. For this Ennoea
leaping forth from him, and comprehending the will of her
father, descended to the lower regions [of space], and gene-
rated angels and powers, by whom also he declared this
world was formed. But after she had produced them, she
was detained bv them through motives of lealousv, because
they were unwilling to be looked upon as the progeny of any
other beincf. As to himself, tliev had no knowlcdo-e of him
whatever ; but his Ennoea was detained by thosfe powers and
angels who had been produced by her. She suffered all
kinds of contumelv from them, so that she could not return
upwards to her father, but was even shut up in a human
body, and for ages passed in succession from one female
body to another, as from vessel to vessel. She was, for
example, in that Helen on whose account the Trojan war
was undertaken ; for whose sake also Stesichorus" was struck
^ Conip. Just. Mart., Apol. i. 2G. It is generally supposed that Simon
Magus was thus confounded with the Sabine god, tSemo Sancus ; but
see our note, loc. cit.
- A lyric poet of Sicily, said to have been dealt with, as stated above,
by Castor and Pollux.
88 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book i.
blind, because he had cursed her in his verses, but afterwards,
repenting and writing what are called palinodes, in which he
sang her praise, he was restored to sight. Thus she, passing
from body to body, and suffering insults in every one of
them, at last became a common prostitute; and she it was
that was meant by the lost sheep.^
3. For this purpose, then, he had come that he might win her
first, and free her from slavery, while he conferred salvation
upon men, by making himself known to them. For since the
angels ruled the world ill because each one of them coveted
the principal power for himself, he had come to amend
matters, and had descended, transfigured and assimilated to
powers and principalities and angels, so that he might appear
among men to be a man, while yet he was not a man ; and
that thus he w^as thouiiht to have suffered in Judaea, when
he had not suffered. Moreover, the prophets uttered their
predictions under the inspiration of those angels who formed
the world ; for which reason those who place their trust in
him and Helena no longer regarded them, but, as being free,
live as they please ; for men are saved through his grace, and
not on account of their own righteous actions. For such
deeds are not righteous in the nature of things, but by mere
accident, just as those angels who made the world, have
thought fit to constitute them, seeking, by means of such
precepts, to bring men into bondage. On this account, he
pledged himself that the world should be dissolved, and that
those who are his should be freed from the rule of them who
made the world.
4. Thus, then, the mystic priests belonging to this sect both
lead profligate lives and practise magical arts, each one to
the extent of his ability. They use exorcisms and incanta-
tions. Love-potions, too, and charms, as well as those beings
who are called " Paredri " (f amilars) and " Oniropompi "
(dream-senders), and whatever other curious arts can be had
recourse to, are eagerly pressed into their service. They also
have an image of Simon fashioned after the likeness of
Jupiter, and another of Helena in the shape of Minerva ; and
1 Matt, xviii. 12.
Book i.] IRENJ^US AGAINST HERESIES. 89
these they worship. In fine, they have a name derived from
Simon, the author of these most impious doctrines, being
called Simonians ; and from them " knowledge, falsely so
called," ^ received its beginning, as one may learn even from
their own assertions.
5. The successor of this man was Menander, also a Samari-
tan by birth, and he, too, was a perfect adept in the practice
of magic. He affirms that the primary Power continues
unknown to all, but that he himself is the person who has
been sent forth from the presence of the invisible beings as
a saviour, for the deliverance of men. The world was made
by angels, whom, like Simon, he maintains to have been
produced by Ennoea. He gives, too, as he affirms, by means
of that magic which he teaches, knowledge to this effect, that
one may overcome those very angels that made the world ;
for his disciples obtain the resurrection by being baptized
into him, and can die no more, but remain in the possession
of immortal youth.
Chap. xxiv. — Doctrines of Satmminiis and Basilides.
1. Arising among these men, Saturninus (who was of that
Antioch which is near Daphne) and Basilides laid hold of
some favourable opportunities, and promulgated different
systems of doctrine — the one in Syria, the other at Alex-
andria. Saturninus, like Menander, set forth one father
unknown to all, who made angels, archangels, powers, and
potentates. The world, again, and all things therein, were
made by a certain company of seven angels. Man, too, was
the workmanship of angels, a shining image bursting forth
below from the presence of the supreme power ; and when
they could not, he says, keep hold of this, because it im-
mediately darted upwards again, they exhorted each other,
saying, " Let us make man after our image and likeness." "
He was accordingly formed, yet was unable to stand erect,
through the inability of the angels to convey to him that
power, but wriggled [on the ground] like a worm. Then
I 1 Tim. vi. 20. 2 Qcq. j. 2C.
90 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
the power above taking pity upon him, since he was made
after his hkeness, sent forth a spark of hfe, which gave man
an erect posture, compacted his joints, and made him Hve.
He declares, therefore, that this spark of hfe, after the death
of a man, returns to those things wliich are of the same
nature with itself, and the rest of the body is decomposed
into its original elements.
2. He has also laid it down as a truth, that the Saviour was
without birth, without body, and without figure, but was, by
supposition, a visible man ; and he maintained that the God
of the Jews was one of the angels ; and, on this account,
because all the powers wished to annihilate his father, Christ
came to destroy the God of the Jews, but to save such as
believe in him ; that is, those who possess the spark of his
life. This heretic was the first to affirm that two kinds of men
were formed by the angels, — the one wicked, and the other
good. And since the demons assist the most wicked, the
Saviour came for the destruction of evil men and of the
demons, but for the salvation of the good. They declare
also, that marriage and generation are from Satan. Many
of those, too, who belong to his school, abstain from animal
food, and draw away multitudes by a feigned temperance of
this kind. They hold, moreover, that some of the prophecies
were uttered by those angels who made the world, and some
by Satan ; whom Saturninus represents as being himself an
angel, the enemy of the creators of the world, but especially
of the God of the Jews.
3. Basilides again, that he may appear to have discovered
something more sublime and plausible, gives an immense
development to his doctrines. He sets forth that Nous was
first born of the unborn father, that from him, again, was
born Logos, from Logos Phronesis, from Phronesis Sophia
and Dynamis, and from Dynamis and Sophia the powers,
and principalities, and angels, whom he also calls the first;
and that by them the first heaven was made. Then other
powers, being formed by emanation from these, created
another heaven similar to the first ; and in like manner, when
others, again, had been formed by emanation from them,
Book l] IUENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 91
corresponding exactly to those above them, these, too, framed
another third heaven; and then from this third, in downward
order, there was a fourth succession of descendants ; and so
on, after the same fashion, they declare that more and more
principalities and angels were formed, and three hundred and
sixty-five heavens.^ Wherefore the year contains the same
number of days in conformity with the number of the
heavens.
4. Those angels who occupy the lowest heaven, that,
namely, which is visible to us, formed all the things which
are in the world, and made allotments amono; themselves of
the earth and of those nations which are upon it. The chief
of them is he who is thought to be the God of the Jews ;
and inasmuch as he desired to render the other nations sub-
ject to his own people, that is, the Jews, all the other princes
resisted and opposed him. Wherefore all other nations w^ere
at enmity with his nation. But the father without birth
and without name, perceiving that they would be destroyed,
sent his own first-begotten Nous (he it is who is called
Christ) to bestow deliverance on them that believe in him,
from the power of those who made the world. He appeared,
then, on earth as a man, to the nations of these powers, and
wrought miracles. Wherefore he did not himself suffer
death, but Simon, a certain man of Cyrene, being compelled,
bore the cross in his stead; so that this latter being transfigured
by him, that he might be thought to be Jesus, was crucified,
through ignorance and error, while Jesus himself received
the form of Simon, and, standing by, laughed at them.
For since he was an incorporeal power, and the Nous (mind)
of the unborn father, he transfigured himself as he pleased,
and thus ascended to him who had sent him, deriding them,
inasmuch as he could not be laid hold of, and was invisible to
all. Those, then, who know these things have been freed
from the principalities who formed the world ; so that it is
not incumbent on us to confess him who was crucified, but
him who came in the form of a man, and was thought to
1 The ordinary text reads, " three hundred and seventy-five," but it
should manifestly be corrected as above.
92 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
be crucified, and was called Jesus, and was sent by the
father, that by this dispensation he might destroy the works
of the makers of the world. If any one, therefore, he de-
clares, confesses the crucified, that man is still a slave, and
under the power of those who formed our bodies ; but he
who denies him has been freed from these beinixs, and is
acquainted with the dispensation of the unborn father.
5. Salvation belongs to the soul alone, for the body is
by nature subject to corruption. He declares, too, that the
prophecies were derived from those powers who were the
makers of the world, but the law was specially given by their
chief, who led the people out of the land of Egypt. He
attaches no importance to [the question regarding] meats
offered in sacrifice to idols, thinks them of no consequence,
and makes use of them without any hesitation ; he holds also
the use of other things, and the practice of every kind of
lust, a matter of perfect indifference. These men, moreover,
practise magic, and use images, incantations, invocations,
and every other kind of curious art. Coining also certain
names as if they were those of the angels, they proclaim
some of these as belonging to the first, and others to the
second heaven ; and then they strive to set forth the names,
principles, angels, and powers of the three hundred and sixty-
five imai][ined heavens. Thev also affirm that the barbarous
name in which the Saviour ascended and descended, is
Caulacau.^
6. He, then, who has learned [these things], and known all
the angels and their causes, is rendered invisible and incom-
prehensible to the angels and all the powers, even as Caulacau
also was. And as the son was unknown to all, so must they
also be known by no one ; but while they know all, and pass
through all, they themselves remain invisible and unknown to
all; for, "Do thou," they say, "know all, but let nobody
know thee." For this reason, persons of such a persuasion
are also ready to recant [their opinions], yea, rather, it is
^ This sentence is wholly unintelligible as it stands in the Latin version.
Critics differ greatly as to its meaning ; Harvey tries to bring out of it
something like the translation given above.
Book i.] IRENJEVS AGAINST HERESIES. 93
impossible that tliey should suffer on account of a mere name,
since they are like to all. The multitude, however, cannot
understand these matters, but only one out of a thousand, or
two out of ten thousand. They declare that they are no
longer Jews, and that they are not yet Christians ; and that
it is not at all fitting to speak openly of their mysteries, but
right to keep them secret by preserving silence.
7. They make out the local positions of the three hundred
and sixty-five heavens in the same way as do mathema-
ticians. For, accepting the theorems of these latter, they
have transferred them to their own type of doctrine. They
hold that their chiefs is Abraxas ;" and, on this account, that
word contains in itself the numbers amounting to three
hundred and sixty- five.
CiiAr. XXV. — Doctrines of Carpocrates.
1. Carpocrates, again, and his followers maintain that the
world and the things which are therein were created by angels
greatly inferior to the unbegotten Father. They also hold
that Jesus was the son of Joseph, and was just like other
men, with the exception that he differed from them in this
respect, that inasmuch as his soul was stedfast and pure, he
perfectly remembered those things which he had witnessed
within the sphere of the unbegotten God. On this account,
a power descended upon him from the Father, that by means
of it he might escape from the creators of the world ; and
they say that it, after passing through them all, and re-
maining in all points free, ascended again to him, and to the
powers," which in the same way embraced like things to itself.
They further declare, that the soul of Jesus, although educated
in the practices of the Jews, regarded these with contempt,
^ It is doubtful to whom or what this word refers ; probably to the
heavens.
- So written in Latin, but in Greek 'A/3/)a{r«|, the numerical value of
the letters in which is three hundred and sixty-five.
2 Such seems to be the meaning of the Latin, but the original text is
conjectural.
94 IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
and that for this reason he was endowed with faculties, by-
means of which lie destroyed those passions which dwelt in
men as a punishment [for their sins].
2. The soul, therefore, which is like that of Christ can
despise those rulers who were the creators of the world, and,
in like manner, receives power for accomplishing the same
results. This idea has raised them to such a pitch of pride,
that some of them declare themselves similar to Jesus ; while
others, still more mighty, maintain that they are superior to
his disciples, such as Peter and Paul, and the rest of the
apostles, whom they consider to be in no respect inferior to
Jesus. For their souls, descending from the same sphere as
his, and therefore despising in like manner the creators of
the world, are deemed worthy of the same power, and again
depart to the same place. But if any one shall have despised
the things in this world more than he did, he thus proves
himself superior to him.
3. They practise also magical arts and incantations ;
philters, also, and love-potions ; and have recourse to famiHar
spirits, dream-sending demons, and other abominations, declar-
ing 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 men, even as the Gentiles, have
been sent forth by Satan to bring dishonour upon the church,
so that, in one way or another, men hearing the things which
they speak, and imagining that we all are such as they, may
turn away their ears from the preaching of the truth ; or,
again, seeing the things they practise, may speak evil of us
all, who have in fact no fellowship with them, either in
doctrine or in morals, or in our daily conduct. But they
lead a licentious life,-^ and, to conceal their impious doctrines,
they abuse the name [of Christ], as a means of hiding their
wickedness ; so that " their condemnation is just," ^ when they
receive from God a recompense suited to their works.
4. So unbridled is their madness, that they declare they
1 The text is here defective, but the above meaning seems to be indi-
cated by Epiphanins.
^ Rom. iii. 8.
Book l] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 95
have in their power all things which are irreligious and im-
pious, and are at liberty to practise them ; for they maintain
that things are evil or good, simply in virtue of human opinion.
They deem it necessary, therefore, that by means of trans-
migration from body to body, souls should have experience of
every kind of life as well as every kind of action (unless,
indeed, by a single incarnation, one may be able to prevent
any need for others, by once for all, and with equal complete-
ness, doing all those things which we dare not either speak or
hear of, nay, which we must not even conceive in our thoughts,
nor think credible, if any such thing is mooted among those
persons who are our fellow-citizens), in order that, as their
writings express it, their souls, having made trial of every
kind of life, may, at their departure, not be wanting in any
particular. It is necessary^ to insist upon this, lest, on account
of some one thing being still wanting to their deliverance, they
should be compelled once more to become incarnate. They
affirm that for this reason Jesus spoke the following parable :
— " Whilst thou art with thine adversary in the way, give all
diligence, that thou mayest be delivered from him, lest he give
thee up to the judge, and the judge surrender thee to the
officer, and he cast thee into prison. Verily, I say unto thee,
thou shalt not go out thence until thou pay the very last
farthing."" They also declare the "adversary" is one of
those angels who are in the world, whom they call the Devil,
maintaining that he was formed for this purpose, that he
might lead those souls which have perished from the world to
the Supreme Kuler. They describe him also as being chief
among the makers of the world, and maintain that he delivers
such souls [as have been mentioned] to another angel, who
ministers to him, that he may shut them up in other bodies ;
for they declare that the body is "the prison." Again, they
interpret these expressions, " Thou shalt not go out thence
until thou pay the very last farthing," as meaning that no one
can escape from the power of those angels who made the
1 The text here has greatly puzzled the editors. We follow the simple
emendation proposed by Harvey.
2 Matt. V. 26, 27 ; Luke xii. 68.
OG IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
world, but tliat he must pass from body to body, until he has
experience of every kind of action which can be practised in
this world, and when nothing is longer wanting to him, then
his liberated soul should soar upwards to that God who is
above the angels, the makers of the world. In this way also
all souls are saved, whether their own which, guarding against
all delay, participate in all sorts of actions during one incar-
nation, or those, again, who, by passing from body to body,
are set free, on fulfilling and accomplishing what is requisite
in every form of life into which they are sent, so that at
length they shall no longer be [shut up] in the body.
5. And thus, if ungodly, unlawful, and forbidden actions
are committed among them, I can no longer find ground for
believinsj them to be such.^ And in their writinj^s we read as
follows, the interpretation which they give [of their views],
declaring that Jesus spoke in a mystery to his disciples and
apostles privately, and that they requested and obtained per-
mission to hand down the things thus taught them, to others
who should be worthy and believing. 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.
6. Others of them employ outward marks, branding their
disciples inside the lobe of the right ear. From among these
also arose Marcellina, who came to Rome imder [the episco-
pate of] Anicetus, and, holding these doctrines, she led mul-
titudes astray. They style themselves Gnostics. They also
possess images, some of them painted, and others formed from
different kinds of material ; while they maintain that a likeness
of Christ was made by Pilate at that time when Jesus lived
among men. They crown these images, and set them up along
with the images of the philosophers of the world ; that is to
say, with the images of Pythagoras, and Plato, and Aristotle,
and the rest. They have also other modes of honouring these
images, after the same manner as the Gentiles.
^ The meaning is here very doubtful, but Tcrtullian understood the
words as above. If sinning were a necessity^ then it could no longer be
regarded as evil.
Book i.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 97
CllAP. XXVI. — Doctrines of Cerintlius, the EbioniteSj and
Nicolaitanes.
1. Ccrintlms, again, a man who was educated^ in the
wisdom of the Egyptians, taught that the world was not made
by the primary God, but by a certain power far separated from
liiin, and at a distance from that Principahty who is supreme
over the universe, and ignorant of him who is above alL He
represented Jesus as having not been born of a virgin, but as
being the son of Joseph and Mary according to the ordinary
course of human generation, while he nevertheless was more
righteous, prudent, and wise than other men. Moreover,
after his baptism, Christ descended upon him in the form of
a dove from the Supreme Ruler, and that then he proclaimed
the unknown Father, and performed miracles. But at last
Christ departed from Jesus, and that then Jesus suffered and
rose again, while Christ remained impassible, inasmuch as he
was a spiritual being.
2. Those who are called Ebionites am-ce that the world
was ma'de by God ; but their opinions with respect to the
Lord are similar to those of Ccrinthus and Carpocrates.
They use the Gospel according to Matthevv' only, and repu-
diate the Apostle Paul, maintaining that he was an apostate
from the law. As to the prophetical writings, they endeavour
to expound them in a somewhat singular manner : they
practise circumcision, persevere in the observance of those
customs which are enjoined by the law, and are so Judaic in
their style of life, that they even adore Jerusalem as if it
were the house of God.
3. The Nicolaitanes are the followers of that Nicolas who
was one of the seven first ordained to the diaconatc by the
apostles. They lead lives of unrestrained indulgence. The
character of these men is very plainly pointed out in the
Apocalypse of John, [when they are represented] as teaching
that it is a matter of indifference to practise adulter^', and
to eat things sacrificed to idols. Wherefore the Word has
^ A\'e liere follow the text as preserved by Hippolytiis. The Latin has,
1 *' a certain man in Asia."
G
98 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book i.
also spoken of them thus : " But this thou hast, that thou
hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate." ^
Chap, xxvii. — Doctrines of Cerdo and Marcion,
1, Cerdo was one who took his system from the followers
of Simon, and came to live at Rome in the time of Hyginus,
who held the ninth place in the episcopal succession from
the apostles downwards. He taught that the God pro-
claimed by the law and the prophets was not the father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. For the former was known, but the
latter unknown ; while the one also was righteous, but the
other benevolent.
2. Marcion of Pontus succeeded him, and developed his
doctrine. In so doing, he advanced the most daring blas-
phemy against Him who is proclaimed as God by the law
and the prophets, declaring Him to be the author of evils,
to take delight in war, to be infirm of purpose, and even to
be contrary to Himself. But Jesus being derived from that
father who is above the God that made the world, and'coming
into Judaea in the times of Pontius Pilate the governor, who
was the procurator of Tiberius Caesar, was manifested in
the form of a man to those who w^re in Judaea, abolishing
the prophets and the law, and all the works of that God who
made the world, whom also he calls Cosmocrator. Besides
this, he mutilates the Gospel which is according to Luke,
removing all that is written respecting the generation of the
Lord, and setting aside a great deal of the teaching of the
Lord, in which the Lord is recorded as most clearly con-
fessing that the Maker of this universe is His Father. He
likewise persuaded his disciples that he himself was more
worthy of credit than are those apostles who have handed
down the gospel to us, furnishing them not with the gospel,
but merely a fragment of it. In like manner, too, he dis-
membered the epistles of Paul, removing all that is said by
the apostle respecting that God who made the world, to the
effect that He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
^ Key. 11. 6.
Book I.] IJIENjEUS AGAINST IIEBESIES. 99
also those passages from the proplietlcal writings which the
apostle quotes, in order to teach us that they announced before-
hand the coming of the Lord.
3. Salvation will be the attainment only of those souls
which had learned his doctrine ; while the body, as having
been taken from the earth, is incapable of sharing in salva-
tion. In addition to his blasphemy against God Himself, he
advanced this also, truly speaking as with the mouth of the
devil, and saying all things in direct opposition to the truth,
— that Cain, and those like him, and the Sodomites, and the
Egyptians, and others like them, and, in fine, all the nations
who walked in all sorts of abomination, were saved by the
Lord, on His descending into Hades, and on their running
unto Him, and that thev welcomed Him into their kinixdom.
But the serpent which was in Marcion declared that Abel, and
Enoch, and Noah, and those other righteous men who sprang^
from the patriarch Abraham, with all the prophets, and those
who were pleasing to God, did not partake in salvation. For
since these men, he says, knew that their God was constantly
tempting them, so now they suspected that He was tempting
them, and did not run to Jesus, or believe His announce-
ment : and for this reason he declared that their souls
remained in Hades.
4. But since this man is the only one who has dared openly
to mutilate the Scriptures, and unblushingly above all others
;o inveigh against God, I purpose specially to refute him,
convicting him out of his own writings ; and, with the help
of God, I shall overthrow him out of those" discourses of
the Lord and the apostles, which are of authority with him,
md of which he makes use.' At present, howe-ver, I have
dmply been led to mention him, that thou mightest know
;hat all those who in any way corrupt the truth, and injuri-
jusly affect the preaching of the church, are the disciples
id successors of Simon Magus of Samaria. Although they
^ We here follow the amended version proposed by the Benedictine
Iditor.
' A promise never fulfilled : comp. book iii. 12, and Euseb. Hist.
iJccZ. V. 8.
100 IRENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
do not confess the name of their master, in order all the
more to seduce others, yet they do teach his doctrines.
They set forth, indeed, the name of Christ Jesus as a sort
of lure, but in various ways they introduce the impieties of
Simon ; and thus they destroy multitudes, wickedly dissemi-
nating their own doctrines by the use of a good name, and,
through means of its sweetness and beauty, extending to
their hearers the bitter and malignant poison of the serpent,
the great author of apostasy.
Chap, xxviii. — Doctrines of Tatian, the Encratites,
and others,
1. Many offshoots of numerous heresies have already
been formed from those heretics we have described. This
arises from the fact that numbers of them — indeed, we mav
say all — desire themselves to be teachers, and to break off
from the particular heresy in which have been involved.
Forming one set of doctrines out of a totally different
system of opinions, and then again others from others, they
insist upon teaching something new, declaring themselves
the inventors of any sort of opinion which they may have
been able to call into existence. To give an example :
Springing from Saturninus and Marcion, those who are
called Encratites (self-controlled) preached against marriage,
thus settino; aside the ori£:rinal creation of God, and indi-
rectly blaming Him who made the male and female for the
propagation of the human race. Some of those reckoned
among them have also introduced abstinence from animal
food, thus proving themselves ungrateful to God, who formed
all things. They deny, too, the salvation of him who was
first created. It is but lately, however, that this opinion has
been invented among them. A certain man named Tatian
first introduced the blasphemy. He was a hearer of Justin's,
and as long as he continued with him he expressed no such
views ; but after his martyrdom he separated from the
church, and, excited and puffed up by the thought of being
a teacher, as if he were superior to others, he composed his
Book I.] JRENJ^US AGAINST HERESIES. 101
own peculiar type of doctrine. Pie invented a system of
certain invisible ^ons, like the followers of Valentinus ;
while, like Marcion and Saturninus, he declared that mar-
riage was nothing else than corruption and fornication. But
his denial of Adam's salvation was an opinion due entirely
to himself.
2. Others, again, following upon Basilides and Carpocrates,
have introduced promiscuous intercourse and a plurality of
wives, and are indifferent about eating meats sacrificed to
idols, maintaining that God does not greatly regard such
matters. But why continue? For it is an impracticable
attempt to mention all those who, in one way or another,
have fallen away from the truth.
Chap. xxix. — Doctrines of various other Gnostic sects, and
especially of the Barheliotes or Borhorians,
1. Besides those, however, among these heretics who are
Simonians, and of whom we have already spoken, a multitude
of Gnostics have sprung up, and have been manifested like
mushrooms growing out of the ground. I now proceed to
describe the principal opinions held by them. Some of them,
then, set forth a certain ^on who never grows old, and exists
in a virgin spirit : him they style Barbelos.^ They declare
that somewhere or other there exists a certain father wlio
cannot be named, and that he w^as desirous to reveal himself
to this Barbelos. Then this Ennoea went forward, stood
before his face, and demanded from him Prognosis (pre-
science). But when Prognosis had, [as was requested,] come
forth, these two asked for Aphtharsia (incorruption), which
also came forth, and after that Zoe Aionios (eternal life).
Barbelos, glorying in these, and contemplating their great-
ness, and in the^ conception" [thus formed], rejoicing in this
greatness, generated light similar to it. They declare that
^ Harvey supposes this name to be derived from two Syriac words,
meaning " God in a Tetrad." Matter again derives it from two Hebrew-
words, denoting " Daughter of the Lord."
^ Both the text and meaning are here altogether doubtful.
102 IRENjEUS against heresies. [Book i.
this was the beginning both of h'ght and of the generation of
all things ; and that the Father, beholding this light, anointed
it with his own benignity, that it might be rendered perfect.
Moreover, they maintain that this was Christ, who again,
according to them, requested that Nous should be given him
as an assistant; and Nous came forth accordingly. Besides
these, the Father sent forth Logos. The conjunctions of
Ennoea and Logos, and of Aphtharsia and Christ, will thus
be formed ; while Zoe Aionios was united to Thelema, and
Nous to Prognosis. These, then, magnified the great light
and Barbelos.
2. They also affirm that Autogenes was afterwards sent
forth from Ennoea and Logos, to be a representation of the
great light, and that he was greatly honoured, all things
being rendered subject unto him. Along with him w^as sent
forth Aletheia, and a conjunction was formed between Auto-
genes and Aletheia. But they declare that from the Light,
which is Christ, and from Aphtharsia, four luminaries were
sent forth to surround Autogenes ; and again from Thelema
and Zoe Aionios four other emissions took place, to wait
upon these four luminaries ; and these they name Charis
(grace), Thelesis (will), Synesis (understanding), and Phro-
nesis (prudence). Of these, Charis is connected with the
great and first luminary : him they represent as Soter
(Saviour), and style Armogenes.^ Thelesis, again, is united
to the second luminary, whom they also name Raguel;
Synesis to the third, whom they call David ; and Phronesis
to the fourth, whom they name Eleleth.
3. All these, then, being thus settled, Autogenes more-
over produces a perfect and true man, whom they also call
Adamas, inasmuch as neither has he himself ever been
conquered, nor have those from whom he sprang ; he also
was, along with the first light, severed from Armogenes.
Moreover, perfect knowledge was sent forth by Autogenes
along with man, and was united to him ; hence he attained
to the knowledge of him that is above all. Invincible power
^ Harvey refers to the cabbalistic books in explanation of this and
the following names, but their meanings are very uncertain.
Book i.] IRENJETJS AGAINST HERESIES. 103
was also conferred on him by the virgin spirit ; and all things
then rested in him, to sing praises to the great H^on. Hence
also they declare were manifested the mother, the father,
the son ; while from Anthropos and Gnosis that Tree was
produced which they also style Gnosis itself.
4. Next they maintain, that from the first angel, who
stands by the side of Monogenes, the Holy Spirit has been
sent forth, whom they also term Sophia and Prunicus.^ He
then, perceiving that all the others had consorts, while he
himself was destitute of one, searched after a being to whom
he might be united ; and not finding one, he exerted and
extended himself to the uttermost, and looked down into the
lower regions, in the expectation of there finding a consort ;
and still not meeting with one, he leaped forth [from his
place] in a state of great impatience, [which had come upon
him] because he had made his attempt without the good-will
of his father. Afterwards, under the influence of simplicity
and kindness, he produced a work in which were to be found
ignorance and audacity. This work of his they declare to
be Protarchontes, the former of this [lower] creation. But
they relate that a mighty power carried him away from his
mother, and that he settled far away from her in the lower
regions, and formed the firmament of heaven, in which also
tliey affirm that he dwells. And in his ignorance he formed
those powers which are inferior to himself — angels, and fir-
maments, and all things earthly. They affirm that he, being
united to Authadia (audacity), produced Kakia (wickedness),
Zelos (emulation), Phthonos (envy), Erinnys (fury), and
Epithymia (lust). When these were generated, the mother
Sophia deeply grieved, fled away, departed into the upper
regions, and became the last of the Ogdoad, reckoning it
downwards. On her thus departing, he imagined he was the
only being in existence ; and on this account declared, " I
am a jealous God, and besides me there is no one."" Sucli
are the falsehoods which these people invent.
^ Various explanations of this word have been proposed, but its signi-
fication remains altogether doubtful.
- Ex. XX. 5 ; Isa. xlv. 5, 6.
104 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book r.
Chap. xxx. — Doctrines of the Ophites and Sethians,
1. Others, again, portentously declare that there exists, in
the power of Bythus, a certain primary light, blessed, in-
corruptible, and infinite : this is the Father of all, and is
styled the first man. They also maintain that his Ennoea,
going forth from him, produced a son, and that this is the
son of man — the second man. Below these, again, is the
Holy Spirit, and under this superior spirit the elements were
separated from each other, viz. water, darkness, the abyss,
chaos, above which they declare the Spirit was borne, calling
him the first woman. Afterwards, they maintain, the first
man, with his son, delighting over the beauty of the Spirit —
that is, of the woman — and shedding light upon her, begat
by her an incorruptible light, the third male, whom they call
Christ, — the son of the first and second man, and of the
Holy Spirit, the first woman.
2. The father and son thus both had intercourse with the
woman (whom they also call the mother of the living). When,
however,^ she could not bear nor receive into herself tlie
greatness of the lights, they declare that she was filled to
repletion, and became ebuUient on the left side ; and that
thus their only son Christ, as belonging to the right side,
and ever tending to what was higher, was immediately caught
up with his mother to form an incorruptible JEon. This
constitutes the true and holy church, which has become the
appellation, the meeting together, and the union of the
father of all, of the first man, of the son, of the second man,
of Christ their son, and of the woman who has been mentioned.
3. They teach, however, that the power which proceeded
from the woman by ebullition, being besprinkled with light,
fell downward from the place occupied by its progenitors,
yet possessing by its own will that besprinkling of light ; and
it they call Sinistra, Prunicus, and Sophia, as well as masculo-
feminine. This being, in its simplicity, descended into the
waters while they were yet in a state of immobility, and im-
parted motion to them also, wantonly acting upon them even.
1 The punctuation is here difficult and doubtful.
Book i.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 105
to their lowest depths, and assumed from them a body. For
they affirm that all things rushed towards and clung to that
sprinkling of light, and begirt it all round. Unless it had
possessed that, it would perhaps have been totally absorbed
in, and overwhelmed by, material substance. Being there-
fore bound down by a body which was composed of matter,
and greatly burdened by it, this power regretted the course it
had followed, and made an attempt to escape from the waters
and ascend to its mother : it could not effect this, however,
on account of the weight of the body lying over and around
it. But feeling very ill at ease, it endeavoured at least to
conceal that light which came from above, fearing lest it too
might be injured by the inferior elements, as had happened
to itself. And when it had received power from that be-
sprinkling of light which it possessed, it sprang back again,
and was borne aloft ; and being on high, it extended itself,
covered [a portion of space], and formed this visible heaven
out of its body ; yet remained under the heaven which it
made, as still possessing the form of a watery body. But
when it had conceived a desire for the light above, and had
received power by all things, it laid down this body, and was
freed from it. This body which they speak of that power as
having thrown off, they call a female from a female.
4. They declare, moreover, that her son had also himself
a certain breath of incorruption left him by his mother, and
that through means of it he works ; and becoming powerful,
he himself, as they affirm, also sent forth from the waters a
son without a mother ; for they do not allow him either to
have known a mother. His son, again, after the example of
his father, sent forth another son. This third one, too,
generated a fourth ; the fourth also generated a son : they
maintain that again a son was generated by the fifth ; and
the sixth, too, generated a seventh. Thus was the Hebdomad,
according to them, completed, the mother possessing the
eighth place ; and as in the case of their generations, so also
in regard to dignities and powers, they precede each other in
turn.
5. They have also given names to [the several persons] in
106 lEENJSUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
their system of falseliood, such as the following : he who was
the first descendant of the mother is called laldabaoth;^ he,
again, descended from him, is named lao ; he, from this one,
is called Sabaoth ; the fourth is named Adoneus ; the fifth,
Eloeus ; the sixth, Oreus ; and the seventh and last of all,
Astanphaeus. Moreover, they represent these heavens, poten-
tates, powers, angels, and creators, as sitting in their proper
order in heaven, according to their generation, and as in-
visibly ruling over things celestial and terrestrial. The first
of them, namely laldabaoth, holds his mother in contempt,
inasmuch as he produced sons and grandsons without the
permission of any one, yea, even angels, archangels, powers,
potentates, and dominions. After these things had been
done, his sons turned to strive and quarrel with him about the
supreme power, — conduct which deeply grieved laldabaoth,
and drove him to despair. In these circumstances, he cast
his eyes upon the subjacent dregs of matter, and fixed his
desire upon it, to which they declare his son owes his origin.
This son is Nous himself, twisted into the form of a serpent;^
and hence were derived the spirit, the soul, and all mundane
things : from this too were generated all oblivion, wickedness,
emulation, envy, and death. They declare that the father
imparted ^ still greater crookedness to this serpent-like and
contorted Nous of theirs, when he was w^ith their father in
heaven and Paradise.
6. On this account, laldabaoth, becoming uplifted in spirit,
boasted himself over all those things that w^ere below him,
and exclaimed, " I am father, and God, and above me there
is no one." But his mother, hearing him speak thus, cried out
against him, " Do not lie, laldabaoth : for the father of all,
the first Anthropos (man), is above thee; and so is Anthropos
^ The probable meaning of this and the following names is thus given
by Harvey : laldabaoth, Lord God of the Fathers ; lao, Jehovah ; Oreus,
Light ; Astanphseus, Crown : Sabaoth, of course, means Hosts ; Adoneus,
Lord ; and Eloeus, God. All the names are derived from the cabbalistic
theology of the Jews.
2 Hence their name of Ophites, from o(pig, a serpent.
^ The Latin has everiisse^ implying that thas Nous was more degraded.
Book i.] IRENJSUS AGAINST HERESIES. 107
the son of Antliropos." Then, as all were disturbed by this
new voice, and by the unexpected proclamation, and as they
were inquiring whence the noise proceeded, in order to lead
them away and attract them to himself, they affirm that
laldabaoth exclaimed, " Come, let us make man after our
image." ^ The six powers, on hearing this, and their mother
furnishing them with the idea of a man (in order that by
means of him she might empty them of their original power),
jointly formed a man of immense size, both in regard to
breadth and length. But as he could merely wi'ithe along
the ground, they carried him to their father ; Sophia so
labouring in this matter, that she might empty him (lalda-
baoth) of the light with which he had been sprinkled, so
that he might no longer, though still powerful, be able to
lift up himself against the powers above. They declare, then,
that by breathing into man the spirit of life, he was secretly
emptied of his power ; that hence man became a possessor
of nous (intelligence) and enthymesis (thought) ; and they
affirm that these are the faculties which partake in salvation.
He [they further assert] at once gave thanks to the first
Anthropos (man), forsaking those who had created him.
7. But laldabaoth, feeling envious at this, was pleased to
form the design of again emptying man by means of woman,
and produced a woman from his own enthymesis, whom tliat
Prunicus [above mentioned] laying hold of, imperceptibly
emptied her of power. But the others coming and admirino;
her beauty, named her Eve, and falling in love with her,
begat sons by her, whom they also declare to be the angels.
But their mother (Sophia) cunningly devised a scheme to
seduce Eve and Adam, by means of the serpent, to transgress
the command of laldabaoth. Eve listened to this as if it
had proceeded from a son of God, and yielded an easy
belief. She also persuaded Adam to eat of the tree regardinic
which God had said that they should not eat of it. They
then declare that, on their thus eating, they attained to the
knowledge of that power which is above all, and departed
from those who had created them." When Prunicus perceived
1 Gcu. i. 26. - That is, from laldabaoth, etc.
108 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i,
that the powers were thus baffled by their own creature, she
greatly rejoiced, and again cried out, that since the father
was incorruptible, he (laldabaoth) who formerly called him-
self the father was a liar ; and that, while Anthropos and
the first woman (the Spirit) existed previously, this one (Eve)
sinned by committing adultery.
8. laldabaoth, however, through that oblivion in which he
was involved, and not paying any regard to these things, cast
Adam and Eve out of Paradise, because they had trans-
gressed his commandment. For he had a desire to beget
sons by Eve, but did not accomplish his wish, because his
mother opposed him in every point, and secretly emptied
Adam and Eve of the light with which they had been
sprinkled, in order that that spirit which proceeded from the
supreme power might participate neither in the curse nor
opprobrium [caused by transgression]. They also teach that,
thus being emptied of the divine substance, they were cursed
by him, and cast down from heaven to this world.^ But the
serp(^t also, who was acting against the father, was cast
down by him into this lower world ; he reduced, however,
under his power the angels here, and begat six sons, he him-
self forming the seventh person, after the example of that
Hebdomad which surrounds the father. They further declare
that these are the seven mundane demons, who always oppose
and resist the human race, because it was on their account
that their father was cast down to this lower world.
9. Adam and Eve previously had light, and clear, and as
it were spiritual bodies, such as they were at their creation ;
but when they came to this world, these changed into bodies
more opaque, and gross, and sluggish. Their soul also was
feeble and languid, inasmuch as they had received from their
creator a merely mundane inspiration. This continued until
Prunicus, moved with compassion towards them, restored to
them the sweet savour of the besprinkling of light, by means
of which they came to a remembrance of themselves, and
knew that they were naked, as well as that the body was a
^ There is constant reference in this section to rabbinical conceits and
follies.
Book l] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 109
material substance, and thus recognised that they bore death
about with them. They thereupon became patient, knowing
that only for a time they would be enveloped in the body.
They also found out food, through the guidance of Sophia ;
and when they were satisfied, they had carnal knowledge of
each other, and begat Cain, whom the serpent, that had been
cast down along with his sons, immediately laid hold of
and destroyed by filling him with mundane oblivion, and
urging into folly and audacity, so that, by slaying his brother
Abel, he was the first to bring to light envy and death.
After these, they afhrm that, by the forethought of Prunicus,
Seth was begotten, and then Norea,^ from whom they re-
present all the rest of mankind as being descended. They
were urged on to all kinds of wickedness by the inferior
Hebdomad, and to apostasy, idolatry, and a general contempt
for everything by the superior holy Hebdomad,^ since the
mother was always secretly opposed to them, and carefully
preserved what was peculiarly her ow^n, that is, the besprink-
ling of light. They maintain, moreover, that the holy Heb-
domad is the seven stars which they call planets ; and they
affirm that the serpent cast down has two names, Michael
and Samael.
10. laldabaoth, again, being incensed with men, because
they did not worship or honour him as father and God, sent
forth a deluge upon them, that he might at once destroy
them all. But Sophia opposed him in this point also, and
Noah and his family were saved in the ark by means of the
besprinkling of that light which proceeded from her, and
through it the w^orld was ngain filled with mankind. lalda-
baoth himself chose a certain man named Abraham from
among these, and made a covenant with him, to the effect
that, if his seed continued to serve him, he would give to
them the earth for an inheritance. Afterwards, by means of
Moses, he brought forth Abraham's descendants from Egypt,
1 A name probably derived from the Hebrew m>'J, girl^ but of the
person referred to we know nothing,
2 AYc Jicre follow the emendation of Grabe : the defection of Prunicus
is intended.
no IRENjEUS against heresies. [Book I.
and gave them the law, and made tliem the Jews. Among
that people he chose seven days/ which they also call the
holy Hebdomad. Each of these receives his own herald for
the purpose of glorifying and proclaiming God; so that, when
the rest hear these praises, they too may serve those who are
announced as gods by the prophets.
11. Moreover, they distribute the prophets in the following
manner : Moses, and Joshua the son of Nun, and Amos, and
Habakkuk, belonged to laldabaoth ; Samuel, and Nathan, and
Jonah, and Micah, to lao ; Elijah, Joel, and Zechariah, to
Sabaoth ; Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Daniel, to Adonai ;
Tobias and Haggai to Eloi ; Michaiah and Nahum to Oreus ;
Esdras and Zephaniah to Astanphaeus. Each one of these,
then, glorifies his own father and God, and they maintain
that Sophia herself has also spoken many things through
them regarding the first Anthropos (man),"^ and concerning
that Christ who is above, thus admonishing and reminding
men of the incorruptible light, the first Anthropos, and of
the descent of Christ. The [other] powers being terrified by
these things, and marvelling at the novelty of those things
which were announced by the prophets, Prunicus brought it
about by means of laldabaoth (who knew not what he did),
that emissions of two men took place, the one from the
barren Elizabeth, and the other from the Virgin Mary.
12. And since she herself had no rest either in heaven or
on earth, she invoked her mother to assist her in her distress.
Upon this, her mother, the first woman, was moved with
compassion towards her daughter, on her repentance, and
begged from the first man that Christ should be sent to her
assistance, who, being sent forth, descended to his sister,
and to the besprinkhng of light. When he recognised her
^ The Latin here is "ex quibus," and the meaning is exceedingly
obscure. Harvey thinks it is the representative II uv (^xpouu'j) in the
Greek, but we prefer to refer it to " Juda^os," as above. The next
sentence seems unintelligible ; but, according to Harvey, "each deified
day of the week had his ministering prophets."
2 The conamon text inserts " et incorruptibili ^Eone," but this seems
better rejected as a glossarial interpolation.
Book i.] IRENJEVS A GAINST HERESIES. 1 1 1
(that is, the Sophia below), her brother descended to her,
and announced his advent through means of John, and pre-
pared the baptism of repentance, and adopted Jesus before-
hand, in order that on Christ descending he might find a
pure vessel, and that by the son of that laldabaoth the
woman might be announced by Christ. They further declare
that he descended through the seven heavens, having assumed
the likeness of their sons, and gradually emptied them of
their power. For they maintain that the whole besprinkling
of light rushed to him, and that Christ, descending to this
world, first clothed his sister Sophia [with it], and that then
both exulted in the mutual refreshment they felt in each
other's society : this scene they describe as relating to bride-
groom and bride. But Jesus, inasmuch as he was begotten of
the Virgin through the agency of God, was wiser, purer, and
more righteous than all other men : Christ united to Sophia
descended into him, and thus Jesus Christ was produced.
13. They affirm that many of his disciples were not aware
of the descent of Christ into him ; but that, when Christ
did descend on Jesus, he then began to work miracles, and
heal, and announce the unknown Father, and openly to con-
fess himself the son of the first man. The powers and the
father of Jesus were angry at these proceedings, and laboured
to destroy him; and when he was being led away for this
purpose, they say that Christ himself, along with Sophia,
departed from him into the state of an incorruptible iEon,
while Jesus was crucified. Christ, however, was not forget-
ful of his Jesus, but sent down a certain energy into him
from above, which raised him up again in the body, which
they call both animal and spiritual ; for he sent the mundane
parts back again into the world. When his disciples saw
that he had risen, they did not recognise him — no, not even
Jesus himself, by whom he rose again from the dead. And
they assert that this very great error prevailed among his
disciples, that they imagined he had risen in a mundane
body, not knowing that " flesh ^ and blood do not attain to
the kingdom of God."
1 1 Cor. XV. 50. The Latin text reads " apprehendunt," which can
112 IRENJEUS> AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
14. They strove to establish the descent and ascent of
Christ, by tlie fact that neither before his baptism, nor after
his resurrection from the dead, do his disciples state that he
did any mighty works, not being aware that Jesus was united
to Christ, and the incorruptible iEon to the Hebdomad;
and tliey declare his mundane body to be of the same nature
as that of animals. But after his resurrection he tarried
[on earth] eighteen months ; and knowledge descending into
him from above, he taught what was clear. He instructed a
few of his disciples, whom he knew to be capable of under-
standing so great mysteries, in these things, and was then
received up into heaven, Christ sitting down at the right
hand of his father laldabaoth, that he may receive to him-
self the souls of those who have known them,^ after they
have laid aside their mundane flesh, thus enriching himself
without the knowledge or perception of his father ; so that,
in proportion as Jesus enriches himself with holy souls, to
such an extent does his father suffer loss and is diminished,
being emptied of his own power by these souls. For he
will not now possess holy souls to send them down again into
the world, except those only which are of his substance,
that is, those into which he has breathed. But the con-
summation [of all things] will take place, when the whole
besprinkling of the spirit of light is gathered together, and is
carried off to form an incorruptible iEon.
15. Such are the opinions which prevail among these
persons, by whom, like the Lernaean hydra, a many-headed
beast has been generated from the school of Valentinus.
For some of them assert that Sophia herself became the
serpent ; on which account she was hostile to the creator of
Adam, and implanted knowledge in men, for which reason
the serpent was called wiser than all others. Moreover, by
the position of our intestines, through which the food is con-
veyed, and by the fact that they possess such a figure, our
scarcely be the translation of y.T^/ipouofcviaott in the Greek text of the New
Testament.
That is, Christ and Jesus.
Book l] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 113
internal configuration^ in the form of a serpent reveals our
hidden generatrix.
Chap. xxxi. — Doctrines of the Cainites.
1. Others again declare that Cain derived his being from
the Power above, and acknowledge that Esau, Korah, the
Sodomites, and all such persons, are related to themselves.
On this account, they add, they have been assailed by the
Creator, yet no one of them has suffered injury. For Sophia
was in the habit of carrying off that which belonged to her
from them to herself. They declare that Judas the traitor
was thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that he
alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the
mystery of the betrayal ; by him all things, both earthly and
heavenly, were thus thrown into confusion. They produce a
fictitious history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of
Judas.
2. I have also made a collection of their writmgs in which
they advocate the abolition of the doings of Hystera.^ More-
over, they call this Hystera the creator of heaven and earth.
They also hold, like Carpocrates, that men cannot be saved
until they have gone through all kinds of experience. An
angel, they maintain, attends them in every one of their
sinful and abominable actions, and urges them to venture on
audacity and incur pollution. Whatever may be the nature ^
of the action, they declare that they do it in the name of the
angel, saying, " O thou angel, I use thy work ; O thou
power, I accomplish thy operation!" And they maintain
that this is " perfect knowledge," without shrinking to rush
into such actions as it is not lawful even to name.
3. It was necessary clearly to prove, that, as their very
opinions and regulations exhibit them, those who arc of the
^ The text of this sentence is hopelessly corrupt, but the meaning is
as given above.
2 According to Harvey, Hystera corresponcls to the " passions" of
Achamoth.
3 The text is here imperfect, and the translation only conjectural.
H
114 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book i.
school of Valcntinus derive their origin from such mothers,
fathers, and ancestors, and also to bring forward their doc-
trines, with the hope that perchance some of them, exercising
repentance and returning to the only Creator, and God the
Former of the universe, may obtain salvation, and that others
may not henceforth be drawn away by their wicked, although
plausible, persuasions, imagining that they will obtain from
them the knowledo^e of some sjreater and more sublime
mysteries. But let them rather, learning to good effect
from us the wicked tenets of these men, look with contempt
upon their doctrines, wdiile at the same time they pity those
who, still cleaving to these miserable and baseless fables, have
reached such a pitch of arrogance as to reckon themselves
superior to all others on account of such knowledge, or, as it
should rather be called, ignorance. They have now been
fully exposed ; and simply to exhibit their sentiments, is to
obtain a victory over them.
4. Wherefore I have laboured to bring forward, and
make clearly manifest, the utterly ill-conditioned carcase of
this miserable little fox. For there will not now be need of
many ^vords to overturn their system of doctrine, when it has
been made manifest to all. It is as when, on a beast hiding
itself in a "wood, and by rushing forth from it is in the habit
of destroying multitudes, one who beats round the wood and
thoroughly explores it, so as to compel the animal to break
cover, does not strive to capture it, seeing that it is truly a
ferocious beast ; but those present can then w^atch and avoid
its assaults, and can cast darts at it from all sides, and w^ound
it, and finally slay that destructive brute. So, in our case,
since we have brought their hidden mysteries, which they
keep in silence among themselves, to the light, it will not now
be necessary to use many words in destroying their system of
opinions. For it is now in thy power, and in the power of
all thy associates, to familiarize yourselves with what has
been said, to overthrow their wicked and undigested doctrines,
and to set forth doctuines agreeable to the truth. Since then
the case is so, I shall, according to promise, and as my ability
serves, labour to overthrow them, by refuting them all in the
Book l] IRENJETIS AGAINST HERESIES. 115
following book. Even to give an account of them is a tedious
affair, as thou secst. But I shall furnish means for over-
throwing them, by meeting all their opinions in the order in
which they have been described, that I may not only expose
the wild beast to view, but may inflict wounds upon it from
every side.
IRENiEUS AGAINST HERESIES.
BOOK IL
PREFACE.
N the first book, which immediately precedes
this, exposing " knowledge falsely so called," ^
I showed thee, my very dear friend, that the
whole system devised, in many and opposite
ways, by those who are of the school of Valentinus, was false
and baseless. I also set forth the tenets of their predecessors,
proving that they not only differed among themselves, but
had long previously swerved from the truth itself. I further
explained, with all diligence, the doctrine as well as practice
of Marcus the magician, since he, too, belongs to these per-
sons ; and I carefully noticed the passages which they garble
from the Scriptures, with the view of adapting them to their
own fictions. Moreover, I minutely narrated the manner in
which, by means of numbers, and by the twenty-four letters
of the alphabet, they boldly endeavour to establish [what
they regard as] truth. I have also related how they think
and teach that creation at large was formed after the image
of their invisible Pleroma, and what they hold respecting the
Demiurge, declaring at the same time the doctrine of Simon
Magus of Samaria, their progenitor, and of all those who
succeeded him. I mentioned, too, the multitude of those
Gnostics who are sprung from him, and noticed the points of
difference between them, their several doctrines, and the order
of their succession, while I set forth all those heresies which
1 1 Tim. vi. 20.
116
Book ii.] IRENuE US A GAINST HERESIES. 1 1 7
have been originatccl by them. I showed, moreover, that all
these heretics, taking their rise from Simon, have introduced
impious and irreligious doctrines into this life ; and I ex-
plained the nature of their " redemption," and their method of
initiating those who are rendered " perfect," along with their
invocations and their mysteries. I proved also that there is
one God, the Creator, and that He is not the fruit of any
defect, nor is there anything either above Ilim, or after Him.
2. In the present book, I shall establish those points which
fit in with my design, so far as time permits, and overthrow,
by means of lengthened treatment under distinct heads, their
whole system ; for which reason, since it is an exposure and
subversion of their opinions, I have so entitled the composi-
tion of this work. For it is fitting, by a plain revelation and
overthrow of their conjunctions, to put an end to these hidden
alliances,^ and to Bythus himself, and thus to obtain a demon-
stration that he never existed at any previous time, nor now
has any existence.
Chap. i. — There is hut one God: the impossibility of its being
otherwise.
1. It is proper, then, that I should begin with the first and
most important head, that is, God the Creator, Avho made
the heaven and the earth, and all things that are therein
(whom these men blasphemously style the fruit of a defect),
and to demonstrate that there is nothing either above Him
or after Him ; nor that, influenced by any one, but of His
own free will. He created all things, since He is the only
God, the only Lord, the only Creator, the only Father, alone
containing all things, and Himself commanding all things
into existence.
2. For how can there be any other Fulness, or Principle,
or Power, or God, above Him, since it is matter of necessity
that God, the Ploroma (Fulness) of all these, should contain
all things in His immensity, and should be contained by no
1 This passage is very obscure : we have supplied " et," which, as Harvey
conjectures, may have dropped out of the text.
118 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
one? But if there is aiiytliing beyond Ilim, He is not then
the Pleroraa of all, nor does He contain all. For that which
they declare to be beyond Him will be wanting to the Ple-
roma, or, [in other words,] to that God who is above all
things. But that which is wanting, and falls in any way
short, is not the Pleroma of all things. In such a case. He
would have both beginning, middle, and end, with respect to
those who are beyond Him. And if He has an end in regard
to those things which are below, He has also a beginning
with respect to those things which are above. In like man-
ner, there is an absolute necessity that He should experience
the very same thing at all other points, and should be held
in, bounded, and enclosed by those existences that are out-
side of Him. For that being who is the end downwards,
necessarilv circumscribes and surrounds him who finds his
end in it. And thus, according to them, the Father of all
(that is, He whom they call Proon and Proarche), with their
Pleroma, and the good God of Marcion, is established and
enclosed in some other, and is surrounded from without by
another mighty Being, who must of necessity be greater,
inasmuch as that which contains is greater than that which is
contained. But then that which is greater is also stronger,
and in a greater degree Lord; and that wdiich is greater,
and stronger, and in a m-eater des^ree Lord — must be God.
3. Now, since there exists, according to them, also some-
thing else wdiich they declare to be outside of the Pleroma,
into w^hich they further hold there descended that higher
power who went astray, it is in every way necessary that
the Pleroma either contains that which is beyond, yet is con-
tained (for otherwise, it will not be beyond the Pleroma ; for
if there is anything beyond the Pleroma, there will be a
Pleroma within this very Pleroma which they declare to be
outside of the Pleroma, and the Pleroma wall be contained by
that which is beyond : and wath the Pleroma is understood
also the first God) ; or, again, they must be an infinite dis-
tance separated from each other — the Pleroma [I mean], and
that which is beyond it. But if they maintain this, there
will then be a third kind of existence, which separates by
I
Book ii.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 119
immensity the Pleroma and that which is beyond it. This
t]iird kind of existence will therefore bound and contain both
the others, and will be greater both than the Pleroma, and
than that which is beyond it, inasmuch as it contains both
in its bosom. In this way, talk might go on for ever con-
cernin£c those thin2:s which are contained, and those which
contain. For if this third existence has its beginning above,
and its end beneath, there is an absolute necessity that it
be also bounded on the sides, either bemnnino; or ceasino; at
certain other points, [where new existences begin.] These,
again, and others which are above and below, will have their
beginnings at certain other points, and so on ad infinitum ; so
that their thoughts would never rest in one God, but, in con-
sequence of seeking after more than exists, would wander
away to that which has no existence, and depart from the
true God.
4. These remarks are, in like manner, applicable against
the followers of Marcion. For his two gods will also be
contained and circumscribed by an immense interval which
separates them from one another. But then there is a neces-
sity to suppose a multitude of gods separated by an immense
distance from each other on every side, beginning with one
another, and ending in one another. Thus, by that very
process of reasoning on which they depend for teaching that
there is a certain Pleroma or God above the Creator of heaven
and earth, any one who chooses to employ it may maintain that
there is another Pleroma above the Pleroma, above that again
another, and above Bythus another ocean of Deity, while in like
manner the same successions hold with respect to the sides ;
and thus, their doctrine flowing out into immensitv, there will
always be a necessity to conceive of other Pleromata, and other
Bythi, so as never at any time to stop, but always to continue
seeking for others besides those already mentioned. ^lore-
over, it will be uncertain whether these which we conceive of
are below, or are, in fact, themselves the things which are
above ; and, in like manner, [it will be doubtful] respecting
those things which are said by them to be above, whether
they are really above or below ; and thus oui' opinions will
120 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
have no fixed conclusion or certainty, but will of necessity
wander forth after worlds without limits, and gods that can-
not be numbered.
5. These things, then, being so, each deity will be con-
tented with his own possessions, and will not be moved with
any curiosity respecting the affairs of others ; otherwise he
would be unjust, and rapacious, and would cease to be what
God is. Each creation, too, will glorify its own maker, and
will be contented with him, not knowing any other ; other-
wise it would most justly be deemed an apostate by all the
others, and w^ould receive a richly-deserved punishment. For
it must be either that there is one Bein£]j who contains all
things, and formed in His own territory all those things
which have been created, according to His o^Yn will ; or,
again, that there are numerous unlimited creators and gods,
who begin from each other, and end in each other on every
side ; and it will then be necessary to allow that all the rest
are contained from without by some one who is greater, and
that they are each of them shut up within their own territory,
and remain in it. No one of them all, therefore, is God. For
there will be [much] wanting to every one of them, possessing
[as he will do] only a very small part wdien compared with
all the rest. The name of the omnipotent will thus be brought
to an end, and such an opinion will of necessity fall into
impiety.
Chap. ii. — The world was not formed hy angels, or hy any
other being, contrary to the luill of the most high God, hut
teas made by the Father through the Word.
1. Those, moreover, who say that the world was formed by
angels, or by any other maker of it, contraiy to the will of
Him w^ho is the supreme Father, err first of all in this very
point, that they maintain that angels formed such and so
mighty a creation, contrary to the will of the most high God.
This would imply that angels were more powerful than God ;
or if not so, that He was either careless, or inferior, or paid
no regard to those things which took place among His own I
Book ii.] IBENJSUS AGAINST HERESIES. 121
possessions, whether they turned out ill or well, so that He
might drive away and prevent the one, while He praised and
rejoiced over the other. But if one would not ascribe such
conduct even to a man of any ability, how much less to God !
2. Next let them tell us whether these thino;s have been
formed within the limits which are contained by Him, and in
His proper territory, or in regions belonging to others, and
lying beyond Him ? But if they say [that these things were
done] beyond Him, then all the absurdities already mentioned
will face them, and the Supreme God will be enclosed by that
which is beyond Him, in which also it will be necessary that
He should find His end. If, on the other hand, [these things
were done] within His own proper territory, it will be very
idle to say that the world was thus formed within His proper
territory against His will by angels who are themselves under
His power, or by any other being, as if either He Himself
did not behold all things which take place among His own
possessions, or^ was not aware of the things to be done by
angels.
3. If, however, [the things referred to were done] not
against His will, but with His concurrence and knowledge,
as some [of these men] think, the angels, or the Former of
the world [whoever that may have been], will no longer be
the causes of that formation, but the will of God. For if He
is the Former of the world. He too made the angels, or at
least was the cause of their creation ; and He will be regarded
as having made the world who prepared the causes of its
formation. Although they maintain that the angels were
made by a long succession downwards, or that the Former of
the world [sprang] from the Supreme Father, as Basilides
asserts ; nevertheless that which is the cause of those thiniis
which have been made will still be traced to Him who was
the Author of such a succession. [The case stands] just
as regards success in war, which is ascribed to the king who
prepared those things which are the cause of victory ; and, in
like manner, the creation of any state, or of any work, is
1 The common text has " ut : " we prefer to read " aut" with Erasmus
and others.
122 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book ii.
referred to him 'svlio prepared materials for tlie accomplish-
ment of those results which were afterwards brought about.
Wherefore, we do not say that it was the axe which cut the
wood, or the saw which divided it ; but one would very pro-
perly say that the man cut and divided it who formed the
axe and the saw for this purpose, and [who also formed] at a
much earlier date all the tools by which the axe and the saw
themselves were formed. With justice, therefore, according
to an analogous process of reasoning, the Father of all will
be declared the Former of this world, and not the angels, nor
any other [so-called] former of the world, other than He who
was its Author, and had formerly'^ been the cause of the
preparation for a creation of this kind.
4. This manner of speech may perhaps be plausible or
persuasive to those who know not God, and who liken Him
to needy human beings, and to those who cannot immediately
and without assistance form anything, but require many in-
strumentalities to produce what they intend. But it will not
be regarded as at all probable by those who know that God
stands in need of nothing, and that He created and made all
things by His Yv^ord, while He neither required angels to assist
Him in the production of those things which are made, nor
of any power greatly inferior to Himself, and ignorant of the
Father, nor of any defect or ignorance, in order that he who
should know Ilim miojht become man.^ But He Himself in
Himself, after a fashion wdiich we can neither describe nor
conceive, predestinating all things, formed them as He pleased,
bestowing harmony on all things, and assigning them their
own place, and the beginning of their creation. In this way
He conferred on spiritual things a spiritual and invisible
nature, on super-celestial things a celestial, on angels an
^ Yossius and others read " primus" instead of " prius,'' but on defec-
tive lis. authority.
2 Harvey here observes : " Grabe misses the meaning by applying to
the redeemed that which the author says of the Redeemer ; " but it may
be doubted if this is really the case. Perhaps Massuet's rendering of the
clause, "that that man might be formed who should know Him," is,
after all, preferable to that given above.
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 123
angelical, on animals an animal, on beings that swim a nature
suited to the water, and on those that live on the land one
fitted for the land — on all, in short, a nature suitable to the
character of the life assigned them — while He formed all
things that were made by His Word that never w^earies.
5. For this is a peculiarity of the pre-eminence of God,
not to stand in need of other instruments for the creation of
those things which are summoned into existence. His own
Word is both suitable and sufficient for the formation of all
things, even as John, the disciple of the Lord, declares
regarding Him : " All things were made by Him, and
without Him was nothing made."^ Now, among the "all
things" our world must be embraced. It too, therefore, was
made by His Word, as Scripture tells usin the book of Genesis
that He made all things connected with our world by His
Word. David also expresses the same truth [when he says],
" For He spake, and they were made ; He commanded, and
they w^re created."" Whom, therefore, shall we believe as
to the creation of the world — these heretics who have been
mentioned that prate so foolishly and inconsistently on the
subject, or the disciples of the Lord, and Moses, who was
both a faithful servant of God and a prophet? He at first
narrated the formation of the world in these w^ords : " In the
beginning God created the heaven and the earth," ^ and all
other things in succession ; but neither gods nor angels [had
any share in the work].
6. Now, that this God is the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, Paul the apostle also has declared, [saying,] " There
is one God, the Father, who is above all, and through all
things, and in us all.""* I have indeed proved already that
there is only one God ; but I shall further demonstrate this
from the apostles themselves, and from the discourses of the
Lord. For what sort of conduct would it be, were we to
forsake the utterances of the prophets, of the Lord, and of
the apostles, that we might give heed to these persons, who
speak not a w^ord of sense ?
^ John i. 3. - Ps. xxxiii. 9, cxlviii. 5. ^ Gen. i. 1.
■* Eph. iv. C, differing somewhat from Text. Rec. of New Testament.
124 IHENMUS against heresies. [Book ii.
Chap. hi. — Hie Bi/thus and Pleroma of the Valentimans, as
well as the God of Marcion^ shown to he ahsurd; the
world was actually created hy the same Being who had
conceived the idea of it, and was not the fruit of defect or
ignorance.
1. The By thus, therefore, whom they conceive of with his
Pleroma, and the God of Marcion, are inconsistent. If
indeed, as they affirm, he has something subjacent and beyond
himself, which they style vacuity and shadow, this vacuum is
then proved to be greater than their Pleroma. But it is in-
consistent even to make this statement, that while he contains
all things within himself, the creation was formed by some
other. For it is absolutely necessary that they acknowledge
a certain void and chaotic kind of existence (below the
spiritual Pleroma) in which this universe was formed, and
that the Propator purposely left this chaos as it was, either^
knowing beforehand what things were to happen in it, or
being ignorant of them. If he was really ignorant, then
God will not be prescient of all things. But they will not
even [in that case] be able to assign a reason on what account
He thus left this place void during so long a period of time.
If, again. He is prescient, and contemplated mentally that
creation which was about to have a being in that place, then
He Himself created it who also formed it beforehand [ideally]
in Himself. •
2. Let them cease, therefore, to affirm that the world was
made by any other ; for as soon as God formed a conception
in His mind, that was also done which He had thus mentally
conceived. For it was not possible that one Being should
mentally form the conception, and another actually produce
the things which had been conceived by Him in His mind.
But God, according to these heretics, mentally conceived
either an eternal world or a temporal one, both of which sup-
positions cannot be true. Yet if He had mentally conceived
1 In the barbarous Latin version we here find utrum ... an as the
translation of ^ . . . oj, instead of aut . . . aut.
Book ii.] IRENJETJS AGAINST HERESIES. 125
of it as eternal, spiritual/ and visible, it would also have been
formed such. But if it was formed such as it really is, then
He made it such who had mentally conceived of it as such ;
or He willed it to exist in the ideality^ of the Father, accord-
ing to the conception of His mind, such as it now is, com-
pound, mutable, and transient. Since, then, it is just such
as the Father had [ideally] formed in counsel with Himself,
it must be worthy of the Father. But to affirm that what
was mentally conceived and pre-created by the Father of all,
just as it has been actually formed, is the fruit of defect, and
the production of ignorance, is to be guilty of great blas-
phemy. For, according to them, the Father of all will thus
be [regarded as] generating in His breast, according to His
own mental conception, the emanations of defect and the
fruits of ignorance, since the things which He had conceived
in His mind have actually been produced.
CHAr. IV. — The ahsurdity of the supposed vacuum and defect
of the heretics is demonstrated.
1. The cause, then, of such a dispensation on the part of
God, is to be inquired after ; but the formation of the world
is not to be ascribed to any other. And all things are to
be spoken of as having been so prepared by God before-
hand, that they should be made as they have been made ;
but shadow and vacuity are not to be conjured into exist-
ence. But whence, let me ask, came this vacuity [of which
they speak] ? If it was indeed produced by Him who,
^ We have translated tlie text as it here stands in the mss. Grabe
omits spiritalem et ; !Massuet proposes to read et iuvlsihilem, and Stiereu
invisihilcm.
^ In prxscntla : Grabe proposes inprxscientia^ but without MS. autho-
rity. "The reader," says Harvey, "will observe that there are three
suppositions advanced by the author : that the world, as some heretics
asserted, was eternal ; that it was created in tunc, with no previous idea
of it in the divine mind ; or that it existed as a portion of the divine
counsels from all eternity, though with no temporal subsistence until the
time of its creation, — and of this the author now speaks." The whole
passage is most obscurely expressed.
126 JREN2EUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
according to them, is the Father and Author of all things,
then it is both equal in honour and related to the rest of the
^ons, perchance even more ancient than they are. More-
over, if it proceeded from the same source [as they did],
it must be similar in nature to Him who produced it, as
Avell as to those along with whom it was produced. There
will therefore be an absolute necessity, both that the Bythus
of whom they speak, along with Sige, be similar in nature
to a vacuum, that is, that He really is a vacuum; and
that the rest of the ^ons, since they are the brothers
of vacuity, should also be devoid^ of substance. If, on the
other hand, it has not been thus produced, it must have
sprung from and been generated by itself, and in that
case it will be equal in point of age to that Bythus who
is, according to them, the Father of all ; and thus vacuity
will be of the same nature and of the same honour with
Him who is, according to them, the universal Father. For
it must of necessity have been either produced by some one,
or generated by itself, and sprung from itself. But if, in
truth, vacuity was produced, then its producer Valentinus
is also a vacuum, as are likewise his followers. If, again,
it was not produced, but was generated by itself, then that
which is really a vacuum is similar to, and the brother of,
and of the same honour with, that Father who has been
proclaimed by Valentinus ; while it is more ancient, and
dating its existence from a period greatly anterior, and more
exalted in honour than the remainino; -3^ons of Ptolemv
himself, and Heracleon, and all the rest ^ who hold the same
opinions.
2. But if, driven to despair in regard to these points, they
confess that the Father of all contains all things, and that
there is nothing whatever outside of the Pleroma (for it is
an absolute necessity that, [if there be anything outside of
it,] it should be bounded and circumscribed by something
^ Literally, " should also possess a vacant substance."
2 The text has " reliquis omnibus," which would refer to the ^ons ;
but we follow the emendation proposed by Massuet, " reliquorum
omnium," as the reference manifestly is to other heretics.
Book il] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 127
greater than itself), and that they speak of what is iviihout
and what tvitJiin in reference to knowledge and ignorance,
and not with respect to local distance ; but that, in the
Pleroma, or in those things which are contained by the
Father, the whole creation which we know to have been
formed, having been made by the Demiurge, or by the
angels, is contained by the unspeakable greatness, as the
centre is in a circle, or as a spot is in a garment, — then, in
the first place, what sort of a being must that Bythus be,
who allows a stain to have place in Plis own bosom, and
permits another one to create or produce within PIIs terri-
tory, contrary to His own will ? Such a mode of acting
would truly entail [the charge of] degeneracy upon the entire
Pleroma, since it might from the first have cut off that
defect, and those emanations which derived their origin from
it,^ and not have agreed to permit the formation of creation
either in ignorance, or passion, or in defect. For he who
can afterwards rectify a defect, and does, as it were, wash
away a stain,'^ could at a much earlier date have taken care
that no such stain should, even at first, be found among his
possessions. Or if at the first he allowed that the things
which were made [should be as they are], since they could
not, in fact, be formed otherwise, then it follows that they
must always continue in the same condition. For how is it
possible, that those things which cannot at the first obtain
rectification, should subsequently receive it? Or how can
men say that they are called to perfection, when those very
beings who are the causes from which men derive their
origin — either the Demiurge himself, or the angels — arc
declared to exist in defect ? And if, as is maintained, [the
Supreme Being,] inasmuch as He is benignant, did at last
take pity upon men, and bestow on them perfection, lie
1 " ^16 eo ;" some refer " eo" to the Demiurge, but it is not unusual
for tlie Latin translator to follow the Greek gender, although different
from that of the Latm word which he has himself employed. We may
therefore here refer " eo" to " labem," which is the translation of the
neuter noun varipr,[^x.
2 Labem is here repeated, probably by mistake.
128 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
ought at first to have pitied those who were the creators
of man, and to have conferred on them perfection. In this
way, men too would verily have shared in His compassion,
being formed perfect by those that were perfect. For if He
pitied the work of these beings. He ought long before to
have pitied themselves, and not to have allowed them to fall
into such awful blindness.
3. Their talk also about shadow and vacuity, in which
they maintain that the creation with which we are concerned
w^as formed, will be brought to nothing, if the things referred
to were created w^ithin the territory which is contained by
the Father. For if they hold that the light of their Father
is such that it fills all things which are inside of Him, and
illuminates them all, how can any vacuum or shadow pos-
sibly exist within that territory which is contained by the
Pleroma, and by the light of the Father ? For, in that
case, it behoves them to point out some place within the
Propator, or within the Pleroma, which is not illuminated,
nor kept possession of by any one^ and in which either the
angels or the Demiurge formed whatever they pleased.
Nor will it be a small amount of space in which such and
so great a creation can be conceived of as having been
formed. There will therefore be an absolute necessity that,
within the Pleroma, or within the Father of wdiom they
speak, they should conceive^ of some place, void, formless,
and full of darkness, in which those things were formed
which have been formed. By such a supposition, however,
the light of their Father would incur a reproach, as if He
could not illuminate and fill those things which are within
Himself. Tlius, then, when they maintain that these things
were the fruit of defect and the w^ork of error, they do
moreover introduce defect and error within the Pleroma,
and into the bosom of the Father.
^ The Latin is ^eri eos : !Massuet conjectures that the Greek had been
TroislaSoLt ccvrovgy and that the translator rendered 'zronladxi as a passive
instead of a middle verb, Jieri iovfacere.
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 129
■ Chap. v. — This world loas not formed hy any other beings
within the territory ivhich is contained hy the Father.
1. The remarks, therefore, \YhIch I made a httle wliile ago^
are suitable in answer to those who assert that this world w^as
formed outside of the Pleroma, or under a "good God;"
and such persons, with the Father they speak of, will be
quite cut off from that which is outside the Pleroma, in
wdiich, at the same time, it is necessary that they should
finally rest." In answer to those, again, who maintain that
tljjs world was formed by certain other beings within that
territory which is contained by the Father, all those points
which have now^ been noticed will present themselves [as
exhibiting their] absurdities and incoherencies ; and they will
be compelled either to acknowledge all those things which
are within the Father, lucid, full, and energetic, or to accuse
the \i(A\t of the Father as if He could not illuminate all
things ; or, as a portion of their Pleroma [is so described],
the whole of it must be confessed to be void, chaotic, and full
of darkness. And they accuse all other created things as if
these were merely temporal, or [at the best], if eternal,^ yet
material. But^ these (the ^ons) ought to be regarded as
^ See above, chap. i.
2 The Latin text here is, " et concliidentur tales cum patre sue ab co
qui est extra Pleroma, in quo etiam et dcsincrc cos necesse est."' None
of the editors notice the difficulty or obscurity of the clause, but it
appears to us absolutely untranslateable. "We have rendered it as if the
reading were " ab eo quod,^'' though, if the strict grammatical construc-
tion be followed, the translation must be, " from llim -svho." But then
to what does " in quo," which follows, refer ? It may be ascribed either
to the immediate antecedent Pleroma, or to Ilim who is described as
being beyond it.
^ Chap, ii., iii., iv.
* This is an extremely diflBcuk passage. "We follow the reading xtemo-
<hoica adopted by Massuet, but Harvey reads ceterna choica, and renders,
" They chiu-ge all other substance {i.e. spiritual) with the imperfections
of the material creation, as though JSlon substance were equally epheme-
ral and choic."
* The common reading is " aut ;" we adopt Harvey's conjectural
emendation of " at."
I
130 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
beyond the reach of such accusations, since they are within
the Pleroma, or the charges in question will equally fall
against the entire Pleroma ; and thus the Christ of whom
they speak is discovered to be the author of ignorance. For,
according to their statements, when He had given a form so
far as substance was concerned to the Mother they conceive
of, He cast her outside of the Pleroma ; that is, He cut her
oif from knowledge. He, therefore, who separated her from
knowledge, did in reality produce ignorance in her. How
then could the very same person bestow the gift of know-
ledge on the rest of the -ZEons, those who were anterior to
Him [in production], and yet be the author of ignorance to
His Mother? For He placed her beyond the pale of know-
ledge, when Pie cast her outside of the Pleroma.
2. Moreover, if they explain being within and w^ithout the
Pleroma as implying knowledge and ignorance respectively,
as certain of them do (since he who has knowledge is within
that which knows), then they must of necessity grant that
the Saviour Himself (whom they designate All Hangs) was in
a state of ignorance. For they maintain that, on His coming
forth outside of the Pleroma, He imparted form to their
Mother [Achamoth]. If, then, they assert that whatever is
outside [the Pleroma] is ignorant of all things, and if the
Saviour went forth to impart form to their Mother, then He
was situated beyond the pale of the knowledge of all things ;
that is, He was in ignorance. How then could He communi-
cate knowledge to her, when He Himself was beyond the pale
of knowledge ? For we, too, they declare to be outside the
Pleroma, inasmuch as we are outside of the knowledge which
they possess. And once more : If the Saviour really went
forth beyond the Pleroma to seek after the sheep which was
lost, but the Pleroma is [co-extensive with] knowledge, then
He placed Himself beyond the pale of knowledge, that is, in
ignorance. For it is necessary either that they grant that
what is outside the Pleroma is so in a local sense, in which
case all the remarks formerly made will rise up against them ;
or if they speak of that which is within in regard to know-
ledge, and of that which is without in respect to ignorance,
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 131
then their Savlourj and Christ long before Him, must have
been formed in ignorance, inasmuch as they went forth be-
yond the Pleroma, that is, beyond the pale of knowledge, in
order to impart form to their Mother.
3. These arguments may, in like manner, be adapted to
meet the case of all those v»'lio, in any way, maintain that the
world was formed either by angels or by any other one than
the true God. For the charges which they bring against the
Demiurge, and those things which were made material and
temporal, will in truth fall back on the Father; if indeed
the^ very things which were formed in the bosom of the
Pleroma began by and by in fact to be dissolved, in accord-
ance with the permission and good-will of the Father. The
[immediate] Creator, then, is not the [real] Author of this
work, thinking, as He did, that He formed it very good, but
He who allows and approves of the productions of defect, and
the works of error having a place among his own possessions,
and that temporal things should be mixed up with eternal,
corruptible with incorruptible, and those which partake of
error witli those which belong to truth. If, however, these
things were formed without the permission or approbation of
the Father of all, then that Being must be more powerful,
stronger, and more kingly, who made these things within a
territory which properly belongs to Him (the Father), and
did so without His permission. If again, as some say, their
Father permitted these things without approving of them,
then He gave the permission on account of some necessity,
being either able to prevent [such procedure], or not able.
But if indeed He could not [hinder it], then He is weak and
powerless ; while, if He could. He is a seducer, a hypocrite,
and a slave of necessity, inasmuch as He does not consent [to
such a course], and yet allows it as if He did consent. And
allowing error to arise at the first, and to go on increasing.
He endeavours in later times to destroy it, when already
many have miserably perished on account of the [original]
defect.
^ The above clause is very obscure ; Massuet reads it interrogatively.
132 IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
4. It is not seemly, however, to say of Ilim who is God
over all, since He is free and independent, that He was a
slave to necessity, or that anything takes place with His
permission, yet against His desire ; otherwise they will make
necessity greater and more kingly than God, since that
which has the most power is superior^ to all [others]. And
He ought at the very beginning to have cut off the causes
of [the fancied] necessity, and not to have allowed Himself
to be shut up to yielding to that necessity, by permitting
anything besides that which became Him. For it would
have been much better, more consistent, and more God-like,
to cut off at the beginning the principle of this kind of neces-
sity, than afterwards, as if moved by repentance, to endeavour
to extirpate the results of necessity when they had reached
such a development. And if the Father of all be a slave
to necessity, and must yield to fate, while He unwillingly
tolerates the things which are done, but is at the same time
powerless to do anything in opposition to necessity and fate
(like the Homeric Jupiter, who says of necessity, " I have
willingly given thee, yet with unwilling mind"), then, accord-
ing to this reasoning, the By thus of whom they speak will be
found to be the slave of necessity and fate.
Chap. vi. — The angels and the Creator of the ivorld could
not have been ignorant of the Supreme God.
1. How, again, could either the angels, or the Creator of
the world, have been ignorant of the Supreme God, seeing
they were His property, and His creatures, and were con-
tained by Him ? He might indeed have been invisible to
them on account of His superiority, but He could by no
means have been unknown to them on account of His pro-
vidence. For though it is true, as they declare, that they
were very far separated from Him through their inferiority
[of nature], yet, as His dominion extended over all of them,
it behoved them to know their Ruler, and to be aware of this
1 The text has " antiquius," literally "more ancient," but it may here
be rendered as above.
Book il] IRENJSUS AGAINST IIEnESlES. 133
in particular, that He who created them is Lord of all. For
since His invisible essence is mighty, it confers on all a pro-
found mental intuition and perception of His most powerful,
yea, omnipotent greatness. Wherefore, although " no one
knows the Father, except the Son, nor the Son except the
Father, and those to whom the Son will reveal Him," ^ yet all
[beings] do know this one fact at least, because reason, im-
planted in their minds, moves them, and reveals to them [the
truth] that there is one God, the Lord of all.
2. And on this account all things have been [by general
consent] placed under the sway of Him who is styled the
Most High, and the Almighty. By calling upon Him, even
before the coming of our Lord, men were saved both from
most wicked spirits, and from all kinds of demons, and from
every sort of apostate power. This was the case, not as if
earthly spirits or demons had seen Him, but because they
knew of the existence of Him who is God over all, at
whose invocation they trembled, as there does tremble every
creature, and principality, and power, and every being en-
dowed with «energy under Plis government. By way of
parallel, shall not those who live under the empire of the
Romans, although they have never seen the emperor, but are
far separated from him both by land and sea, know very
well, as they experience his rule, who it is that possesses the
principal power in the state? How then could it be, that
those angels who were superior to us [in nature], or even He
whom they call the Creator of the world, did not know the
Almighty, when even dumb animals tremble and yield at the
invocation of His name ? And as, although they have not
seen Him, yet all things are subject to the name of our'*^
Lord, so must they also be to His who made and established
all things by His word, since it was no other than He who
formed the world. And for this reason do the Jews even
now put demons to flight by means of this very adjuration,
inasmuch as all beings fear the invocation of Him who
created them,
^ Malt. xi. 27. ^ Massuet refers this to the Roman emperor.
134 lEEN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Boor. ir.
3. If, then, they shrink from affirming that tlie angels are
more irrational than the dumb animals, they will find that it
behoved these, although they had not seen Him who is God
over all, to know His power and sovereignty. For it will
appear truly ridiculous, if they maintain that they themselves
indeed, who dwell upon the earth, know Him who is God
over all whom thev have never seen, but will not allow Him
who, according to their opinion, formed them and the whole
world, although He dwells in the heights and above the
heavens, to know those things with which they themselves,
though they dwell below, are acquainted. [This is the case],
unless perchance they maintain that Bythus lives in Tartarus
below the earth, and that on this account they have attained
to a knowledo-e of Him before those angels who have their
abode on high. Thus do they rush into such an abyss of
madness as- to pronounce the Creator of the world void of
understanding. They are truly deserving of pity, since with
such utter folly they affirm that He (the Creator of the
world) neither knew His Mother, nor her seed, nor the Ple-
roma of the JEons, nor the Propator, nor what the things
were which He made ; but that these are images of those
things which are within the Pleroma, the Saviour having
secretly laboured that they should be so formed [by the un-
conscious Demiurge], in honour of those things which are
above.
Chap. vii. — Created things are not the images of those ^ons
who are within the Pleroma,
1. While the Demiurge was thus ignorant of all things,
they tell us that the Saviour conferred honour upon the
Pleroma by the creation [which he summoned into exist-
ence] through means of his Mother, inasmuch as he pro-
duced similitudes and imaiijes of those things which are
above. But I have already shown that it was impossible
that anything should exist heyond the Pleroma (in which
external region they tell us that images were made of those
things which are within the Pleroma), or that this world was
Book ii.] IRENJJIUS AGAINST HERESIES. 135
formed by any other one than the Supreme God. But if it
is a pleasant thing to overthrow them on every side, and to
prove them vendors of falsehood ; let us say, in opposition to
them, that if these things were made by the Saviour to the
honour of those which are above, after their likeness, then it
behoved them always to endure, that those things which have
been honoured should perpetually continue in honour. But
if they do in fact pass away, what is the use of this very
brief period of honour, — an honour which at one time had no
existence, and which shall again come to nothing? In that
case I shall prove that the Saviour is rather an aspirant after
vainglory, than^ one who honours those things which are
above. For what honour can those things which are temporal
confer on such as are eternal and endure for ever ? or those
which pass away on such as remain ? or those which are
corruptible on such as are incorruptible ? — since, even among
men who are themselves mortal, there is no value attached to
that honour which speedily passes away, but to that which
endures as long as it possibly can. But those things which,
as soon as they are made, come to an end, may justly be said
rather to have been formed for the contempt of such as are
thought to be honoured by them ; and that that which is
eternal is contumeliously treated when its image is corrupted
and dissolved. But what if their Mother had not wept, and
laughed, and been involved in despair ? The Saviour would
not then have possessed any means of honouring the Fulness,
inasmuch as her last state of confusion " did not have sub-
stance of its own by which it might honour the Propator.
2. Alas for the honour of vainglory which at once passes
away, and no longer appears! There will be some^ -^on, in
* Harvey supposes that the translator here read v) quam instead of
Yi qua (gloria) ; but Grabe, Massuet, and Sticrcn prefer to delete crit.
'^ Reference is here made to the supposed wretched state of Achiimoth
as lying in the region of shadow, vacuity, and, in fact, non-existence,
until compassionated by the Christ above, who gave her form as re-
spected substance.
^ "We have literally translated the above very obscure sentence. Ac-
cordmg to Massuet, the sense is : " There will some time be, or perhaps
]36 IRENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
whose case such honour will not be thought at all to have
had an existence, and then the things which are above will
be unhonoured ; or it will be necessary to produce once more
another Mother weeping, and in despair, in order to the
honour of the Pleroma. What a dissimilar, and at the same
time blasphemous image ! Do you tell me that an image of
the Only-begotten was produced by the former^ of the world,
whom'^ again ye wish to be considered the Nous (mind) of
the Father of all, and [yet maintain] that this image was
ignorant of itself, ignorant of creation, — ignorant, too, of the
Mother, — ignorant of everything that exists, and of those
things which were made by it ; and are you not ashamed
while, in opposition to yourselves, you ascribe ignorance even
to the Only-begotten Himself ? For if these things [below]
were made by the Saviour after the similitude of those which
are above, while He (the Demiurge) who was made after
such similitude was in so great ignorance, it necessarily fol-
lows that around Him, and in accordance with Him, after
whose likeness he that is thus ignorant was formed, ignor-
ance of the kind in question spiritually exists. For it is not
possible, since both were produced spiritually, and neither
fashioned nor composed, that in some the likeness was pre-
served, while in others the likeness of the image was spoiled,
that image which was here produced that it might be according
to the image of that production which is above. But if it is
not similar, the charge will then attach to the Saviour, who
produced a dissimilar image, — of being, so to speak, an incom-
petent workman. For it is out of their power to affirm that
the Saviour had not the faculty of production, since they style
Him All Things. If, then, the image is dissimilar, he is a
poor workman, and the blame lies, according to their hypo-
even now there is, some ^on utterly destitute of such honour, inasmuch
as those things which the Saviour, for the sake of honouring it, had
formed after its image, have been destroyed ; and then those things
which are above will remain without honour," etc.
^ The Saviour is here referred to, as having formed all things through
means of Achamoth and the Demiurge.
2 Massuet deletes quem^ and reads nun as a genitive.
1
Book ii.] IRENjEVS AGAINST HERESIES. 137
thesis, with the Saviour. If, on the other hand, it is similar,
then the same ignorance will be found to exist in the Nous
(mind) of their Propator, that is, in the Only-begotten. The
Nous of the Father, in that case, was ignorant of Himself ;
ignorant, too, of the Father; ignorant, moreover, of those
very things which were formed by Him. But if He has
knowledge, it necessarily follows also that he who was formed
after liis likeness by the Saviour should know the things
which are like ; and thus, according to their own principles,
their monstrous blasphemy is overthrown.
3. Apart from this, however, how can those things which
belong to creation, various, manifold, and innumerable as
they are, be the images of those thirty iEons which are with-
in the Pleroma, whose names, as these men fix them, I have
set forth in the book which precedes this? And not only
will they be unable to adapt the [vast] variety of creation at
large to the [comparative] smallness of their Pleroma, but
they cannot do this even with respect to any one part of it,
whether [that possessed by] celestial or terrestrial beings, or
those that live in the waters. For they themselves testify
that their Pleroma consists of thirty xEons ; but any one will
undertake to show that, in a single department of those
[created beings] which have been mentioned, they reckon
that there are not thirty, but many thousands of species.
Plow then can those things, which constitute such a multi-
form creation, which are opposed in nature to each other,
and disagree among themselves, and destroy the one the
other, be the images and likenesses of the thirty ^^l^^ons of
the Pleroma, if indeed, as they declare, these being possessed
of one nature, are of equal and similar properties, and exhibit
no differences [among themselves] ? For it was incumbent,
if these things are images of those ^ICons, — inasmuch as they
declare that some men are wicked by nature, and some, on
the other hand, naturally good, — to point out such differences
also among their JEons, and to maintain that some of them
were produced naturally good, while some were naturally evil,
so that the supiiosition of the likeness of those thinijs mio-ht
harmonize with the iEons. Moreover, since there are in the
138 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
world some creatures that are gentle, and others that are
fierce, some that are innocuous, while others are hurtful and
destroy the rest ; some have their abode on the earth, others
in the water, others in the air, and others in the heaven ; in
like manner, they are bound to show that the 2Eons possess
such properties, if indeed the one are the images of the others.
And besides ; " the eternal fire which the Father has prepared
for the devil and his angels," ^ — they ought to show of which
of those -ZEons that are above it is the image ; for it, too, is
reckoned part of the creation.
4. If, however, they say that these things are the images
of the Enthymesis of that iEou who fell into passion, then,
first of all, they will act impiously against their Mother, by
declaring her to be the first cause of evil and corruptible
imas^es. And then, asain, how can those thini^s which are
manifold, and dissimilar, and contrary in their nature, be
the images of one and the same Being ? And if they say
that the angels of the Pleroma are numerous, and that those
things which are many are the images of these — not in this
way either will the account they give be satisfactory. For,
in the first place, they are then bound to point out differences
among the angels of the Pleroma, which are mutually opposed
to each other, even as the imasjes existin£j below are of a
contrary nature among themselves. And then, again, since
there are many, yea, innumerable angels who surround the
Creator, as all the prophets acknowledge, — [saying, for in-
stance,] " Ten thousand times ten thousand stood beside
Him, and many thousands of thousands ministered unto
Him," ^ — then, according'^ to them, the angels of the Pleroma
will have as images the angels of the Creator, and the entire
^ Matt. -xxv. 41.
2 Dan. vii. 10, agreeicg neither -with the Greek nor Hebrew text.
" This clause is exceedingly obscure. Harvey remarks upon it as fol-
lows : " The reasoning of Irengeus seems to be this : According to the
Gnostic theory, the -^ons and angels of the Pleroma were homogeneous.
They were also the archetypes of things created. But thmgs created arc
heterogeneous : therefore either these jEons are heterogeneous, which is
contrary to theory ; or things created are homogeneous, which is con-
trary to fact."
Book ii.] IREN^EUS AGAINST HERESIES. 139
creation remains in the image of the Pleroma, but so that the
thirty iEons no longer correspond to the manifold variety of
the creation.
5. Still further, if these things [below] were made after
the simiHtude of those [above], after the likeness of which
a<Tain will those then be made ? For if the Creator of the
world did not form these things directly from His own ^ con-
ception, but, like an architect of no ability, or a boy receiving
his first lesson, copied them from archetypes furnished by
others, then whence did their Bythus obtain the forms of
tliat creation which Pie at first produced ? It clearly follows
that He must have received the model from some other one
who is above Plim, and that one, in turn, from another. And
none the less [for these suppositions], the talk about images,
as about gods, will extend to infinity, if we do not at once
fix our mind on one Artificer, and on one God, wdio of Him-
self formed those thinus which have been created. Or is it
really the case that, in regard to mere men, one will allow
that they have of themselves invented what is useful for the
purposes of life, but will not grant to that God who formed
the world, that of Himself He created the forms of those
things which have been made, and imparted to it its orderly
arrangement ?
6. But, again, how can these things [below] be images of
those [above], since they are really contrary to them, and
can in no respect have sympathy with them? For those
things which are contrary to each other may indeed be de-
structive of those to which they are contrary, but can by no
means be their images — as, for instance, water and fire ; or,
again, light and darkness, and other such things, can never
be the images of one another. In like manner, neither can
those things which are corruptible and earthly, and of a com-
pound nature, and transitory, be the images of those which,
according to these men, are spiritual ; unless these ver}'
tilings themselves be allowed to be compound, limited in
space, and of a definite shape, and thus no longer spiritual,
and diffused, and spreading into vast extent, and incompre-
1 Literally, " from Himself."
140 IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
liensible. For they must of necessity be possessed of a
definite figure, and confined within certain limits, that they
may be true images ; and then it is decided that they are
not spiritual. If, however, these men maintain that they are
spiritual, and diffused, and incomprehensible, how can those
things which are possessed of figure, and confined within
certain limits, be the images of such as are destitute of figure
and incomprehensible ?
7. If, again, they affirm that neither according to configura-
tion nor formation, but according to number and the order
of production, those things [above] are the images [of these
below], then, in the first place, these things [below] ought not
to be spoken of as images and likenesses of those ^ons that
are above. For how can the thino-s which have neither the
o
fashion nor shape of those [above] be their images ? And, in
the next place, they would adapt both the numbers and pro-
ductions of the ^^ons above, so as to render them identical
with and similar to those that belong to the creation [below].
But now, since they refer to only thirty ^ons, and declare
that the vast multitude of things which are embraced within
the creation [below] are images of those that are but thirty,
we may justly condemn them as utterly destitute of sense.
CilAr. VIII. — Created tilings are not a shadoiu of the Pleroma.
1. If, again, they declare that these things [below] are a
shadow of those [above], as some of them are bold enough to
maintain, so that in this respect they are images, then it will
be necessary for them to allow that those thino;s which are
above are possessed of bodies. For those bodies which are
above do cast a shadow, but spiritual substances do not, since
they can in no degree darken others. If, however, we also
grant them this point (though it is, in fact, an impossibility),
that there is a shadow belon^ino; to those essences which are
spiritual and lucent, into which they declare their Mother
descended; yet, since those things [which are above] are
eternal, and that shadow which is cast by them endures far
ever, [it follows that] these things [below] are also not transi-
I
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 141
tory, but endure along with those wlilcli cast tlieir shadow
over them. If, on the other hand, these things [below] are
transitory, it is a necessary consequence that those [above]
also, of which these are the shadow, pass away ; while, if
tliey endure, their shadow likewise endures.
2. If, however, they maintain that the shadow spoken of
does not exist as being produced by the shade of [those
above], but simply in this respect, that [the things below]
arc far separated from those [above], they will then charge
the light of their Father with weakness and insufficiency, as
if it cannot extend so far as these things, but fails to fill that
which is empty, and to dispel the shadow, and that when no
one is offering any hindrance. For, according to them, the
liilht of their Father will be chano;ed into darkness and buried
in obscurity, and will come to an end in those places which
are characterized by emptiness, since it cannot penetrate and
fill all thin^js. Let them then no lonrrer declare that their
Bythus is the fulness of all things, if indeed he has neither
filled nor illuminated that which is vacuum and shadow ; or,
on the other hand, let them cease talking of vacuum and
shadow, if the light of their Father does in truth fill all
things.
3. Beyond the primary Father, then — that is, the God who
is over all — there can neither be any Pleroma into which
they declare the Enthymesis of that ^on who suffered
passion, descended (so that the Pleroma itself, or the primary
God, should not be limited and circumscribed by that which
is beyond, and should, in fact, be contained by it) ; nor can
vacuum or shadow have any existence, since the Father exists
beforehand, so that His light cannot fail, and find end in a
vacuum. It is, moreover, irrational and impious to conceive
of a place in which lie who is, according to them, Propator,
and Proarche, and Father of all, and of this Pleroma, ceases
and has an end. Nor, again, is it allowable, for the reasons^
already stated, to allege that some other being formed so vast
a creation in the bosom of the Father, either with or without
His consent. For it is equally impious and infatuated to
' See above, chap. ii. and v.
I
142 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES, [Book ii.
affirm that so great a creation was ^ formed by angels, or by
some particular production ignorant of the true God in that
territory which is His own. Nor is it possible that those
things which are earthy and material could have been formed
within their Pleroma, since that is wholly spirituaL And
further, it is not even possible that those things which belong
to a multiform creation, and have been form.ed with mutually
opposite qualities, [could have been created] after the image
of the things above, since these {i.e. the ^ons) are said to
be few, and of a like formation, and homogeneous. Their
talk, too, about the shadow of kenoma — that is, of a vacuum —
has in all points turned out false. Their figment, then, [in
what way soever viewed,]- has been proved groundless,^ and
their doctrines untenable. Empty, too, are those who listen to
them, and are verily descending into the abyss of perdition.
Chap. ix. — There is hut one Creator of the loorldj God the
Father : this the constant belief of the church.
1, That God is the Creator of the world is accepted even
by those very persons who in many ways speak against Him,
and yet acknowledge Him, styling Him the Creator, and an
angel, not to mention that all the Scriptures call out [to the
same effect], and the Lord teaches us of this Father" who is
in heaven, and no other, as I shall show in the sequel of this
work. For the present, however, that proof which is derived
from those who allege doctrines opposite to ours, is of itself
sufficient, — all men, in fact, consenting to this truth : the
ancients on their part preserving with special care, from the
tradition of the first-formed man, this persuasion, while they
celebrate the praises of one God, the Maker of heaven and
^ The text has fahricdsse, for which, says Massuet, should be read
fcibricatam esse; or fahricdsse itself must be taken in a jDassive significa-
tion. It is possible, however, to translate, as Harvey indicates, " that
He (By thus) formed so great a creation by angels," etc., though this
seems harsh and unsuitable.
2 literally, empty : there is a play on the words vacuum and vacui
(which immediately follows), as there had been in the original Greek.
^ Comp. e.g. Matt. v. IG, v. 45, vi. 9, etc.
!> ]\
Book ii.] JRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 143
cartli ; others, again, after them, being reminded of this fact
by the prophets of God, while the very heathen learned it
from creation itself. For even creation reveals Him who
formed it, and the very work made suggests Him who made
it, and the world manifests Him who ordered it. The uni-
versal church, moreover, through the whole world, has received
this tradition from the apostles.
2. This God, then, being acknowledged, as I have said,
and receiving testimony from all to the fact of His existence,
that Father whom they conjure into existence is beyond
doubt untenable, and has no witnesses [to his existence].
Simon Magus was the first who said, that he himself was God
over all, and that the world was formed by his angels. Then
those who succeeded him, as I have shown in the first book,^
by their several opinions, still further depraved [his teaching]
through their impious and irreligious doctrines against the
Creator. These [heretics now referred to],' being the dis-
ciples of those mentioned, render such as assent to them
worse than the heathen. For the former "serve the creature
ratlier than the Creator,"^ and "those which are not gods,"*
notwithstanding that they ascribe the first place in Deity to
that God who was the Maker of this universe. But the latter
maintain that He, \i.e, the Creator of this world,] is the fruit
of a defect, and describe Him as being of an animal nature,
and as not knowing that Power which is above Him, while
He also exclaims, " I am God, and besides me there is no
other God."^ Affirming that He lies, they are themselves
liars, attributing all sorts of wickedness to Him ; and con-
ceiving of one who is not above this Being as really having
an existence, they are thus convicted by their own views of
blasphemy against that God who really exists, while they
conjure into existence a God who has no existence, to their
own condemnation. And thus those who declare themselves
" perfect," and as being possessed of the knowledge of all
things, are found to be worse than the heathen, and to entertain
more blasphemous opinions even against their own Creator.
^ See chap, xxiii. etc. * Viz. the Valentiiiians.
3 Rom. i. 25. •* Gal. iv. 8. ^ Isa. xlvi. 9.
U4 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, [Book ii.
ClIAr. X. — Perverse interpretations of Scripture hy the heretics:
God created all tilings out of iiotldng, and not from pre-
existent matter.
1. It is therefore in the hicrhest detrree irrational, that wc
should take no account of Him who is truly God, and who
receives testimony from all, while we inquire whether there
is above Him that [other being] who really has no existence,
and has never been proclaimed by any one. For that nothing
has been, clearly spoken regarding Him, they themselves
furnish testimony; for since they, with wretched success,
transfer to that Being who has been conceived of by them,
those parables [of Scripture] which, whatever the form in
which they have been spoken, are sought after [for this
purpose], it is manifest that they now generate another
[God], who was never previously sought after. For by the
fact that they thus endeavour to explain ambiguous passages
of Scripture (ambiguous, however, not as if referring to
another God, but as regards the dispensations of [the true]
God), they have constructed another God, weaving, as I said
before, ropes of sand, and affixing a more important to a less
important question. For no question can be solved by means
of another Avhich itself awaits solution ; nor, in the opinion of
those possessed of sense, can an ambiguity be explained by
means of another ambiguity, or enigmas by means of another
greater enigma, but things of such character receive their
solution from those which are manifest, and consistent, and
clear.
2. But these [heretics], while striving to explain passages
of Scripture and parables, bring forward another more im-
portant, and indeed impious question, to this effect, "Whether
there be really another God above that God who was the
creator of the world?" They are not in the way of solving
the questions [which they propose] ; for how could they find
means of doing so? But they append an important question
to one of less consequence, and thus insert [in their specula-
tions] a difficulty incapable of solution. For in order that
Book ii.] IUENA'WS AGAINST HERESIES. 145
they may ^ know "knowledge" itself (yet not learning this
fact, that the Lord, when thirty years old, came to the bap-
tism of truth), they do impiously despise that God who was
the Creator, and who sent Him for the salvation of men.
And that they may be deemed capable of informing us
whence is the substance of matter, while they believe not
that God, according to His pleasure, in the exercise of His
own will and power, formed all things (so that those things
which now are should have an existence) out of what did not
previously exist, they have collected [a multitude of] vain
discourses. They thus truly reveal their infidelity; tliey do
not believe in tliat which really exists, and they have fallen
away into [the belief of] that which has, in fact, no exist-
ence.
3. For, when they tell us that all moist substance pro-
ceeded from the tears of Achamoth, all lucid substance from
her smile, all solid substance from her sadness, all mobile
substance from her terror, and that thus they have sublime
knowledge on account of which they are superior to others, —
how can these things fail to be regarded as worthy of con-
tempt, and truly ridiculous ? They do not believe that God
(being powerful, and rich in all resources) created matter
itself, inasmuch as they know not how much a spiritual and
divine essence can accomplish. But they do believe that
their Mother, whom they style a female from a female, pro-
duced from her passions aforesaid the so vast material sub-
stance of creation. They inquire, too, whence the substance
of creation was supplied to the Creator ; but they do not
inquire whence [were supplied] to their Mother (whom they
call the Enthymesis and impulse of the iEon that Mcnt
astray) so great an amount of tears, or perspiration, or sad-
ness, or that which produced the remainder of matter.
4. For, to attribute the substance of created thinirs to the
power and will of Him who is God of all, is worthy both of
credit and acceptance. It is also agreeable [to reason], and
there may be well said regarding such a belief, that " the
^ This clause is unintelligible in the Latin text : by a conjectural
restoration of the Greek wo have given the above translation.
K
146 IRENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
things -svlilch are impossible with men are possible with God." ^
While men, indeed, cannot make anything out of nothing,
but only ©ut of matter already existing, yet God is in this
point pre-eminently superior to men, that He Himself called
into being the substance of His creation, when previously it
had no existence. But the assertion that matter was produced
from the Enthymesis of an ^on going astray, and that the
^^on [referred to] was far separated from her Enthymesis, and
that, again, her passion and feeling, apart from herself, became
matter — is incredible, infatuated, impossible, and untenable.
Chap. xi. — The heretics, from their disbelief of the truth, have
fallen into an abyss of error : reasons for investigating
their systems,
1. They do not believe that Pie, who is God above all,
formed by His word, in His own territory, as He Himself
pleased, the various and diversified [works of creation which
exist], inasmuch as He is the former of all things, like a wise
architect, and a most powerful monarch. But they believe
that angels, or some power separate from God, and who was
ignorant of Him, formed this universe. By this course,
therefore, not yielding credit to the truth, but wallowing in
falsehood, they have lost the bread of true life, and have
fallen into vacuity"^ and an abyss of shadow. They are like
the dog of iEsop, which dropped the bread, and made an
attempt at seizing its shadow, thus losing the [real] food. It
is easy to prove from the very words of the Lord, that He
acknowledores one Father and Creator of the world, and
Fashioner of man, who was proclaimed by the law and the
prophets, while He knows no other, and that this One is
really God over all ; and that He teaches that that adoption
of sons pertaining to the Father, which is eternal life, takes
place through Himself, conferring it [as He does] on all the
righteous.
1 Luke xviii. 27.
2 Playing upon the doctrines of the heretics with respect to vacuittf
and shade.
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 147
2. But since these men delight in attacking us, and in
their true character of cavillers assail us with points which
really tell not at all against us, bringing forward in opposi-
tion to us a multitude of parables and [captious] questions,
I have thought it well, on the other side, first of all to put to
them the following inquiries concerning their own doctrines,
to exhibit their improbability, and to put an end to their
audacity. After this has been done, [I intend] to bring for-
ward the discourses of the Lord, so that they may not only
be rendered destitute of the means of attacking us, but that,
since they will be unable reasonably to reply to those ques-
tions which are put, they may see that their plan of argument
is destroyed ; so that, either returning to the truth, and
humblinfj themselves, and ceasino; from their multifarious
phantasies, they may propitiate God for those blasphemies
they have uttered against Him, and obtain salvation ; or that,
if they still persevere in that system of vainglory which has
taken possession of their minds, they may at least find it
necessary to change their kind of argument against us.
CllAr. XIT. — The Triacontad of the heretics errs both hy^
defect and excess : Sophia could never have produced
anijtliing apart from her consort; Logos and Sige couldJ
not have been contemporaries.
1. We may^ remark, in the first place, regarding their
Triacontad, that the whole of it marvellously falls to ruin on
both sides, that is, both as respects defect and excess. They
say that to indicate it the Lord came to be baptized at the
age of thirty years. But this assertion really amounts to a
manifest subversion of their entire argument. As to defect,
this happens as follows : first of all, because they reckon the
Propator among the other iEons. For the Father of all
ought not to be counted with other productions ; lie wha
was not produced with that which was produced; He who"
was unbegotten with that which was born ; He whom no one
comprehends with that which is comprehended by Him, and
^ The text vacillates between "dicemus" and ''dicamus/'
148 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
who is on this account [Himself] incomprehensible ; and He
who is without figure with that which has a definite shape.
For inasmuch as He is superior to the rest, He ought not to
be numbered with them, and that so that He who is impassible
and not in error should be reckoned with an ^on subject to
passion, and actually in error. For I have shown in the
book which immediately precedes this, that, beginning with
Bytlius, they reckon up the Triacontad to Sophia, whom they
describe as the erring -ZEon ; and I have also there set forth
the names of their [^ons] ; but if Pie be not reckoned, there
are no longer, on their own showing, thirty productions of
^ons, but these then become only twenty-nine.
2. Next, with respect to the first production Ennoea,
whom they also term Sige, from whom again they describe
Nous and Aletheia as having been sent forth, they err in
both particulars. For it is impossible that the thought
(Enncea) of any one, or his silence (Sige), should be under-
stood apart from himself ; and that, being sent forth beyond
him, it should possess a special figure of its own. But if
they assert that the (Ennoea) was not sent forth beyond
Him, but continued one with the Propator, why then do they
reckon her with the other ^ons — with those who were not
one [with the Father], and are on this account ignorant of
His greatness ? If, however, she was so united (let us take
this also into consideration), there is then an absolute neces-
sity, that from this united and inseparable conjunction, which
constitutes but one being, there^ should proceed an unsepa-
rated and -united production, so that it should not be dis-
similar to Him who sent it forth. But if this be so, then
just as Bythus and Sige, so also Nous and Aletheia will
form one and the same being, ever cleaving mutually to-
gether. And inasmuch as the one cannot be conceived of
without the other, just as water cannot [be conceived of]
w^ithout [the thought of] moisture, or fire without [the
thought ofj heat, or a stone without [the thought] of hard-
ness (for these things are mutually bound togetiier, and the
^ This sentence is confused in the Latin text, but the meaning is
evidently that given above.
Booic II.] IRENJ^US AGAIiYST HERESIES. 149
one cannot be separated from tlie other, but always co-exists
with it), so it behoves By thus to be united in the same way
with Ennoea, and Nous with Aletheia. Logos and Zoe
again, as being sent forth by those that are thus united,
ought themselves to be united, and to constitute only one
being. But, according to sucli a process of reasoning, Homo
and Ecclesia too, and indeed all the remaining conjunctions
of the 2Eons produced, ought to be united, and always to co-
exist, the one with the other. For there is a necessity in
their opinion, that a female iEon should exist side by side
with a male one, inasmuch as she is, so to speak, [the forth-
putting of] his affection.
3. These tilings being so, and such opinions being pro-
claimed by them, they again venture, without a blush, to
teach that the younger -^on of the Duodecad, whom they
also style Sophie^, did, apart from union with her consort,
whom they call Theletus, endure passion, and separately,
without any assistance from him, gave birth to a production
which they name " a female from a female." They thus
rush into such utter frenzy, as to form two most clearly
opposite opinions respecting the same point. For if Bythus
is ever one with Sige, Nous with Aletheia, Logos with Zoe,
and so on, as respects the rest, how could Sophia, without
union with her consort, either suffer or generate anything ?
And if, again, she did really suffer passion apart from him, it
necessarily follows that the other conjunctions also admit of
disjunction and separation among themselves, — a thing which
I have already shown to be impossible. It is also impossible,
therefore, that Sophia suffered passion apart from Theletus ;
and thus, again, their whole system of argument is overthrown.
For they have yet^ again derived the whole of remaining
1 [material substance], like the composition of a tragedy, from
that passion which they afHrm she experienced apart from
union with her consort.
4. If, however, they impudently maintain, in order to
preserve from ruin their vain imaginations, that the rest of
* It is diflScult to see the meaning of " iterum" here. Hai'vey begins
new paragriiph with this sentence.
150 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
the conjunctions also were disjoined and separated from one
another on account of this latest conjunction, then [I reply
that], in the first place, they rest upon a thing which is
impossible. For how can they separate the Propator from
his Ennoea, or Nous from Aletheia, or Logos from Zoe, and
so on with the rest ? And how can they themselves main-
tain that they tend again to unity, and are, in fact, all at
one, if indeed these very conjunctions, which are within the
Pleroma, do not preserve unity, but are separate from one
another ; and that to such a degree, that they both endure
passion and perform the work of generation without union
one with another, just as hens do apart from intercourse
with cocks'?
5. Then, again, their first and first-begotten Ogdoad will
be overthrown as follows : They must admit that Bythus and
Sige, Nous and Aletheia, Logos and Zoe, Antbropos and
Ecclesia, do individually dwell in the same Pleroma. But it
is impossible that Sige (silence) can exist in the presence of
Logos (speech), or again, that Logos can manifest himself in
the presence of Sige. For these are mutually destructive of
each other, even as light and darkness can by no possibility
exist in the same place : for if light prevails, there cannot be
darkness ; and if darkness, there cannot be light, since, where
light appears, darkness is put to flight. In like manner,
where Sige is, there cannot be Logos ; and where Logos is,
there certainly cannot be Sige. But if they say that Logos
simply exists within^ (unexpressed), Sige also will exist
within, and will not the less be destroyed by the Logos
within. But that he really is not merely conceived of in
the mind, the very order of the production of their (^ons)
shows.
6. Let them not then declare that the first and principal
Ogdoad consists of Logos and Sige, but let them [as a matter
of necessity] exclude either Sige or Logos ; and then their
first and principal Ogdoad is at an end. For if they describe
the conjunctions [of the ^ons] as united, then their whole
^ iyliuGi-rog — simply conceived in the mind — used in opposition to
'TrpoCpopiKo;, expressed.
Book ii.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 151
arfTument falls to pieces. Since, if tliey were united, how
could Sophia have generated a defect without union with
her consort ? If, on the other hand, they maintain that, as
in production, each of the iEons possesses his own peculiar
suhstance, then how can Sige and Logos manifest themselves
in the same place ? So far, then, with respect to defect.
7. But again, their Triacontad is overthrown as to excess
by the following considerations. They represent Iloros
(whom they call by a variety of names which I have men-
tioned in the preceding book) as having been produced by
Monogenes just like the other j^ons. Some of them main-
tain that this Horos was produced by Monogenes, while
others affirm that he was sent forth by the Propator him-
self in Ilis own image. They affirm further, that a produc-
tion was formed by Monogenes — Christ and the Holy Spirit ;
and they do not reckon these in the number of the Pleroma,
nor the Saviour either, whom they also declare to be Totum^
(all things). Now, it is evident even to a blind man, that
not merely thirty productions, as they maintain, were sent
forth, but four more along with these thirty. For they
reckon the Propator himself in the Pleroma, and those too,
who in succession were produced by one another. Why is
it, then, that those [other beings] are not reckoned as existing
with these in the same Pleroma, since they were produced in
the same manner? For what just reason can they assign
for not reckoning along with the other iEons, either Christ,
whom they describe as having, according to the Fathers
will, been produced by Monogenes, or the Holy Spirit, or
Iloros, whom they also call Soter^ (Saviour), and not even
the Saviour Himself, who came to impart assistance and
form to their Mother? Whether is this as if these latter
were weaker than the former, and therefore unworthy of the
^Harvey remarks that "the author perhaps ■wrote "Ooov {Iloros)^
"which Avas read by the translator "OXov (totum).
^ Since Soter does not occur among the various appellations of Iloros
inentioned by Irenaius (i. 11, 4), Grabe proposes to read Slauro,<, and
llassuet Lytrotes ; but Harvey conceives that the difficulty is explained
hj the fact that Horos was & power of Soter (i. 3, 3).
152 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
name of ^Eons, or of being numbered among them, or as if
they were superior and more excellent ? But how could they
be weaker, since they were produced for the establishment
and rectification of the others ? And then, again, they can-
not possibly be superior to the first and principal Tetrad, by
which they were also produced ; for it, too, is reckoned in the
number above mentioned. These latter beings, then, ought
also to have been numbered in the Pleroma of the ^ons, or,
that should be deprived of the honour of those ^ons which
bear this appellation (the Tetrad).
8. Since, therefore, their Triacontad is thus brought to
nought, as I have shown, both with respect to defect and
excess (for in dealing with such a number, either excess or
defect [to any extent] will render the number untenable, and
how much more so great variations ?), it follows that what
they maintain respecting their Ogdoad and Duodecad is a
mere fable which cannot stand. Their whole system, more-
over, falls to the ground, when their very foundation is de-
stroyed and dissolved into Bythus,^ that is, into what has no
existence. Let them, then, henceforth seek to set forth some
other reasons why the Lord came to be baptized at the age
of thirty years, and [explain in some other way] the Duode-
cad of the apostles ; and [the fact stated regarding] her who
suffered from an issue of blood ; and all the other points
respecting which they so madly labour in vain.
Chap. xiii. — TJie first order of production maintained hy the
heretics is altogether indefensible.
1. I now proceed to show, as follows, that the first order
of production, as conceived of by them, must be rejected.
For they maintain that Nous and Aletheia were produced
from Bythus and his Ennoca, which is proved to be a contra-
diction. For Nous is that which is itself chief, and highest,
^ Irenseus here, after his custom, plays upon the word Bythus (pro-
fundity), which, in the phraseology of the Valentinians, was a name of
the Propator, but is in this passage used to denote an u7ifathomahle
abyss.
Book ii.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 153
and, as it were, tlie principle and source of all understanding.
Enncea, again, which* arises from him, is any sort of emotion
concerning any subject. It cannot be, therefore, that Nous
was produced by Bytlms and Ennoea ; it would be more like
the truth for them to maintain that Ennoea was produced as
the daughter of the Propator and this Nous. For Ennoea
is not the daughter of Nous, as they assert, but Nous be-
comes the father of Ennoea. For how can Nous have been
produced by the Propator, when he holds the chief and
primary place of that hidden and invisible affection which
is within Him? By this affection sense is produced, and
Ennoea, and Enthymesis, and other things which are simply
synonyms for Nous himself. As I have said already, they
are merely certain definite exercises in thought of that very
power concerning some particular subject. We understand
the [several] terms according to their ^ length and breadth
of meaning, not according to any [fundamental] change [of
signification] ; and the [various exercises of thought] are
limited by [the same sphere of] knowledge, and are expressed
together by [the same] term, the [very same] sense remaining
within, and creating, and administering, and freely govern-
ing even by its own power, and as it pleases, the things which
have been previously mentioned.
2. For the first exercise of that [power] respecting any-
thing, is styled Ennoea; but when it continues, and gathers
strength, and takes possession of the whole soul, it is called
Enthymesis. This Enthymesis, again, when it exercises itself
a long time on the same point, and has, as it were, been
proved, is named Sensation. And this Sensation, when it is
much developed, becomes Counsel. The increase, again, and
greatly developed exercise of this Counsel becomes the Exa-
mination of thought (Judgment) ; and this remaining in the
mind is most properly termed Logos (reason), from which
* This sentence appears to us, after long study, totally untranslateable.
The general meaning seems to be, that whatever name is given to mental
acts, •whether they are calletl Eniicea^ Enthymesis^ or by whatever other
appellation, they are all but exercises of the same fundamental power,
styled Nous. Compare the following section.
154 IREN2EUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
the spoken Logos (word) pyoceeds.^ But all the [exercises
of thought] which have been mentioned are [fundamentally]
one and the same, receiving their origin from Nous, and
obtaining [different] appellation according to their increase.
Just as the human body, which is at one time youno;, then in
the prime of life, and then old, has received [different] appel-
lations according to its increase and continuance, but not
according to any change of substance, or on account of any
[real] loss of body, so is it with those [mental exercises].
For, when one [mentally] contemplates anything, he also
thinks of it ; and when he thinks of it, he has also knowledge
regarding it ; and when he knows it, he also considers it ;
and when he considers it, he also mentally handles it ; and
when he mentally handles it, he also speaks of it. But, as I
have already said, it is Nous who governs all these [mental
processes], while He is himself invisible, and ntters speech
of himself by means of those processes which have been
mentioned, as it were by rays [proceeding from Him], but
He himself is not sent forth by any other.
3. These things may properly be said to hold good in men,
since they are compound by nature, and consist of a body
and a soul. But those who affirm that Ennoea was sent forth
from God, and Nous from Ennoea, and then, in succession,
Logos from these, are, in the first place, to be blamed as having
improperly used these productions ; and, in the next place, as
describing the affections, and passions, and mental tendencies
of men, while they [thus prove themselves] ignorant of God.
By their manner of speaking, they ascribe those things which
apply to men to the Father of all, whom they also declare to
be unknown to all ; and they deny that He himself made the
world, to guard against attributing want of power ^ to Him ;
^ " The following," says Harvey, " may be considered to be consecu-
tive steps in tbe evolution of "hoyo; as a psychological entity. Euncea,
conception ; Enthymesis, intention ; Sensation, tlioiiglit ; Consilium, rea-
soning; Cogitationis Examinatio, jMcA/men^; in Mente Perseverans, Aoyog
iv1ia,6irog ; Emissibile Verbum, Aoyog '7rpo(popix,6gy
^ That is, lest He should be thought destitute of power, as having been
unable to prevent evil from having a place in creation.
Book ii.] IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. Vo'o
wliilc, at the same time, they endow Him with human affec-
tions and passions. But if they had known the Scriptures,
and been taught by the truth, they would have known, beyond
doubt, tliat God is not as men are ; and tliat His thoughts are
not like the thoughts of men.^ For the Father of all is at a
vast distance from those affections and passions which ope-
rate among men. He is a simple, uncompounded Being,
without diverse members," and altogether like, and equal to
Himself, since He is wholly understanding, and wholly spirit,
and wholly thought, and wholly intelligence, and wholly
reason, and wholly hearing, and wholly seeing, and wholly
liojht, and the whole source of all that is G;ood — even as the
religious and pious are wont to speak concerning God.
4. He is, however, above [all] these properties, and there-
fore indescribable. For He may well and properly be called
an Understanding which comprehends all things, but He is
not [on that account] like the understanding of men ; and
He may most properly be termed Light, but He is nothing
like that light with which we are acquainted. And so, in all
other particulars, the Father of all is in no degree similar
to human weakness. He is spoken of in these terms accord-
ing to the love [we bear Plim] ; but in point of greatness, our
thoughts regarding Him transcend these expressions. If
then, even in the case of human beings, understanding itself
does not arise from emission, nor is that intcllifxence which
produces other things separated from the living man, while
its motions and affections come into manifestation, much
more will the mind of God, who is all understanding, never
by any means be separated from Himself ; nor can anything '"
[in His case] be produced as if by a different Being.
5. For if He produced intelligence, then He who did thus
produce intelligence must be understood, in accordance with
^ Isa. Iv. 8.
- The Latin expression is " similimcmbrius," which some regard as the
transhition of o'wo/&V.w>io;, and others of o,ao;o,«fo'<;; but in cither case the
meaning ^vill be as given above.
^ That is, His Nous, Ennoea, etc., can have no independent existence
The text fluctuates betNveen " emittitur " and " emittetui'.*'
.156 IP.ENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
their views, as a compound and corporeal Being ; so that God,
who sent forth [the intelligence referred to], is separate from
it, and the intelligence which was sent forth separate [from
Ilim]. But if they affirm that intelligence was sent forth
from intelligence, tliey then cut asunder the intelligence of
God, and divide it into parts. And whither has it gone ?
Whence was it sent forth ? For whatever is sent forth from
any place, passes of necessity into some other. But what
existence was there more ancient than the intelligence of God,
into which they maintain it was sent forth ? And what a
vast region that must have been which was capable of receiv-
ing and containing the intelligence of God ! If, however,
they affirm [that this emission took place] just as a ray pro-
ceeds from the sun, then, as the subjacent air which receives
the ray must have had an existence prior to it, so [by such
reasoning] they will indicate that there was something in
existence, into which the intelligence of God was sent forth,
capable of containing it, and more ancient than itself. Fol-
lowing upon this, we must hold that, as we see the sun, which
is less than all things, sending forth rays from himself to a
great distance, so likewise we say that the Propator sent forth
a ray beyond, and to a great distance from. Himself. But
what can be conceived of beyond, or at a distance from, God,
into wliich He sent forth this ray ?
G. If, again, they affirm that that [intelligence] was not
sent forth beyond the Father, but within the Father Himself,
then, in the first place, it becomes superfluous to say that it
was sent forth at all. For how could it have been sent forth
if it continued within the Father ? For an emission is the
manifestation of that which is emitted, beyond him who emits
it. In the next place, this [intelligence] being sent forth,
both that Logos who springs from Him will still be within
the Father, as will also be the future emissions proceeding
from Logos. These, then, cannot in such a case be ignorant
of the Father, since they are within Him ; nor, being all
equally surrounded by the Father, can any one know Him
less [than another] according to the descending order of their
emission. And all of them must also in an equal measure
1
Book ii.] IRENJLUS AGAINST HERESIES. 1.07
continue impassible, since they exist in the bosom of their
Father, and none of them can ever sink into a state of de-
generacy or degradation. For with the Father there is no
degeneracy, unless perchance as in a great circle a smaller is
contained, and within this one again a smaller; or unless
they affirm of the Father, that, after the manner of a sphere
or a square. He contains within Himself on all sides the
likeness of a sphere, or the production of the rest of the
^ons in the form of a square, each one of these being sur-
rounded by that one who is above him in greatness, and
surrounding in turn that one who is after him in smallness ;
and that on this account, the smallest and the last of all,
having its place in the centre, and thus being far separated
from the Father, was really ignorant of the Propator. But
if they maintain any such hypothesis, they must shut up their
Bythus within a definite form and space, while He both
surrounds others, and is surrounded by them ; for they must
of necessity acknowledge that there is something outside of
Him which surrounds Him. And none the less will the talk
concerning those that contain, and those that are contained,
flow on into infinitude ; and all [the -^ons] will most clearly
appear to be bodies enclosed [by one another].
7. Further, they must also confess either that He is mere
vacuity, or that the entire universe is within Him ; and in
that case all will in like degree partake of the Father.
Just as, if one forms circles in water, or round or square
figures, all these will equally partake of water ; just as those,
again, which are framed in the air must necessaril}- partake of
air, and those which [are formed] in light, of light ; so must
those also who are within Him all equally partake of the
Father, ignorance having no place , among them. Where,
then, is this partaking of the Father who fills [all things] ?
If, indeed. He has filled [all things], there will be no igno-
rance among them. On this ground, then, their work of [sup-
posed] degeneracy is brought to nothing, and the production
of matter with the formation of the rest of the world ; whicli
things they maintain to have derived their substance from
passion and ignorance. If, on the other hand, they acknow-
158 IRENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book it.
ledge that He is vacuity, then they fall into the greatest
blasphemy ; they deny His spiritual nature. For how can
He be a spiritual being, who cannot fill even those things
which are within Him ?
8. Now, these remarks which have been made concerning
the emission of intelligence are in like manner applicable in
opposition to those who belong to the school of Basilides, as
well as in opposition to the rest of the Gnostics, from whom
these also (the Yalentinians) have adopted the ideas about
emissions, and were refuted in the first book. But I have
now plainly shown that the first production of Nous, that is,
of the intelligence they speak of, is an untenable and impossible
opinion. And let us see how the matter stands with respect
to the rest [of the ^ons]. For they maintain that Logos
and Zoe were sent forth by him (i.e. Nous) as fashioners of
this Pleroma ; while they conceive of an emission of Logos,
that is, the Word after the analogy of human feelings, and
rashly form conjectures respecting God, as if they had dis-
covered somethino; wonderful in their assertion that Loo;os
was produced by Nous. All indeed have a clear perception
that this may be logically affirmed with respect to men.^
But in Him who is God over all, since He is all Nous, and
all Logos, as I have said before, and has in Himself nothing
more ancient or late than another, and nothing at variance
with another, but continues altogether equal, and similar, and
homogeneous, there is no longer ground for conceiving of
such production in the order which has been mentioned. Just
as he does not err who declares that God is all vision, and all
hearing (for in what manner He sees, in that also He hears ;
and in what manner He hears, in that also He sees), so also-
he who afiirms that He is all intelligence, and all word, and
that, in whatever respect He is intelligence, in that also He
is word, and that this Nous is His Logos, will still indeed
have only an inadequate conception of the Father of all, but
will entertain far more becoming [thoughts regarding Him]
than do those who transfer the generation of the word to
^ That is, in human beings no doubt, tlioiiglit (Nous) precedes speech
(Logos).
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 159
which men gave utterance to the eternal Word of God,
assigning a beginning and course of production [to Him],
even as they do to their own word. And in what respect will
the Word of God — yea, rather God Plimself, since He is
the Word — differ from the word of men, if He follows the
same order and process of generation ?
9. Thay have fallen into error, too, respecting Zoe, by
maintaining that she was produced in the sixth place, when
it behoved her to take precedence of all [the rest], since God
is life, and incorruption, and truth. And these and such like
attributes have not been produced according to a gradual
scale of descent, but they are names of those perfections
which always exist in God, so far as it is possible and proper
for men to hear and to speak of God. For with the name
of God the following words will harmonize : intelligence,
word, life, incorruption, truth, wisdom, goodness, and such
like. And neither can any one maintain that intelligence is
more ancient than life, for intelligence itself is life ; nor that
life is later than intelligence, so that He who is the intellect
of all, that is God, should at one time have been destitute of
life. But if they affirm that life was indeed [previously] in
the Father, but was produced in the sixth place in order that
the Word might live, surely it ought long before, [according
to such reasoning,] to have been sent forth, in the fourth
place, that Nous might have life ; and still further, even
before Him, [it should have been] with Bythus, that their
Bythus might live. For to reckon Sige, indeed, along with
their Propator, and to assign her to Him as His consort, while
they do not join Zoe to the number, — is not this to suq)ass
all other madness ?
10. Again, as to the second production which proceeds from
these [iEons who have been mentioned], — that, namely, of
Homo and Ecclesia, — their very fathers, falsely styled Gnostics,
strive among themselves, each one seeking to make good his
own opinions, and thus convicting themselves of being wicked
thieves. They maintain that it is more suitable to [the theory
of] production — as being, in fact, truth-like — that the Word
was produced by man, and not man by the Word ; and that
160 IRENjEUS against heresies. [Book ii.
man existed prior to the Word, and that this is really He who
is God over all. And thus it is, as I have previously remarked,
that heaping together with a kind of plausibility all human
feelings, and mental exercises, and formation of intentions,
and utterances of words, they have lied with no plausibility
at all against God. For while they ascribe the things which
happen to men, and whatsoever they recognise themselves as
experiencing, to the divine reason, they seem to those who
are ignorant of God to make statements suitable enousfh.
And by these human passions, drawing away their intelligence,
while they describe the origin and production of the Word
of God in the fifth place, they assert that thus they teach
wonderful mysteries, unspeakable and sublime, known to no
one but themselves. It was, [they affirm,] concerning these
that the Lord said, " Seek, and ye shall find," ^ that is, that
they should inquire how Nous and Aletheia proceeded from
Bythus and Sige ; whether Logos and Zoe again derive their
origin from these ; and then, whether Anthropos and Ec-
clesia proceed from Logos and Zoe.
Chap. xiv. — Valentinus and his folloicers derived the inin-
ciples of their system from the heathen ; the names only
are changed.
1. Much liker the truth, and more pleasing, is the account
which Antiphanes," one of the ancient comic poets, gives in
his Theogony as to the origin of all things. For he speaks of
Chaos as being produced from Night and Silence ; relates
that then Love^ sprang from Chaos and Night; from this
again, Light ; and that from this, in his opinion, were derived
> Matt. vii. 7.
2 Nothing is known of this writer. Several of the same name are
mentioned by the ancients, but to none of them is a work named Theo-
gonia ascribed. He is supposed to be the same poet as is cited by
Athenseus, but that writer quotes from a work styled ' A(ppcoir-/i; yovxl.
^ The Latin is " Cupidinem ; " and Harvey here refers to Aristotle, who
" quotes the authority of Hesiod and Parmenides as saying that Love is
the eternal intellect, reducing Chaos into order."
Book il] IUENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. IGl
all the rest of the first generation of the gods. After these
he next introduces a second generation of gods, and the
creation of the world ; then he narrates the formation of
mankind by the second order of the gods. These men (the
heretics), adopting this fable as their own, have ranged their
opinions round it, as if by a sort of natural process, changing
only the names of the things referred to, and setting forth
the very same beginning of the generation of all things, and
their production. In place of Night and Silence they sub-
stitute Bythus and Sige ; instead of Chaos, they put Nous ;
and for Love (by whom, says the comic poet, all other things
were set in order) they have brought forward the Word ;
while for the primary and greatest gods they have formed
the ^ons ; and in place of the secondary gods, they tell us of
that creation by their mother which is outside of the Pleroma,
calling it the second Ogdoad. They proclaim to us, like the
writer referred to, that from this (Ogdoad) came the creation
of the world and the formation of man, maintaining that
they alone are acquainted with these ineffable and unknown
mysteries. Those things which are everywhere acted in the
theatres by comedians with the clearest voices they transfer to
their own system, teaching them undoubtedly through means
of the same arguments, and merely changing the names.
2. And not only are they convicted of bringing forward,
as if their own [original ideas], those things which are to be
found among the comic poets, but they also bring together
the things which have been said by all those who were igno-
rant of God, and who are termed philosophers ; and sewing
together, as it were, a motley garment out of a heap of
miserable rags, they have, by their subtle manner of expression,
furnished themselves with a cloak which is really not their
own. They do, it is true, introduce a new kind of doctrine,
[inasmuch as by a new sort of art it has been substituted [for
the old]. Yet it is in reality both old and useless, since these
[very opinions have been sewed together out of ancient dogmas
jredolent of ignorance and irreligion. For instance, Thales ^
^ Compare, on the opinions of the philosophers referred to in this
[jhapter, Hippolytus, Philosoj)h. b. i.
L
162 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, [Book ii.
of Miletus affirmed that water was the generative and initial
principle of all things. Now it is just the same thing whether
we say icater or Bythiis. The poet Homer/ again, held the
opinion that Occanus, along with mother Thetis, was the origin
of the gods : this idea these men have transferred to Bythus
and Sige. Anaximander laid it down that infinitude is the
first principle of all things, having seminally in itself the gene-
ration of them all, and from this he declares the immense
worlds [which exist] were formed : this, too, they have dressed
up anew, and referred to Bythus and their ^Eons. Anaxa-
goras, again, who has also been surnamed "Atheist," gave it
as his opinion that animals were formed from seeds falling
down from heaven upon earth. This thought, too, these men
have transferred to " the seed" of their Mother, which they
maintain to be themselves ; thus acknowledging at once, in
the judgment of such as are possessed of sense, that they
themselves are the offspring of the irreligious Anaxagoras.
3. Again, adopting the [ideas of] shade and vacuity from
Democritus and Epicurus, they have fitted these to their own
views, following upon those [teachers] who had already talked
a great deal about a vacuum and atoms, the one of which
they called that ivhicJi is, and the other tJiat uliich is not. In
like manner, these men call those things which are within the
Pleroraa real existences, just as those philosophers did the
atoms ; while they maintain that those which are without the
Pleroma have no true existence, even as those did respecting
the vacuum. They have thus banished themselves in this
world (since they are here outside of the Pleroma) into a
place which has no existence. Again, when they maintain
that these things [below] are images of those which have a
true existence [above], they again most manifestly rehearse the
doctrine of Democritus and Plato. For Democritus was the
first who maintained that numerous and diverse figures were
stamped, as it were, with the forms [of things above], and
descended from universal space into this world. But Plato,
for his part, speaks of matter, and exemplar,^ and God.
1 Iliad, I, 201 ; n, 99.
2 The Latin has here ezempliim, corresponding doubtless to '!rctp»l£i'yfi»,
Book ii.] IRENJEUS A<^A1NST HERESIES. 1C3
These men, following those distinctions, have styled what he
calls ideas, and exemplar, the images of those things which
are above ; while, through a mere change of name, they boast
themselves as being discoverers and contrivers of this kind of
imaginary fiction.
4. This opinion, too, that they hold the Creator formed
the world out of previously existing matter, both Anaxagoras,
Empedocles, and Plato expressed before them ; as, forsooth,
we learn they also do under the inspiration of their Mother.
Then again, as to the opinion that everything of necessity
passes away to those things out of which they maintain it
was also formed, and that God is the slave of this necessity,
so that lie cannot impart immortality to what is mortal, or
bestow incorruption on what is corruptible, but every one
passes into a substance similar in nature to itself, both those
who are named Stoics from the portico (crroa), and indeed
all that are ignorant of God, poets and historians alike, make
the same affirmation. Those [heretics] who hold the same
[system of] infidelity have ascribed, no doubt, their own
proper region to spiritual beings, — that, namely, w^hich is
within the Pleroma, but to animal beings the intermediate
space, while to corporeal they assign that which is material.
And they assert that God Himself can do no otherwise, but
that every one of the [different kinds of substance] men-
tioned passes away to those things which are of the same
nature [with itself].
5. Moreover, as to their saying that the Saviour was
formed out of all the ^ons, by every one of them deposit-
ing, so to speak, in Him his own special flower, they bring
forward nothing new that may not be found in the Pandora
of Hesiod. For what he says respecting her, these men
insinuate concernino; the Saviour, brino-incr Him before us as
Pandoros (All-gifted), as if each of the iEons had bestowed
on Him what He possessed in the greatest perfection. Again,
their opinion as to the indifference of [eating of] meats and
I other actions, and as to their thinking that, from the nobility
[and rcfeiTing to those lU»t of all things which Plato supposed to have
[existed for ever in the divine mind.
1G4 IRENJ^US AGAINST IIEBESIES. [Book ii.
of their nature, tliey can in no degree at all contract pollu-
tion, whatever they either eat or perform^ they have derived
it from the Cynics, since they do in fact belong to the same
society as do these [philosophers]. They also strive to transfer
to [the treatment of matters of] faith that hairsplitting and
subtle mode of handling questions which is, in fact, a copying
of Aristotle.
6. Again, as to the desire they exhibit to refer this whole
universe to numbers, they have learned it from the Pytha-
goreans. For these were the first who set forth numbers
as the initial principle of all things, and [described] that
initial principle of theirs as being both equal and unequal, out
of which [two properties] they conceived that both things
sensible^ and immaterial derived their origin. And [they
held] that one set of first principles^ gave rise to the matter
[of things], and another to their form. They affirm that
from these first principles all things have been made, just
as a statue is of its metal and its special form. Now^, the
heretics have adapted this to the things which are outside of
the Pleroma. The [Pythagoreans] maintained that the^
principle of intellect is proportionate to the energy where-
with mind, as a recipient of the comprehensible, pursues its
inquiries, until, worn out, it is resolved at length in the Indi-
visible and One. They further affirm that Hen — that is. One —
^ The Latin text reads " sensibilia et insensata ;" but tliese words, as
Harvey observes, must be the translation of etlahroi y.u,\ dva,ia6Yirc',^ —
"the former referring to material objects of sense, the latter to the im-
material world of intellect."
2 This clause is very obscure, and we are not sure if the above
rendering brings out the real meaning of the author. Harvey takes a
different view of it, and supposes the original Greek to have been, k»\
ciXhccg f/A<j TVi; v'Trc^rxasag dp-^ccg shut oiXKccg di rT,g cciadrjaicog >ca,l r^;
ovaiccg. He then remarks: " The reader will observe that the word
vTroarecai: here means intellectual substance, ovaioc material; as in Y.
c. ult. The meaning therefore of the sentence will be, Ajid they affirmed
that the first principles of intellectual substance and of sensible and material
existence were diverse, viz. unity was the exponent of the first, duality of
the second."
3 All the editors confess the above sentence hopelessly obscure. We
liave given Harvey's conjectural translation.
Book II.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES, 1C5
is the first principle of all things, and the substance of all
that has been formed. From this again proceeded the Dyad,
the Tetrad, the Pentad, and the manifold generation of the
others. These things the lieretics repeat, word for word,
with a reference to their Pleroma and Bythus. From the
same source, too, they strive to bring into vogue those con-
junctions which proceed from unity. Marcus boasts of such
views as if they were his own, and as if he were seen to have
discovered something more novel than others, while he simply
sets forth tlie Tetrad of Pythagoras as the originating principle
and mother of all things.
7. But I will merely say, in opposition to these men — Did
all those who have been mentioned, with whom you have
been proved to coincide in expression, know, or not know,
the truth ? If they knew it, then the descent of the Saviour
into this world was superfluous. For why [in that case] did
He descend ? Was it that He miojht brin^ that truth which
was [already] known to the knowledge of those who knew it?
If, on the other hand, these men did not know it, then how is
it that, while you express yourselves in the same terms as do
those who knew not the truth, ye boast that yourselves alone
possess that knowledge which is above all things, although
they who are ignorant of God [likewise] possess it ? Thus,
then, by a complete perversion ^ of language, they style igno-
rance of the truth knowledge ; and Paul well says [of them],
that [they make use of] " novelties of words of false know-
ledge." ^ For that knowledge of theirs is truly found to be
false. If, however, taking an impudent course with respect
to these points, they declare that men indeed did not know
the truth, but that their Mother,^ the seed of the Father,
proclanned the mysteries of truth through such men, even as
also through the prophets, while the Demiurge was ignorant
[of the proceeding], then I answer, in the first place, that
^ Literally, " antiplirasis."
2 1 Tim. vi. 20. The text is, " Voeum iiovitates falsjB agnitiouis,"
)(.uti>cc(pu'jlci,g having apparently been read in the Greek instead of
x.ivQ(fo)ulo(.g as in Text. Kec.
^ Grabe and others insert " vel" between these words.
166 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
the things which were predicted were not of such a nature as
to be intelligible to no one ; for the men themselves knew
what they were saying, as did also their disciples^ and those
again who succeeded these. And, in the next place, if either
the Mother or her seed knew and proclaimed those things
which were of the truth (and the Father^ is truth), then
on their theory the Saviour lied when He said, " No one
knoweth the Father but the Son," ^ unless indeed they main-
tain that their seed or Mother is No-one,
8. Thus far, then, by means of [ascribing to their JEons]
human feelings, and by the fact that they largely coincide in
their language with many of those who are ignorant of God,
they have been seen plausibly drawing a certain number
away [from the truth]. They lead them on by the use of
those [expressions] with which they have been familiar, to
that sort of discourse which treats of all things, setting forth
the production of the Word of God, and of Zoe, and of
Nous, and bringing into the world, as it were, the [successive]
emanations of the Deity. The views, again, which they pro-
pound, without either plausibility or parade, are simply lies
from bemnnino; to end. Just as those who, in order to lure
and capture any kind of animals, place their accustomed food
before them, gradually drawing them on by means of the
familiar aliment, until at length they seize it, but, when they
have taken them captive, they subject them to the bitterest
of bondage, and dras^ them aloncj with violence whitherso-
ever they please ; so also do these men gradually and gently
persuading [others], by means of their plausible speeches, to
accept of the emission which has been mentioned, then bring
forward things wliich are not consistent, and forms of the
remainincT emissions which are not such as mio;ht have been
expected. They declare, for instance, that [ten]^ JEons
were sent forth by Logos and Zoe, while from Anthropos
and Ecclesia there proceeded twelve, although they have
^ It seems necessary to regard these words as parenthetical, though
the point is overlooked by all the editors.
2 ^latt. xi. 27.
^ " Decern" is of douLtfid authority.
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 1C7
neither proof, nor testimony, nor probability, nor anything
whatever of such a nature [to support these assertions] ; and
with equal folly and audacity do they wish it to be believed
that from Logos and Zoe, being xEons, were sent forth
Bythus and Mixis, Ageratos and Henosis, Autophyes and
Pledone, Acinetos and Syncrasis, Monogenes and Macaria.
Moreover, [as they affirm,] there were sent forth, in a similar
way, from Anthropos and Ecclesia, being ^ons, Paracletus
and Pistis, Patricos and Elpis, Metricos and Agape, Ainos
and Syncsis, Ecclesiasticus and Macariotes, Theletos and
Sophia.
i). The passions and error of this Sophia, and how she
ran the risk of perishing through her investigation [of the
nature] of the Father, as they relate, and what took place
outside of the Pleroma, and from what sort of a defect they
teach that the Maker of the world was produced, I have set
forth in the preceding book, describing in it, with all dili-
gence, the opinions of these heretics. [I have also detailed
their views] respecting Christ, whom they describe as having
been produced subsequently to all these, and also regarding
Soter, who, [according to them,] derived his being from those
-ZEons who were formed within the Pleroma.-"^ But I have
of necessity mentioned their names at present, that from
these the absurdity of their falsehood may be made manifest,
and also the confused nature of the nomenclature they have
devised. For they themselves detract from [the dignity of]
their ^T^ons by a multitude of names of this sort. They give
out names plausible and credible to the heathen, [as being
similar] to those who are called their twelve gods," and
even these they will have to be images of their twelve
iEons. But the images [so called] can produce names [of
their own] much more seemly, and more powerful through
their etymology to indicate divinity [than are those of tlieii*
fancied prototypes].
1 The text has "qui in labe facti sunt;" but, according to Harvey,
*' the sense requires •TrXyjoai^ar/ instead of iKrpcj^uxn in the original."
2 Yiz. the '' Dii majorum gentium" of the Gentiles.
168 IRENJ^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
Chap. xv. — No account can he given of these
productions.
1. But let us return to the fore-mentioned question as to
the production [of the -3^ons]. And, in the first place, let
them tell us the reason of the production of the -^ons being
of such a kind that they do not come in contact with any of
those things which belong to creation. For they maintain
that those things [above] were not made on account of
creation, but creation on account of them ; and that the
former are not images of the latter, but the latter of the
former. As, therefore, they render a reason for the images,
by saying that the month has thirty days on account of the
thirty ^ons, and the day twelve hours, and the year twelve
months, on account of the twelve ^ons which are within
the Pleroma, with other such nonsense of the same kind, let
them now tell us also the reason for that production of the
^ons, why it was of such a natui'e, for what reason the first
and first-begotten Ogdoad was sent forth, and not a Pentad,
or a Triad, or a Septeuad, or any one of those which are
defined by a different number ? Moreover, how did it come
to pass, that from Logos and Zoe were sent forth ten ^ons,
and neither more nor less ; while again fi*om Anthropos and
Ecclesia proceeded twelve, although these might have been
either more or less numerous ?
2. And then, again, with reference to the entire Pleroma,
what reason is there that it should be divided into these
three — an Ogdoad, a Decad, and a Duodecad — and not into
some other number different from these ? ^Moreover, with
respect to the division itself, why has it been made into
three parts, and not into four, or five, or six, or into some
other number among those which have no connection with
such numbers-^ as belong to creation"? For they describe
those [^ons above] as being more ancient than these
[created things below], and it behoves them to possess their
principle [of being] in themselves, one which existed before
1 Referring to numbers like 4, 5, 6, which do not correspond to any
important fact in creation, as 7 e.g. does to the number of the planets.
Book ii.] IEENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. ICJ)
creation, and not after tlie pattern of creation, all exactly
agreeing as to the point.^
3. The account wliich ice give of creation is one har-
monious with that regular order [of things prevailing in
the world], for this scheme of ours is adapted to the ^
things which have [actually] been made ; but it is a matter
of necessity that they, being unable to assign any reason
belonainc: to the thincjs themselves, with resjard to those*
beings that existed before [creation], and were perfected by
themselves, should fall into the greatest perplexity. For,
as to the points on which they interrogate us as knowing
nothing of creation, they themselves, when questioned in
turn respecting the Pleroma, either make mention of mere
human feelings, or have recourse to that sort of speech which
bears only upon that harmony observable in creation, im-
properly giving us replies concerning things wdiicli are
secondary, and not concerning those which, as they main-
tain, are primary. For we do not question them concerning
that harmony which belongs to creation, nor concerning
human feelings ; but because they must acknowledge, as to
their octiform, deciform, and duodeciform Pleroma (the
image of which they declare creation to be), that their
Father formed it of that figure vainly and thoughtlessly,
and must ascribe to Ilim deformity, if He made anything
without a reason. Or, again, if they declare that the Pleroma
was so produced in accordance with the foresight of the
Father, for the sake of creation, as if He had thus sym-
metrically arranged its very essence, then it follows that the
Pleroma can no longer be reo-arded as havini][ been formed
on its own account, but for the sake of that [creation] which
was to be its image as possessing its likeness (just as the clay
model is not moulded for its own sake, but for the sake of
the statue in brass, or gold, or silver about to be formed),
^ The Latin text is here scarcely intelligible, and is variously pointed
by the editors.
' Harvey explains "his" as here denoting "in his," but we are at a
loss to know how he would translate the passage. It is in the highest
degree obscure.
1 70 IREN^ US A GAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
then creation will have greater honour than the Pieroma, if,
for its sake, those things [above] were produced.
Chap. xvi. — The Creator of tlie world either produced of
Himself the images of things to he made, or the Fleroma
was formed after the image of some previous system ; and
so on ad infinitum.
1. But if they will not yield assent to any one of ^hese
conclusions, since in that case they would be proved by us as
incapable of rendering any reason for such a production of
their Pleroma, they will of necessity be shut up to this — that
they confess that, above the Pleroma, there was some other
system more spiritual and more powerful, after the image of
which their Pleroma w^as formed. For if the Demiurxre did
not of himself construct that figure of creation which exists,
but made it after the form of those things which are above,
then from whom did their Bythus — who, to be sure, brought
it about that the Pleroma should be possessed of a configura-
tion of this kind — receive the fi figure of those things which
existed before Himself ? For it must needs be, either that
the intention [of creating] dwelt in that God who made the
world, so that of his own power, and from himself, he
obtained the model of its formation ; or, if any departure is
made from this being, then there will arise a necessity for
constantly asking whence there came to that one who is
above him the configuration of those things which have been
made ; what, too, was the number of the productions ; and
what the substance of the model itself ? If, however, it was
in the power of Bythus to impart of himself such a confi-
guration to the Pleroma, then why may it not have been in
the power of the Demiurge to form of himself such a world
as exists ? And then, again, if creation be an image of
those things [above], why should we not affirm that those
are, in turn, images of others above them, and those above
these again, of others, and thus go on supposing innumerable
images of images ?
2. This difficulty presented itself to Basilides after he had
Book il] IEENJEUS A GAINST HERESIES. 1 71
utterly missed the truth, and was conceiving that, by an infi-
nite succession of those beings that were formed from one
another, he might escape such perplexity. When he had
proclaimed that three hundred and sixty-five heavens were
formed through succession and similitude by one another, and
that a manifest proof [of the existence] of these was found
in the number of the days of the year, as I stated before ;
and that above these there was a power which they also style
Unnameable, and its dispensation — he did not even in this
way escape such perplexity. For, when asked whence came
the image of its configuration to that heaven which is above
all, and from which he wishes the rest to be regarded as
having been formed by means of succession, he will say, from
that dispensation which belongs to the Unnameable. He
must then say, either that the Unspeakable formed it of him-
self, or he will find it necessary to acknowledge that there is
some other power above this being, from whom his unname-
able One derived such vast numbers of configurations as do,
according to him, exist.
3. How much safer and more accurate a course is it, then,
to confess at once that which is true : that this God, the
Creator, who formed the world, is the only God, and that
there is no other God besides Him — He Himself receivinfr
from Himself the model and figure of those thinixs which
have been made — than that, after wearying ourselves with
such an impious and circuitous description, we should be
compelled, at some point or another, to fix the mind on some
one, and to confess that from Ilim proceeded the configura-
tion of things created.
4. As to the accusation broufjht aixainst us bv the followers
of Valentinus, when they declare that we continue in that
Hebdomad whicli is below, as if we could not lift our minds
on high, nor understand those things which are above, because
we do not accept their monstrous assertions : this very charge
do the followers of Basilides brinoj in turn aiiainst them,
inasmuch as they (the Valentinians) keep circling about
those things which are below, [going] as far as the first and
second Ogdoad, and because they unskilfully imagine that,
172 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book il
immediately after tlie thirty JEons, they have discovered
Him who is above all things Father, not following out in
thought their investicrations to that Pleroma which is above
the three hundred and sixty-five heavens, which ^ is above
forty-five Ogdoads. And any one, again, might bring against
them the same charge, by imagining four thousand three
hundred and eighty heavens, or ^ons, since the days of the
year contain that number of hours. If, again, some one
adds also the nights, thus doubling the hours wdiich have
been mentioned, imagining that [in this way] he has dis-
covered a great multitude of Ogdoads, and a kind of innu-
merable company^ of ^ons, and thus, in opposition to Him
who is above all things Father, conceiving himself more
perfect than all [others], he will bring the same charge
against all, inasmuch as they are not capable of rising to the
conception of such a multitude of heavens or iEons as he has
announced, but are either so deficient as to remain among
those things which are below, or continue in the intermediate
space.
Chap. xvii. — Inquiry into the production of the JEons : ichat-
ever its supposed nature, it is in every respect inconsistent ;
and on the hypothesis of the heretics, even Nous and the
Father Himself ivould he stained ivith ignorance.
1. That system, then, wdiich has respect to their Pleroma,
and especially that part of it which refers to the primary
Ogdoad being thus burdened with so great contradictions and
perplexities, let me now go on to examine the remainder of
their scheme. [In doing so] on account of their madness, I
shall be making inquiry respecting things which have no real
existence ; yet it is necessary to do this, since the treatment
of this subject has been entrusted to me, and since I desire
^ The text is here doubtful : Harvey proposes to read " qui" instead
of "quae," but we prefer "quod" with Grabe. The meaning is, that
three hundred and sixty-five is more than forty-five Ogdoads (45 X 8
= 360).
2 " Operositatem," corresponding to 'TrpoLyf^ccnietu, lit. manufacture.
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 173
all men to come to the knowledge of the truth, as well as
because thou thyself hast asked to receive from me full and
complete means for overturning [the views of] these men.
2. I ask, then, in what manner were the rest of the ^ons
produced ? Was it so as to be united with Him who produced
them, even as the solar rays are with the sun ; or was it
actually^ and separately, so that each of them possessed an
independent existence and his own special form, just as has a
man from another man, and one herd of cattle from another?
Or was it after the manner of germination, as branches from
a tree ? And were they of the same substance with those
who produced them, or did they derive their substance from
some other [kind of] substance ? Also, were they produced
at the same time, so as to be contemporaries ; or after a
certain order, so that some of them were older, and others
younger ? And, again, are they uncompounded and uniform,
and altogether equal and similar among themselves, as spirit
and light are produced ; or are they compounded and different,
unlike [to each other] in their members.
3. If each of them was produced, after the manner of men,
actually and according to its own generation, then either
those thus generated by the Father will be of the same sub-
stance with Tlim, and similar to their Author; or if " they
appear dissimilar, then it must of necessity be acknowledged
that they are [formed] of some different substance. Now, if
the beino;s generated by the Father be similar to their Author,
then those who have been produced must remain for ever
impassible, even as is lie who produced them ; but if, on the
other hand, they are of a different substance, which is capable
of passion, then whence came this dissimilar substance to find
a place within the incorruptible Pleroma? Further, too,
according to this principle, each one of them must be under-
stood as being completely separated from every other, even
as men are not mixed with nor united the one to the other,
^ Ej/icahilitcr in the Latin text is thought to correspond to i>ipyu; in
tlie original Greek.
- Si is inserted by most of the editors ; and although Harvey argues
for its omission, we agree with Massuet in deeming it indispensable.
174 .IREN2EUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
but each having a distinct shape of his own, and a definite
sphere of action, while each one of them, too, is formed of a
particular size, — qualities characteristic of a body, and not of
a spirit. Let them therefore no longer speak of the Pleroma
as being sjnritualy or of themselves as " spiritual," if indeed
their ^ons sit feasting with the Father, just as if they were
men, and He Himself is of such a configuration as those
reveal Him to be who were produced by Him.
4. If, again, the ^ons were derived from Logos, Logos
from Nous, and Nous from By thus, just as lights are kindled
from a light — as, for example, torches are from a torch — then
they may no doubt differ in generation and size from one
another ; but since they are of the same substance with the
Author of their production, they must either all remain for
ever impassible, or their Father Himself must participate in
passion. For the torch which has been kindled subsequently
cannot be possessed of a different kind of light from that
which preceded it. Wherefore also their lights, when blended
in one, return to the original identity, since that one light is
then formed which has existed even from the beginning.
But we cannot speak, with respect to light itself, of some
part being more recent in its origin, and another being more
ancient (for the whole is but one light) ; nor can we so speak
even in regard to those torches which have received the light
(for these are all contemporary as respects their material
substance, for the substance of torches is one and the same),
but simply as to [the time of] its being kindled, since one was
lighted a little while ago, and another has just now been
kindled.
5. The defect, therefore, of that passion which has regard
to ignorance, will either attach alike to their whole Pleroma,
since [all its members] are of the same substance ; and the
Propator will share in this defect of ignorance — that is, will
be ignorant of Himself ; or, on the other hand, all those
lights which are within the Pleroma will alike remain for
ever impassible. Whence, then, comes the passion of the
youngest iEon, if the light of the Father is that from which
all other lights have been formed, and which is by nature
Book ii.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 11 o
impassible ? And how can one iEon be spoken of as either
younger or older among themselves, since there is but one
light in the entire Pleroma? And if any one calls them
stars, they will all nevertheless appear to participate in the
same nature. For if " one star differs from another star in
glory," ^ but not in qualities, nor substance, nor in the fact of
being passible or impassible ; so all these, since they are alike
derived from the light of the Father, must either be naturally
impassible and immutable, or they must all, in common with
the light of the Father, be passible, and are capable of the
varying phases of corruption.
6. The same conclusion will follow, although they affirm
that the production of the iEons sprang from Logos, as
branches from a tree, since Logos has his generation from
their Father. For all [the ^ons] are formed of the same
substance with the Father, differing from one another only
in size, and not in nature, and filling up the greatness of the
Father, even as the fingers complete the hand. If therefore
He exists in passion and ignorance, so must also those -^ons
who have been generated by Him. But if it is impious to
ascribe ignorance and passion to the Father of all, how can
they describe an ^on produced by Him as being passible ;
and while they ascribe the same impiety to the very wisdom
(Sophia) of God, how can they still call themselves religious
men?
7. If, again, they declare that their iEons were sent forth
just as rays are from the sun, then, since all are of the same
substance and sprung from the same source, all must either
be capable of passion along with Him who produced them, or
all will remain Impassible for ever. For they can no longer
maintain that, of beings so produced, some are impassible and
others passible. If, then, they declare all impassible, they do
themselves destroy their own argument. For how could the
youngest iEon have suffered passion if all were impassible ?
If, on the other hand, they declare that all partook of this
passion, as indeed some of them venture to maintain, then,
inasmuch as it originated with Logos," but flowed onwards to
1 1 Cor. XV. 41. 2 comp. i. 2, 2.
176 IREN^US AGAINST IIEP.ESIES, [Book ii.
Sophia, tliey will thus be convicted of tracing back the
passion to Logos, who is the^ Nous of this Propator, and so
acknowledging the Nous of the Propator and the Father
Himself to have experienced passion. For the Father of all
is not to be regarded as a kind of compound Being, who can
be separated from his Nous (mind), as I have already shown ;
but Nous is the Father, and the Father Nous. It necessarily
follows, therefore, both that he who springs from Him as
Logos, or rather that Nous himself, since he is Logos, must
be perfect and impassible, and that those productions which
proceed from him, seeing that they are of the same substance
with himself, should be perfect and impassible, and should
ever remain similar to him who produced them.
8. It cannot therefore longer be held, as these men teach,
that Logos, as occupying the third place in generation, was
ignorant of the Father. Such a thing might indeed perhaps
be deemed probable in the case of the generation of human
beings, inasmuch as these frequently know nothing of their
parents; but it is altogether impossible in the case of the
Logos of the Father. For if, existing in the Father, he
knows Him in vdiom he exists — that is, is not ignorant of
himself — then those productions which issue from him being
his powers (faculties), and always present with him, will not
be ignorant of him who emitted them, any more than rays
[may be supposed to be] of the sun. It is impossible, there-
fore, that the Sophia (wisdom) of God, she who is within
the Pleroma, inasmuch as she has been produced in such a
manner, should have fallen under the influence of passion,
and conceived such ignorance. But it is possible that that
Sophia (wisdom) who pertains to [the scheme] of Valentinus,
inasmuch as she is a production of the devil, should fall into
every kind of passion, and exhibit the profoundest ignorance.
For when they themselves bear testimony concerning their
mother, to the effect that she was the offspring of an erring
-^on, we need no longer search for a reason why the sons of
^ It seems needless to insert an " et " before this word, as Harvey
suggests, or, as an alternative, to strike out the first " Nun Pro-
patoris."
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 177
such a motlier sliould be ever swimming in the depths of
ignorance.
9. I am not aware that, besides these productions [which
have been mentioned], they are able to speak of any other ;
indeed, they have not been known to me (although I have
had very frequent discussions with them concerning forms of
this kind) as ever setting forth any other peculiar kind of
being as produced [in the manner under consideration]. This
only they maintain, that each one of these teas so produced
as to know merely that one who produced him, while he was
ignorant of the one who immediately preceded. But they
do not in this matter go forward [in their account] with any
kind of demonstration as to the manner in which these were
produced, or how such a thing could take place among
spiritual beings. For, in whatsoever way they may choose
to go forward, they will feel themselves bound (while, as
regards the truth, they depart^ entirely from right reason)
to proceed so far as to maintain that their AYord, wdio springs
from the Nous of the Propator, — to maintain, I say, that he
was produced in a state of degeneracy. For [they hold] that
perfect Nous, previously begotten by the perfect Bythus,
was not capable of rendering that production which issued
from him perfect, but [could only bring it forth] utterly
blind to the knowdedge and greatness of the Father. They
also maintain that the Saviour exhibited an emblem of this
mystery in the case of that man who was blind from his
birth,'^ since the iEon was in this manner produced by
]Monogenes blind, that is, in ignorance, thus falsely ascribing
ignorance and blindness to the Word of God, who, according
to their own theory, holds the second [place of] production
from the Propator. Admirable sophists, and explorers of the
subhmities of the unknown Father, and rehearsers of those
super-celestial mysteries " which the angels desire to look
into!"^^ — that they may learn that from the Nous of that
Father who is above all, the Word was produced blindy that
is, ignorant of the Father who produced him !
^ Some read " ccecutientes" instead of "circiimeuntos," as above.
2 John ix. 1, etc. s i p^^t. i. 12.
M
1 78 IRENJE US A GAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
10. But, ye miserable sophists, how could the Nous of the
Father, or rather the very Father Himself, since He is Nous
and perfect in all things, have produced his own Logos as
an imperfect and blind -ZEon, when He was able also to pro-
duce along with him the knowledge of the Father ? As ye
affirm that Christ was generated^ after the rest, and yet de-
clare that he was produced perfect, much more then should
Logos, who is anterior to him in age, be produced by the
same Nous, unquestionably perfect, and not blind ; nor could
he, again, have produced iEons still blinder than himself,
until at last your Sophia, always utterly blinded, gave birth
to so vast a body of evils. And your Father is the cause
of all this mischief ; for ye declare the magnitude and power
of your Father to be the causes of ignorance, assimilating
Him to Bvthus, and assio;nincp this as a name to Him who
is the unnameable Father. But if ignorance is an evil, and
ye declare all evils to have derived their strength from it,
while ye maintain that the greatness and power of the
Father is the cause of this ignorance, ye do thus set Him
forth as the author of [all] evils. For ye state as the cause
of evil this fact, that [no one] could contemplate His great-
ness. But if it was really impossible for the Father to make
Himself known from the beginning to those [beings] that
were formed by Him, He must in that case be held free
from blame, inasmuch as He could not remove the ignorance
of those who came after Him. But if, at a subsequent
period, when He so willed it. He could take away that igno-
rance which had increased with the successive productions
as they followed each other, and thus become deeply seated
in the ^ons, much more, had He so willed it, might He
formerly have prevented that ignorance, which as yet was
not, from coming into existence.
11. Since therefore, as soon as He so pleased, He did
become known not only to the ^ons, but also to these men
^ " Postgenitum quidem reliquis," the representative, according to
Grabe, of ccTroyovoy f/Jv "Koi-ol; in the Greek. Harvey remarks that
Tuv T^oiTTuu woiild have been better, and proposes to read " progenitum "
in the Latin ; but we do not see any necessity for change.
Book il] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 179
who lived in these latter times ; but, as Pie did not so please
to be known from the beginning, He remained unknown —
the cause of ignorance is, according to you, the will of the
Father. For if He foreknew that these things w^ould in
future happen in such a manner, why then did He not guard
against the ignorance of these beings before it had obtained
a place among them, rather than afterwards, as if under the
influence of repentance, deal with it through the production
of Christ? For the knowledge which through Christ He
conveyed to all. He might long before have imparted through
Logos, who was also the first-begotten of Monogenes. Or if,
knowing them beforehand, He willed that these things should
happen [as they have done], then the w^orks of ignorance
must endure for ever, and never pass away. For the things
which have been made in accordance with the will of your
Propator must continue along with the will of Him who
willed them ; or if they pass away, the will of Him also who
decreed that they should have a being will pass away along
with them. And why did the ^ons find rest and attain
perfect knowledge through learning [at last] that the Father
is altogether ^ incomprehensible ? They might surely have
possessed this knowledge before they became involved in
passion ; for the greatness of the Father did not suffer dimi-
nution from the beginning, so that these might "" know that
He was altogether incomprehensible. For if, on account of
His infinite greatness. He remained unknown, He ought also
on accoimt of His infinite love to have preserved those im-
passible who were produced by Him, since nothing hindered,
and expediency rather required, that they should have known
from the be£iinnin£!: that the Father was altofiether incom-
prehensible.
1 " Incapabilis ct incomprehensibilis," corresponding to d-^upv.io: xxi
uKXTu'An'TrTQg in the Greek.
- Literally, " to these knowing," " his scientibns,"
180 IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
Chap, xviii. — Soplda icas never really in ignorance or passion ;
her Enthymesis could not have been separated from her-
self , or exhihited special tendencies of its oicn,
1. How can it be regarded as otherwise than absurd, that
they also affirm this Sophia (wisdom) to have been involved in
ignorance, and degeneracy, and passion ? For these things
are alien and contrary to wisdom, nor can they ever be quali-
ties belonging to it. For wherever there is a want of foresight,
and an ignorance of the course of utility, there wisdom does
not exist. Let them therefore no longer call this suffering
^on Sophia, but let them give up either her name or her
sufferings. And let them, moreover, not call their entire
Pleroma spiritual, if this .ZEon had a place within it Avhen
she was involved in such a tumult of passion. For even a
vigorous soul, not to say a spiritual substance, would not pass
through any such experience.
2. And, again, how could her Enthymesis, going forth
[from her] along with the passion, have become a separate
existence ? For Enthymesis (thought) is understood in
connection with some person, and can never have an isolated
existence by itself. For a bad Enthymesis is destroyed and
absorbed by a good one, even as a state of disease is by health.
What, then, was the sort of Enthymesis which preceded that
of passion ? [It was this] : to investigate the [nature of]
the Father, and to consider His greatness. But what did
she afterwards become persuaded of, and so was restored to
health ? [This, viz.], that the Father is incomprehensible,
and that He is past finding out. It was not, then, a proper
feeling that she wished to know the Father, and on this
account she became passible ; but when she became persuaded
that He is unsearchable, she was restored to health. And
even Nous himself, who was inquiring into the [nature of] the
Father, ceased, according to them, to continue his researches,
on learning that the Father is incomprehensible.
3. How then could the Enthymesis separately conceiv^c
passions, which themselves also were her affections? For
affection is necessarily connected with an individual : it can-
Book il] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 181
not come into being or exist apart by itself. This opinion [of
theirs], however, is not only untenable, but also opposed to
that which was spoken by our Lord : " Seek, and ye shall
find."^ For the Lord renders His disciples perfect by their
seeking after and finding the Father ; but that Christ of
theirs, who is above, has rendered them perfect, by the fact
tliat He has commanded the iEons not to seek after the
Father, persuading them that, though they should labour
hard, they would not find Him. And they ^ declare that they
themselves are perfect, by the fact that they maintain they
have found their Bythus ; while the iEons [have been made
perfect] through means of this, that He is unsearchable who
was inquired after by them.
4. Since, therefore, the Enthymesis herself could not exist
separately, apart from the iEon, [it is obvious that] they
bring forward still greater falsehood concerning her passion,
when they further proceed to divide and separate it from her,
while they declare that it was the substance of matter. As
if God were not light, and as if no ^Yord existed who could
convict them, and overthrow their wickedness. For it is
certainly true, that whatsoever the iEon thought, that she also
suffered ; and what she suffered, that she also thought. And
her Enthymesis w^as, according to them, nothing else than
the passion of one tliinking how she might comprehend the
incomprehensible. And thus Enthymesis (thouglit) was the
passion ; for she was thinking of things impossible. How
then could affection and passion be separated and set apart
from the Enthymesis, so as to become the substance of so
vast a material creation, when Enthymesis herself was the
passion, and the passion Enthymesis ? Neither, therefore, can
Enthymesis apart from the iEon, nor the affections apart
from Enthymesis, separately possess substance; and thus
once more their system breaks down and is destroyed.
5. But how did it come to pass tliat the iEon was both
dissolved [into her component parts], and became subject to
1 Matt. vii. 7.
2 It seems necessary to read " se quidem " instead of "si qiiidem," as
in the mss.
182 IRENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book il
passion ? Slie was undoubtedly of the same substance as the
Pleroma ; but the entire Pleroma was of the Father. Now,
any substance, when brought in contact with what is of a
similar nature, will not be dissolved into nothing, nor will
be in danger of perishing, but will rather continue and
increase, such as fire in fire, spirit in spirit, and water in
water ; but those wdiich are of a contrary nature to each other
do, [when they meet,] suffer and are changed and destroyed.
And, in like manner, if there had been a production of light,
it would not suffer passion, or incur any danger in light like
itself, but would rather glow with the greater brightness, and
increase, as the day does from [the increasing brilliance of]
the sun ; for they maintain that Bythus [himself] was the
image of their father ^ (Sophia). Whatever animals are
alien [in habits] and strange to each other, or are mutually
opposed in nature, fall into danger [on meeting together],
and are destroyed ; whereas, on the other hand, those who
are accustomed to each other, and of a harmonious disposi-
tion, suffer no peril from being together in the same place,
but rather secure both safety and life by such a fact. If,
therefore, this ^on was produced by the Pleroma of the
same substance as the whole of it, she could never have un-
dergone change, since she was consorting with beings similar
to and familiar with herself, a spiritual essence among those
that were spiritual. For fear, terror, passion, dissolution,
and such like, may perhaps occur through the struggle of
contraries among such beings as we are, who are possessed
of bodies ; but among spiritual beings, and those that have
the light diffused among them, no such calamities can possibly
happen. But these men appear to me to have endowed their
-^on with the [same sort of] passion as belongs to that cha-
racter in the comic poet Menander," who was himself deeply
in love, but an object of hatred [to his beloved]. For those
who have invented such opinions have rather had an idea and
^ Although Sophia was a feminine ^on, she was regarded as being the
father of Enthymesis, who again was the mother of the Valentinians.
2 Stieren refers for this allusion to Meineke's edition of the Reliqmss
Menan. et Philem. p. 116.
Book il] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 183
mental conception of some unhappy lover among men, than
of a spiritual and divine substance.
G. Moreover, to meditate how to search into [the nature of]
the perfect Father, and to have a desire to exist within Him,
and to have a comprehension of His [greatness], could not
entail the stain of ignorance or passion, and that upon a
spiritual tEou ; but would rather [give rise to] perfection,
and impassibihty, and truth. For they do not say that even
they, though they be but men, by meditating on Him who was
before them, — and while now, as it were, comprehending the
perfect, and being placed within the knowledge of Him, —
are thus involved in a passion of perplexity, but rather attain
to the knowledge and apprehension of truth. For they affirm
that the Saviour said, " Seek, and ye shall find," to His
disciples with this view, that they should seek after Him who,
by means of imagination, has been conceived of by them as
being above the Maker of all — the ineffable Bytlius ; and
they desire themselves to be regarded as " the perfect," be-
cause they have sought and found the perfect One, while
they are still on earth. Yet they declare that that -<^on who
was within the Pleroma, a wholly spiritual being, by seeking
after the Propator, and endeavouring to find a place within
His greatness, and desiring to have a comprehension of the
truth of the Father, fell down into [the endurance of] pas-
sion, and such a passion that, unless she had met with that
Power who upholds all things, she would have been dissolved
into the general substance [of the iEons], and thus come to
an end of her [personal] existence.
7. Absurd is such presumption, and truly an opinion of
men totally destitute of the truth. For, that this uEon is
superior to themselves, and of greater antiquity, they them-
selves acknowledge, according to their own system, when they
affirm that they are the fruit of the Enthymesis of that ^Eon
who suffered passion, so that this yEou is the father of their
mother, that is, their own grandfather. And to them, the
later iirandchildren, the search after the Father brincrs, as
they maintain, truth, and perfection, and establishment, and
deliverance from unstable matter, and reconciliation to the
184 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
Father ; but on their grandfather this same search entailed
ignorance, and passion, and terror, and perplexity, from which
[disturbances] they also declare that the substance of matter
Avas formed. To say, therefore, that the search after and
investigation of the perfect Father, and the desire for com-
munion and union with Plim, were things quite beneficial to
them, but to an ^on, from whom also they derive their origin,
these things were the cause of dissolution and destruction,
how can such assertions be otherwise viewed than as totally
inconsistent, foolish, and irrational? Those, too, who listen
to these teachers, truly blind themselves, while they possess
blind guides, justly [are left to] fall along with them into the
gulf of ignorance w^hich lies below them.
Chap. xix. — Ahsurdities of the heretics as to their own origin:
their opinions respecting the Demiurge shown to he equally
untenable and ridiculous,
1. But what sort of talk also is this concerning their seed —
that it was conceived by the mother according to the configu-
ration of those angels who w^ait upon the Saviour, — shape-
less, without form, and imperfect ; and that it was deposited in
the Demiurge without his knowledge, in order that through
his instrumentality it might attain to perfection and form in
that soul which he had, [so to speak,] filled with seed ? This
is to affirm, in the first place, that those angels who wait
upon their Saviour are imperfect, and without figure or
form ; if indeed that which was conceived according to
their appearance was generated any such kind of being [as
has been described].
2. Then, in the next place, as to their saying that the
Creator was ignorant of that deposit of seed which took place
into him, and again, of that impartation of seed which was
made by him to man, their w^ords are futile and vain, and
are in no way susceptible of proof. For how could he have
been ignorant of it, if that seed had possessed any substance
and peculiar properties ? If, on the other hand, it was with-
out substance and without quality, and so was really nothing,
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 185
then, as a matter of course, he was ignorant of it. For those
things which have a certain motion of their own, and quality,
either of heat, or swiftness, or sweetness, or which differ
from others in brilHance, do not escape the notice even of
men, since they mingle in the sphere "of human action : far
less can they [be hidden from] God, the Maker of this uni-
verse. With reason, however, [is it said, that] their seed was
not known to Him, since it is without any quality of general
utility, and without the substance requisite for any action,
and is, in fact, a pure nonentity. It really seem.s to me, that,
with a view to such opinions, the Lord expressed Himself
thus : " For every idle word that men speak, they shall
give account on the day of judgment."^ For all teachers of
a like character to these, who fill men's ears with idle talk,
shall, when they stand at the throne of judgment, render an
account for those things which they have vainly imagined
and falsely uttered against the Lord, proceeding, as they
have done, to such a height of audacity as to declare of them-
selves that, on account of the substance of their seed, they
are acquainted with the spiritual Pleroma, because that man
who dwells within reveals to them the true Father ; for the
animal nature required^ to be disciplined by means of the
senses. But [they hold that] the Demiurge, while receiving
into himself the whole of this seed, through its being deposited
in him by the Mother, still remained utterly ignorant of all
things, and had no understanding of anything connected
with the Pleroma.
3. And that they are the truly "■ spiritual," inasmuch as
a certain particle of the Father of the universe has been
deposited in their souls, since, according to their assertions,
they have souls formed of the same substance as tho Demi-
urge himself, yet that he, although he received from the
Mother, once for all, the whole [of the divine] seed, and
possessed it in himself, still remained of an animal nature,
and had not the sli<i;htest understandlnix of those thinixs which
are above, which things they boast that they themselves
understand, while they arc still on earth; — does not this
1 Miitt. xii. oQ. ' Comp. i. G, 1.
186 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book ii.
crown all possible absurdity? For to imagine that the very
same seed conveyed knowledge and perfection to the souls of
these men, while it only gave rise to ignorance in the God
who made them, is an opinion that can be held only by those
utterly frantic, and totally destitute of common sense.
4. Further, it is also a most absurd and groundless thing
for them to say that the seed was, by being thus deposited,
reduced to form and increased, and so was prepared for the
reception of perfect rationality. For there will be in it an
admixture of matter — that substance wdiich they hold to have
been derived from ignorance and defect ; [and this will prove
itself] more apt and useful than w^as the light of their Father,
if indeed, when born, according to the contemplation of that
[light], it was without form or figure, but derived from this
[matter], form, and appearance, and increase, and perfection.
For if that light which proceeds from the Pleroma was the
cause to a spiritual being that it possessed neither form, nor
appearance, nor its own special magnitude, while its descent
to this world added all these things to it, and brought it to
perfection, then a sojourn here (which they also term dark-
ness) would seem much more efficacious and useful than was
the light of their Father. But how can it be regarded as
other than ridiculous, to affirm that their mother ran the risk
of beinn; almost extino^uished in matter, and was almost on the
point of being destroyed by it, had she not then with diffi-
culty stretched herself outwards, and leaped, [as it were,] out
of herself, receiving assistance from the Father; but that
her seed increased in this same matter, and received a form,
and was made fit for the reception of perfect rationality ; and
this, too, while " bubbling up " among substances dissimilar
and unfamiliar to itself, according to their own declaration
that the earthly is opposed to the spiritual, and the spiritual
to the earthly? How, then, could " a little particle,"^ as they
say, increase, and receive shape, and reach perfection, in the
midst of substances contrary to and unfamiliar to itself?
5. But further, and in addition to what has been said, the
question occurs, Did their mother, when she beheld the angels,
1 " Parvum emissum" — a small emission.
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 187
bring forth the seed all at once, or only one by one [in succes-
sion] ? If she brought forth the whole simultaneously and
at once, that which was thus produced cannot now be of an
infantile character : its descent, therefore, into those men who
now exist must be superfluous.-^ But if one by one, then she
did not form her conception according to the figure of those
angels whom she beheld ; for, contemplating them all together,
and once for all, so as to conceive by them, she ought to have
brought forth once for all the offspring of those from whose
forms she had once for all conceived.
G. Why was it, too, that, beholding the angels along with
the Saviour, she did indeed conceive tlieir images, but not that
of the Saviour J who is far more beautiful than they ? Did
He not please her ; and did she not, on that account, conceive
after His likeness?^ How was it, too, that the Demiurge,
whom they call an animal being, having, as they maintain,
his own special magnitude and figure, was produced perfect
as respects his substance ; while that which is spiritual, which
also ought to be more effective than that which is animal, was
sent forth imperfect, and he required to descend into a soul,
that in it he might obtain form, and thus becoming perfect,
might be rendered fit for the reception of perfect reason ? If,
then, he obtains form in mere earthly and animal men, he
can no lono;er be said to be after the likeness of ancrels whom
they call lights, but [after the likeness] of those men who
are here below. For he will not possess in that case the
likeness and appearance of angels, but of those souls in whom
also he receives shape ; just as water when poured into a
vessel takes the form of that vessel, and if on any occasion it
happens to congeal in it, it will acquire the form of the vessel
in wliich it has thus been frozen, since souls themselves pos-
sess the figure"'* of the body [in which they dwell] ; for they
^ That is, there could be no need for its descending into them that it
might increase, receive form, and thus be prepared for the reception of
perfect reason.
- Or, " on beholding Him."
2 As Massuet here remarks, we may infer from this passage that
Irenaius believed souls to be corporeal, as being possessed of a definite
form, — an opinion entertained by not a few of the ancients.
188 IBENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
themselves have been adapted to the vessel [in which they
exist], as I have said before. If, then, that seed [referred to]
is here solidified and formed into a definite shape, it will
possess the figure of a man, and not the form of the angels.
How is it possible, therefore, that that seed should be after
images of the angels, seeing it has obtained a form after the
likeness of men? Why, again, since it was of a spiritual
nature, had it any need of descending into flesh ? For what
is carnal stands in need of that which is spiritual, if indeed,
it is to be saved, that in it it may be sanctified and cleared
from all impurity, and that what is mortal may be swallowed
up by immortality ; ^ but that which is spiritual has no need
whatever of those things which are here below. For it is
not we who benefit it, but it that improves us.
7. Still more manifestly is that talk of theirs concerning
their seed proved to be false, and that in a way which must
be evident to every one, by the fact that they declare those
souls which have received seed from the Mother to be superior
to all others ; wherefore also they have been honoured by the
Demiurge, and constituted princes, and kings, and priests.
For if this were true, the high priest Caiaphas, and Annas,
and the rest of the chief priests, and doctors of the law, and
rulers of the people, would have been the first to believe in
the Lord, agreeing as they did with respect^ to that relation-
ship ; and even before them should have been Herod the
king. But since neither he, nor the chief priests, nor the
rulers, nor the eminent of the people, turned to Him [in faith],
but, on the contrary, those who sat begging by the highway,
the deaf, and the blind, while He was rejected and despised
by others, according to what Paul declares, " For ye see your
calling, brethren, that there are not many wise men among
1 Comp. 1 Cor. xv. 44 ; 2 Cor. v. 4.
2 The meaning apparently is, that by the high position which all these
in common occupied, they proved themselves, on the principles of the
heretics, to belong to the favoured " seed," and should therefore have
eagerly welcomed the Lord. Or the meaning may be, " hurrying to-
gether to that relationship," that is, to the relationship secured by faith
in Christ.
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 189
you, not many noble, not many mighty ; bat those things of
the world which were despised hath God chosen."^ Such
souls, therefore, were not superior to others on account of the
seed deposited in them, nor on this account were they honoured
by the Demiurge.
8. As to the point, then, that their system is weak and
untenable as well as utterly chimerical, enough has been said.
For it is not needful, to use a common proverb, that one should
drink up the ocean who wishes to learn that its water is salt.
But, just as in the case of a statue which is made of clay,
but coloured on the outside that it may be thought to be of
gold, while it really is of clay, any one who takes out of it a
small particle, and thus laying it open reveals the clay, will set
free those who seek the truth from a false opinion ; in the same
way have I (by exposing not a small part only, but the several
heads of their system which are of the greatest importance)
shown to as many as do not wish wittingly to be led astray,
what is wicked, deceitful, seductive, and pernicious, connected
with the school of the Yalentinians, and all those other
heretics who promulgate^ wicked opinions respecting the
Demiurge, that is, the Fashioner and Former of this universe,
and who is in fact the only true God — exhibiting, [as I have
done,] how easily their views are overthrown.
9. For who that has any intelligence, and possesses only a
small proportion of truth, can tolerate them, when they affirm
that there is another God above the Creator ; and that there
is another INIonogenes as well as another Word of God, whom
also they describe as having been produced in [a state of]
degeneracy; and another Christ, whom they assert to have been
formed, along with the Holy Spirit, later than the rest of the
iEons ; and another Saviour, who, they say, did not proceed
from the Father of all, but was a kind of joint production of
those il^]ons who were formed in [a state of] degeneracy, and
that He was produced of necessity on account of this very
degeneracy ? It is thus their opinion that, unless the ^F^ons
had been in a state of ignorance and degeneracy, neither
^ 1 Cor. i. 26, 28, somewhat loosely quoted.
2 " Male tractaiit;" literally, Imndlc badly.
190 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
Christ, nor the Holy Spirit, nor Horos, nor the Saviour, nor
the angels, nor their Mother, nor her seed, nor the rest of the
fabric of the world, would have been produced at all ; but the
universe would have been a desert, and destitute of the many
good things which exist in it. They are therefore not only
chargeable with impiety against the Creator, declaring Him
the fruit of a defect, but also against Christ and the Holy
Spirit, affirming that they were produced on account of that
defect ; and, in like manner, that the Saviour [was produced]
subsequently to [the existence of] that defect. And who will
tolerate the remainder of their vain talk, which they cunningly
endeavour to accommodate to the parables, and have in this
way plunged both themselves, and those who give credit to
them, in the profoundest depths of impiety?
Chap. xx. — Futility of the arguments adduced to demonstrate
the sufferings of the twelfth u^on, from the parables, the
treachery of Judas, and the passion of our Saviour.
1. That they improperly and illogically apply both the
parables and the actions of the Lord to their falsely-devised
system, I prove as follows : They endeavour, for instance, to
demonstrate that passion which, they say, happened in the
case of the twelfth JEon, from this fact, that the passion of
the Saviour was brought about by the twelfth apostle, and
happened in the twelfth month. For they hold that He
preached [only] for one year after His baptism. They main-
tain also that the same thing was clearly set forth in the case
of her who suffered from the issue of blood. For the woman
suffered during twelve years, and through touching the hem
of the Saviour's garment she was made whole by that power
which went forth from the Saviour, and which, they affirm,
had a previous existence. For that Power who suffered was
stretching herself outwards and flowing into immensity, so
that she was in danger of being dissolved into the general
substance [of the ^ons] ; but then, touching the primary
Tetrad, which is typified by the hem of the garment, she was
arrested, and ceased from her passion.
Book ii.] IIIENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 191
2. Then, again, as to their assertion that the passion of the
twelfth A^jOW was proved through the conduct of Judas, how
is it possible that Judas can be compared [with this ^on] as
being an emblem of her — he who was expelled from the
number of the twelve/ and never restored to his place ? For
that iEon, whose type they declare Judas to be, after being
separated from her Enthymesis, was restored or recalled [to
her former position] ; but Judas was deprived [of his office],
and cast out, while Matthias was ordained in his place, accord-
ing to what is written, " And his bishopric let another take."^
They ought therefore to maintain that the twelfth ^on was
cast out of the Pleroma, and that another was produced, or
sent forth to fill her place ; if, that is to say, she is pointed
at in Judas. Moreover, they tell us that it was the ^on
herself who suffered, but Judas was the betrayer, [and not the
sufferer.] Even they themselves acknowledge that it was
the suffering Christ, and not Judas, who came to [the en-
durance of] passion. How, then, could Judas, the betrayer
of Him who had to suffer for our salvation, be the type and
image of that iEon who suffered ?
3. But, in truth, the passion of Christ was neither similar
to the passion of the iEon, nor did it take place in similar
circumstances. For the zEon underwent a passion of dissolu-
tion and destruction, so that she who suffered was in dantrer
also of being destroyed. But the Lord, our Christ, under-
went a valid, and not a merely^ accidental passion ; not only
was He Himself not in danger of being destroyed, but He
also established fallen man'* by His own strength, and recalled
him to incorruption. The iEon, again, underwent passion
while she was seeking after the Father, and was not able to
find Him ; but the Lord suft'ered that He miirht brinf^ those
^ Or, "from the twelfth number'' — the twelfth position among the
apostles.
2 Acts i. 20, from Ps. cix. 8.
^ The text is here uncertain. Most editions read " ct qure non cederet,*'
but Harvey prefers " qua3 non accederet" (for "accideref), and re-
marks that the corresponding Greek would be kx\ oO -rvvov^ wliich we
have translated as above.
■* " Corruptum hominem."
192 lEENu^US AGAINST IlEEESIES. [Book ii.
who have wandered from the Father, back to knowledge and
to His fellowshij). The search into the greatness of the
Father became to her a passion leading to destruction ; but
the Lord, havino; suffered, and bestowinf^ the knowledge of
the Father, conferred on us salvation. Her passion, as they
declare, gave origin to a female offspring, weak, infirm, un-
formed, and ineffective ; but His passion gave rise to strength
and power. For the Lord, through means of suffering,
" ascending into the lofty place, led captivity captive, gave
gifts to men,"^ and conferred on those that believe in Him
the power " to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and on all
the power of the enemy," ^ that is, of the leader of apostasy.
Our Lord also by His passion destroyed death, and dispersed
error, and put an end to corruption, and destroyed ignorance,
while He manifested life and revealed truth, and bestowed
the gift of incorruption. But their ^on, when she had
suffered, established^ ignorance, and brought forth a substance
without shape, out of which all material works have been
produced — death, corruption, error, and such like.
4. Judas, then, the twelfth in order of the disciples, was
not a type of the suffering iEon, nor, again, was the passion
of the Lord: for these two thino;s have been shown to be in
every respect mutually dissimilar and inharmonious. This is
the case not only as respects the points which I have already
mentioned, but with regard to the very number. For that
Judas the traitor is the twelfth in order, is agreed upon by
all, there being twelve apostles mentioned by name in the
Gospel. But this -ZEon is not the twelfth, but the tliirtieth;
for, according to the views under consideration, there were
not twelve ^ons only produced by the will of the Father, nor
was she sent forth the twelfth in order : they reckon her, [on
the contrary,] as having been produced in the thirtieth place.
1 Ps. Ixviii. 18 ; Eph. iv. 8. 2 L^ke x. 19.
2 Though the readmg " substituit" is found in all the MSS. and editions,
it has been deemed coiTupt, and " sustinuit" has been proposed instead
of it. Harvey supposes it the equivalent of v'Trearms, and then some-
what strangely adds " for clTrsarritrs.''* There seems to us no difficulty in
the word, and consequently no necessity for change.
Book il] IRENJE US A GAINST HERESIES. 1 93
How, then, can Judas, the twelfth in order, be the type and
image of that 2Eon who occupies the thirtieth place ?
5. But if they say that Judas in perishing w^as the image
of her Enthymcsis, neither in this way will the image bear
any analogy to that truth which [by hypothesis] corresponds
to it. For the Enthymesis having been separated from the
JEon, and itself afterwards receiving a shape from Christ,^
then being made a partaker of intelligence by the Saviour,
and having formed all things which are outside of the Pleroma,
after the image of those which are w^ithin the Pleroma, is said
at last to have been received by them into the Pleroma, and,
according to [the principle of] conjunction, to have been
united to that Saviour who was formed out of all. But Judas
having been once for all cast away, never returns into the
number of the disciples ; otherwise a different person would
not have been chosen to fill his place. Besides, the Lord also
declared regarding him, " Woe to the man by whom the
Son of man shall bo betrayed;"^ and, "It were better for
him if he had never been born ;"" and he was called the "son
of perdition'"* by Him. If, however, they say that Judas
was a type of the Enthymesis, not as separated from the -^on,
but of the passion entwined with her, neither in this way can
the number twelve be regarded as a [fitting] type of the
number three. For in the one case Judas was cast away,
and Matthias was ordained instead of him ; but in the other
case, the ^on is said to have been in danger of dissolution
and destruction, and [there are also] her Enthymesis and
passion : for they markedly distinguish Enthymesis from the
passion ; and they represent the JEon as being restored, and
Enthymesis as acquiring form, but the passion, when sepa-
rated from these, as becoming matter. Since, therefore,
there are thus these three, the ^on, her Enthymesis, and
her passion, Judas and ^Matthias, being only two, cannot be
the types of them.
' Compare, in iUustration of this sentence, book i. 4, 1, and i. 4, 5.
2 Matt. xxvi. 24. s Mark xiv. 21. * John xvii. 12.
N
] 94 IRENJE US A GAINST HERESIES [Book ii.
Chap. xxi. — The twelve apostles were not a type of the ^ons,
1. If, again, they maintain that the twelve apostles were
a type only of that group of twelve ^ons which Anthropos
in conjunction with Ecclesia produced, then let them pro-
duce ten other apostles as a type of those ten remaininsj
JEons, who, as they declare, were produced by Logos and
Zoe. For it is unreasonable to suppose that the junior, and
for that reason inferior ^ons, were set forth by the Saviour
through the election of the apostles, while their seniors, and
on this account their superiors, were not thus , foreshown ;
since the Saviour (if, that is to say. He chose the apostles
with this view, that by means of them He might show^ forth
the -3i^ons who are in the Pleroma) might have chosen other
ten apostles also, and likewise other eight before these, that
thus He might set forth the original and primary Ogdoad.
He could not,^ in regard to the second [Duo] Decad, show forth
[any emblem of it] through the number of the apostles being
[already] constituted a type. For [He made choice of no
such other number of disciples ; but] after the twelve apostles,
our Lord is found to have sent forth seventy others before
Him.^ Now seventy cannot possibly be the type either of an
Ogdoad, a Decad, or a Triacontad. What is the reason, then,
that the inferior ^ons are, as I have said, represented by
means of the apostles ; but the superior, from whom, too, the
former derived their being, are not prefigured at all ? But
if ^ the twelve apostles w^ere chosen wdth this object, that the
number of the twelve ^ons might be indicated by means of
them, then the seventy also ought to have been chosen to be
the type of seventy ^ons ; and in that case, they must affirm
that the ^ons are no longer thirty, but eighty- two in number.
^ This passage is hopelessly corrupt. The editors have twisted it in
every direction, but with no satisfactory result. Our version is quite as
far from being certainly trustworthy as any other that has been proposed,
but it seems something like the meaning of the words as they stand.
Both the text and punctuation of the Latin are in utter confusion.
2 Luke X. 1.
2 "Si" is wanting in the MSS. and early editions, and Harvey pleads
for its exclusion, but the sense becomes clearer through inserting it.
Rook il] lllENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 195
For He who made choice of the apostles, that they might be a
type of those iEons existing in the Pleroma, would never have
constituted them types of some and not of others; but by means
of the apostles He would have tried to preserve an image and
to exhibit a type of those ^ons that exist in the Pleroma.
2. Moreover, we must not keep silence respecting Paul,
but demand from them after the type of what ^on that
apostle has been handed down to us, unless perchance [they
affirm that he is a representative] of the Saviour compounded
of them [all], who derived his being from the collected gifts
of the whole, and whom they term All Things^ as having
been formed out of them all. Respecting this being the poet
Hesiod has strikingly expressed himself, styling him Pandora
— that is, " The gift of all" — for this reason, that the best
2^ift in the possession of all was centred in him. In describing
these gifts the following account is given : Hermes (so^ he is
called in the Greek language), AijulvXIov^;^ re Xoyov^ kol
iTrUXoTTOv TjOo^ avTov<; KdrOero (or to express this in the
English^ language), "implanted words of fraud and deceit
hi their minds, and thievish habits," for the purpose of leading
foolish men astray, that such should believe their falsehoods.
For their Mother — that is, Leto'* — secretly stirred them up
(whence also she is called Leto,^ according to the meaning of
the Greek word, because she secretly stirred up men), without
the knowledge of the Demiurge, to give forth profound and
unspeakable mysteries to itching ears.^ And not only did
their Mother bring it about that this mystery should be
leclared by Hesiod ; but veiy skilfully also by means of the
r'ric poet Pindar, when he describes to the Demiurge^ the
^ This clause is, of course, an interpolation by the Latin translator.
- The words arc loosely quoted mcmoriter, as is the custom with
renscus. Sec Hesiod^ Works and Days, i. 77, etc.
' Latin^ of course, in the text.
* There is here a play upon the words AriTU) and 7^n6uv^ the former
eing supposed to be derived from the latter, so as to denote secrecy.
^ This clause is probably an interpolation by the translator.
« 2 Tim. iv. 3.
^ " Ccelct Demiurgo," such is the reading in all the Jiss. and editions.
arvey, however, proposes to read " celet Demiurgum ; '' but the change
lOG lUEN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
case of Pelops, whose flesh was cut in pieces by the Father,
and then collected and brought together, and compacted anew
by all the gods/ did she in this way indicate Pandora ; and
these men having their consciences seared^ by her, declaring,
as they maintain, the very same things, are [proved] of the
same family and spirit as the others.
Chap. xxii. — Tlie tldrty JEons are not typified hy the fact
that Christ was baptized in His thirtieth year : He did not
suffer in the twelfth month after His baptism^ but zvas
more than fifty years old ichen He died,
1. I have shown that the number thii'ty fails them in every
respect ; too few iEons, as they represent them, being at one
time found w^ithin the Pleroma, and then again too many [to
correspond with that number]. There are not, therefore,
thirty ^ons, nor did the Saviour come to be baptized when
He was thirty years old, for this reason, that He might show
forth the thirty silent^ ^ons of their system, otherwise they
must first of all separate and eject [the Saviour] Himself
from the Pleroma of all. Moreover, they affirm that He
suffered in the twelfth month, so that He continued to preach
for one year after His baptism ; and they endeavour to estab-
lish this point out of the prophet (for it is written, " To
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of
retribution "^), being truly blind, inasmuch as they affirm they
have found out the mysteries of Bythus, yet not understanding
that which is called by Isaiah the acceptable year of the Lord,
which he suggests, besides being -without authority, does not clear away
the obscurity which hangs upon the sentence.
^ Comp, Pindar, Olymp. i. 38, etc.
2 " Compuncti," supposed to correspond to •/,i.x,ot,vr-/ipta.<jyAvot ; see 1
Tim. iv. 2. The whole passage is difficult and obscure.
2 Harvey wishes, without any authority, to substitute "tacitus" for
"tacitos," but there is no necessity for alteration. Irenseus is here
playing upon the word, according to a practice in which he dehghts, and
quietly scoffs at the Sige (Silence) of the heretics by styling those ^Eons
silent who were derived from her.
* Isa. Ixi. 2.
I
Book ii.] IHENjEVS AGAINST HERESIES. 197
nor tliG day of retribution. For the prophet neither speaks
concerning a day which includes the space of twelve hours,
nor of a year the length of which is twelve months. For
even tlu^y themselves acknowledge that the prophets have very
often expressed themselves in parables and allegories, and [are]
not [to be understood] according to the mere sound of the words.
2. That, then, was called the day of retribution on whicli
the Lord will render to every one according to his works —
that is, the judgment. The acceptable year of the Lord,
again, is this present time, in which those who believe Him
are called by Him, and become acceptable to God — that is,
the whole time from His advent onwards to the consummation
[of all things], during which He acquires to Himself as fruits
[of the scheme of mercy] those who are saved. For, according
to the phraseology of the prophet, the day of retribution
follows the [acceptable] year ; and the prophet will be proved
guilty of falsehood if the Lord preached only for a year, and
if he speaks of it. For where is the day of retribution ? For
the year has passed, and the day of retribution has not yet
come ; but He still " makes His sun to rise upon the good and
upon the evil, and sends rain upon the just and the unjust." ^
And the righteous suffer persecution, are afflicted, and are
slain, while sinners are possessed of abundance, and " drink
with the sound of the harp and psaltery, but do not regard
the works of the Lord."'^ But, according to the language
[used by the prophet], they ought to be combined, and the
day of retribution to follow the [acceptable] year. For the
words are, " to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and
the day of retribution." This present time, therefore, in
whicli men are called and saved by the Lord, is properly
understood to be denoted by " the acceptable year of the
Lord ; " and there follows on this " the day of retribution,"
that is, the judgment. And the time thus referred to is not
called "a year" only, but is also named "a day" both by
the prophet and by Paul, of whom the apostle, calling to
mind the Scripture, says in the epistle addressed to the
' Romans, "As it is written, for thy'sake we are killed all the
1 Matt. V. 45. 2 isa. y. 12.
198 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
day long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter."^ But
here the expression " all the day long " is put for all this time
during which we suffer persecution, and are killed as sheep.
As then this day does not signify one which consists of twelve
hours, but the whole time during which believers in Christ
suffer and are put to death for His sake, so also the year there
mentioned does not denote one which consists of twelve
months, but the whole time of faith during which men hear
and believe the preaching of the gospel, and those become
acceptable to God who unite themselves to Plim.
3. But it is greatly to be wondered at, how it has come to
pass that, while affirming that they have found out the mys-
teries of God, they have not examined the Gospels to ascertain
how often after His baptism the Lord went up, at the time
of the passover, to Jerusalem, in accordance with what was
the practice of the Jews from every land, and every year,
that they should assemble at this period in Jerusalem, and
there celebrate the feast of the passover. First of all, after
He had made the water wine at Cana of Galilee, He went
up to the festival day of the passover, on which occasion it is
written, " For many believed in Him, when they saw the
signs which He did," ^ as John the disciple of the Lord re-
cords. Then, again, withdrawing Himself [from Juda}a], He
is found in Samaria ; on which occasion, too, He conversed
with the Samaritan woman, and while at a distance, cured
the son of the centurion by a word, saying, " Go thy way,
thy son liveth." ^ Afterwards He went up, the second time,
to observe the festival day of the passover ^ in Jerusalem ; on
which occasion He cured the paralytic man, who had lain
beside the pool thirty-eight years, bidding him rise, take up
1 Eoin. viii. 36. ^ JqI^ ii. 23. ^ John iv. 50.
* John V. 1, etc. It is well known that, to fix what is meant by i\\Q
£OjOT'/j, referred to in this passage of St. John, is one of the most diffi-
cult points in New Testament criticism. Some modern scholars think
that the feast of Purim is intended by the evangelist ; but, upon the
wholp, the current of opinion that has always prevailed in the church
has been in favour of the statement here made by Irenseus. Christ
would therefore be present at four passovers after His baptism : (1)
John ii. 13 ; (2) John v. 1 ; (3) John vi. 4 ; (4) John xiii. 1.
Book ii.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 109
Ills couch, and depart. Again, withdrawing from thence to the
other side of the sea of Tiberias,^ He there, seeing a great
crowd had followed Him, fed all that multitude with five
loaves of bread, and twelve baskets of fragments remained
over and above. Then, when He had raised Lazarus from
the dead, and plots were formed against Him by the Phari-
sees, He withdrew to a city called Ephraim ; and from that
place, as it is written, " He came to Bethany six days before
the passover," ^ and going up from Bethany to Jerusalem, He
there ate the passover, and suffered on the day following.
Now, that these three occasions of the passover are not
included within one year, every person whatever must
acknowledge. And that the special month in which the
passover was celebrated, and in which also the Lord suffered,
was not the twelfth, but the first, those men who boast that
they know all things, if they know not this, may learn it
from Moses. Their explanation, therefore, both of the year
and of the twelfth month has been proved false, and they
ought to reject either their explanation or the gospel ; other-
wise [this unanswerable question forces itself upon them],
How is it possible that the Lord preached for one year only ?
4. Being thirty years old when He came to be baptized,
and then possessing the full age of a Master,^ He came to
Jerusalem, so that He might be properly acknowledged ^ by
all as a ^Master. For He did not seem one thino; while He
was another, as those afiirm who describe Him as being man
only in appearance ; but what He was, that He also appeared
to be. Being a Master, therefore, He also possessed the
age of a Master, not despising or evading any condition of
humanity, nor setting aside in Himself that law which He
had '* appointed for the human race, but sanctifying every
age, by that period corresponding to it which belonged to
' John vi. 1, etc. - Jolm xi. 54, xii. 1. ^ Or " teacher," magistri.
^ Harvey strangely remarks here, that "the reatiiug andirct, followed
by Massuet, makes no sense." He gives audii-etur in his text, but pro-
poses to read ordiretur. The passage may, however, be translated as
above, without departing from the Benedictine reading audlrct.
^ " Neque solvens suam legem in se humani generis." ^Massuet would
200 IRENJSUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
Himself. For He came to save all throuMi means of Him-
self — all, I say, who through Him are born again to God ^ —
infants,^ and children, and boys, and youths, and old men.
He therefore passed through every age, becoming an infant
for infants, thus sanctifying infants ; a child for cliildren,
thus sanctifying those who are of this age, being at the same
time made to them an example of piety, righteousness, and
submission ; a youth for youths, becoming an example to
youths, and thus sanctifying them for the Lord. So likewise
He was an old man for old men, that lie might be a perfect
Master for all, not merely as respects the setting forth of the
truth, but also as regards age, sanctifying at the same time
the aged also, and becoming an example to them likewise.
Then, at last. He came on to death itself, that He might be
"the first-born from the dead, that in all thino;s He miffht
have the pre-eminence," ^ the Prince of life,* existing before
all, and going before all.
5. They, however, that they may establish their false
opinion regarding that which is written, " to proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord," maintain that He preached for
one year only, and then suffered in the twelfth month. [In
speaking thus], they are forgetful to their own disadvantage,
destroying His whole work, and robbing Him of that age
which is both more necessary and more lionoui*able than any
other ; that more advanced age, I mean, during which also
as a teacher He excelled all others. For how could He have
had disciples, if He did not teach ? x\nd how could He have
taught, unless He had reached the age of a Master ? For
when He came to be baptized. He had not yet completed His
thirtieth year, but was beginning to be about thirty years of
age (for thus Luke, wdio has mentioned His years, has ex-
expunge " suam ;" but, as Harvey well observes, " it has a peculiar sig-
nificance, nor abrogating his own lawy
' " Renascuntur in Deum." The reference in these words is doubtless
to baptism, as clearly appears from comparing book iii. 17, 1.
2 It has been remarked by Wall and others, that we have here the
statement of a valuable fact as to the baptism of infants in the primitive
church.
3 Col. i. 18. * Acts iii. 15.
\
Book il] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 201
pressed it : " Now Jesus was, as it were, beginning to be
tliirty years old," ^ when Ho came to receive baptism) ; and,
[according to these men,] He preached only one year reckon-
ing from His baptism. On completing His thirtieth year He
suffered, being in fact still a young man, and who had by no
means attained to advanced age. Now, that the first stage
of early life embraces thirty years,^ and that this extends
onwards to the fortieth year, every one will admit ; but from
the fortieth and fiftieth year a man beghis to decline towards
old age, which our Lord possessed while He still fulfilled the
office of a Teacher, even as the gospel and all the elders
testify; those who were conversant in Asia with John, the
disciple of the Lord, [affirming] that John conveyed to
them that information.^ And he remained among them up
to the times of Trajan.* Some of them, moreover, saw
not only John, but the other apostles also, and heard the
very same account from them, and bear testimony as to the
[validity of] the statement. Whom then should we rather
believe ? Whether such men as these, or Ptolema3us, who
» Luke iii. 23.
2 The Latin text of this clause is, " Quia autem triginta annorum setas
prima indolis est juvenis" — words which it seems almost impossible to
translate. Grabe regarded "indolis" as being in the nominative, while
Massuct contends it is in the genitive case ; and so regarding it, we might
translate, " Now that the age of thirty is the first age of the mind of
youth," etc. But Harvey re-translates the clause into Greek as fol-
lows : Or; ds ^ tuv rptxKOvrcc Iruy r,'hiKi(X. sj Trpurri rjj; oioc&tdioi; ioTt
viocq — words which we have endeavoured to render as above. The
meaning clearly is, that the age of thirty marked the transition point
from youth to maturity.
^ With respect to this extraordinary assertion of Irenseus, Harvey
remarks : " The reader may here perceive the unsatisfactory character
of tradition, where a mere fact is concerned. From reasonings founded
upon the evangelical history, as well as from a preponderance of external
testimony, it is most certain that oiur Lord's mmistry extended but little
over three yeare ; yet here Irenaius states that it included more than ten
years, and appeals to a tradition derived, as he says, from those who had
conversed with an apostle."
■* Trajan's reign commenced a.d. 98, and St. John is said to have lived
to the n<ic of a hundred vears.
202 lEENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
never saw tlie apostles, and who never even in his dreams
attained to the sh'ghtest trace of an apostle ?
6. But, besides this, those very Jews who then disputed
with the Lord Jesus Christ have most clearly indicated the
same thing. For when the Lord said to them, "Your
father Abraham rejoiced to see my day ; and he saw it, and
was glad," they answered Him, " Thou art not yet fifty years
old, and hast thou seen Abraham?"^ Now, such language
is fittingly applied to one who has already passed the age of
forty, without having as yet reached his fiftieth year, yet is
not far from this latter period. But to one who is only thirty
years old it would unquestionably be said, " Thou art not
yet forty years old." For those who wished to convict Him
of falsehood would certainly not extend the number of His
years far beyond the age which they saw He had attained ;
but they mentioned a period near His real age, whether they
had truly ascertained this out of the entry in the public
register, or simply made a conjecture from what they ob-
served that He was above forty years old, and that He
certainly was not one of only thirty years of age. For it is
altogether unreasonable to suppose that they were mistaken
by twenty years, when they wished to prove Him younger
than the times of Abraham. For what they saw, that they
also expressed ; and He whom they beheld was not a mere
phantasm, but an actual being ^ of flesh and blood. He did
not then want much of being fifty years old ; and, in accord-
ance with that fact, they said to Him, " Thou art not yet
fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?" He did not
therefore preach only for one year, nor did He suffer in the
twelfth month of the year. For the period included between
the thirtieth and the fiftieth year can never be regarded as
one year, unless indeed, among their ^ons, there be so long
years assigned to those who sit in their ranks with Bythus
in the Pleroma ; of which beings Homer the poet, too, has
spoken, doubtless being inspired by the Mother of their
[system of] error :
' John viii. 56, 57.
2 " Sed Veritas"— literally, " the truth."
Book ii.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 203
0/ oi 6io\ TToLp Zyiul Z0ld'/Jf4,SV0t ViyopociVTo
which we may tlius render into English : ^
" The gods sat round, while Jove presided o'er,
And converse held upon the golden floor."
Chap, xxiii. — The woman ivlio suffered from an issue of
blood ivas no type of the suffering JEon.
Moreover, their ignorance comes out in a clear light with
respect to the case of that woman who, suffering from an
issue of blood, touched the hem of the Lord's garment, and
so was made whole ; for they maintain that through her was
shown forth that twelfth power who suffered passion, and
flowed out towards immensity, that is, the twelfth ^on.
[This ignorance of theirs appears] first, because, as I have
shown, according to their own system, that was not the
twelfth ^on. But even granting them this point [in the
meantime], there being twelve -^ons, eleven of these are
said to have continued impassible, while the twelfth suffered
passion ; but the woman, on the other hand, being healed in
the twelfth year, it is manifest that she had continued to
suffer during eleven years, and was healed in the twelfth.
If indeed they were to say that eleven ^ons were involved
in passion, but the twelfth one was healed, it would then bo
a plausible thing to say that the woman was a type of these.
But since she suffered during eleven years, and [all that
time] obtained no cure, but was healed in the twelfth year,
in what way can she be a type of the twelfth of the iEons,
eleven of whom, [according to hypothesis,] did not suffer at
all, but the twelfth alone participated in suffering? For a
type and emblem is, no doubt, sometimes diverse from the
truth [signified] as to matter and substance ; but it ought, as
to the general form and features, to maintain a likeness [to
what is typified], and in this way to shadow forth by means
of things present those which are yet to come.
2. And not only in the case of this woman have the years
' Iliad^ 5. 1. - Latin, of course, in the text.
204 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
of her infirmity (wliicli they affirm to fit in with their figment)
been mentioned, but, lo ! another woman was also healed,
after suffering in like manner for eighteen years ; concern-
ino: whom tlie Lord said, " And ouo;ht not this daughter of
Abraham, whom Satan has bound during eighteen years, to
be set free on the Sabbath-day ?" ^ If, then, the former w^as a
type of the tw^elfth -ZEon that suffered, the latter should also
be a type of the eighteenth ^on in suffering. But they
cannot maintain this ; otherwise their primary and original
Ogdoad will be included in the number of -^ons who suffered
together. Moreover, there w^as also a certain other person^
healed by the Lord, after he had suffered for eight-and-thirty
years : they ought therefore to affirm that the JEon who
occupies the thirty-eighth place suffered. For if they assert
that the things which were done by the Lord were types
of what took place in the Pleroma, the type ought to be
preserved throughout. But they can neither adapt to their
fictitious system the case of her who was cured after eighteen
years, nor of him who was cured after thirty-eight years.
Now, it is in every way absurd and inconsistent to declare
that the Saviour preserved the type in certain cases, w^hile
He did not do so in others. The type of the w^oman, there-
fore, [with the issue of blood] is shown to have no analogy
to their system of ^ons.^
Chap. xxiv. — Folfy of the arguments derived hy the heretics
from numbers^ letters^ and syllahles.
1. This very thing, too, still further demonstrates their
opinion false, and their fictitious system untenable, that they
endeavour to bring forward proofs of it, sometimes through
means of numbers and the syllables of names, sometimes
also through the letter of syllables, and yet again through
those numbers which are, according to the practice followed
by the Greeks, contained in [different] letters ; — [this, I say,]
^ Luke xiii. 16. ^ John v. 5.
3 The text of this sentence is very uncertain. We follow Massuefs
reading, "negotio-^onum," in preference to that suggested by Harvey.
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 205
demonstrates in the clearest manner their overthrow or con-
fusion/ as well as the untenable and perverse character of
their [professed] knowledge. For, transferring the name
JesuSy which belongs to another language, to the numeration
of the Greeks, they sometimes call it "Episemon,"^ as having
six letters, and at other times " the Plenitude of the Ogdoads,"
as containing the number eight hundred and eighty-eight.
But His [corresponding] Greek name, which is " Soter," that
is, Saviour, because it does not fit in with their system, either
with respect to numerical value or as regards its letters, they
pass over in silence. Yet surely, if they regard the names
of the Lord, as, in accordance with the preconceived pur-
pose of the Father, by means of their numerical value and
letters, indicating number in the Pleroma, Soter, as being a
Greek name, ought by means of its letters and the numbers
[expressed by these], in virtue of its being Greek, to show
forth the mystery of the Pleroma. But the case is not so,
because it is a word of five letters, and its numerical value is
one thousand four hundred and eio;ht.^ But these thing's do
not in any way correspond with their Pleroma : the account,
therefore, which they give of transactions in the Pleroma
cannot be true.
2. Moreover, Jesus, which is a word belonging to the
proper tongue of the Hebrews, contains, as the learned among
them declare, two letters and a half,"* and signifies that Lord
who contains heaven and earth ; ^ for Jesus in the ancient
Hebrew language means ^'heaven," while again "earth" is
^ " Sive confusionem " is very probably a marginal gloss which has
found its way into the text. The whole clause is difficult and obscure.
- Comp. i. 14, 4.
^ Thus : ^coTvip (<r = 200, a. = 800, r = 300, »j =r 8, ^ = 100) = 1408.
* Being written thus, Vu^% and the small ^ being apparently regarded
as only half a letter. Harvey proposes a different solution which seems
less probable.
^ This is one of the most obscure passages in the whole work of Ircnaius,
and the editors have succeeded in throwing very little light upon it.
We may merely state that IL""' seems to be regarded as containing in
itself the initials of the three words nin% Jehovah ; D^Di^', heaven ; and
pXI, and earth.
206 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. TBook ii.
u
expressed by the words sura usser} The word, therefore,
which contains heaven and earth is just Jesus. Their expla-
nation, then, of the Episemon is false, and their numerical
calculation is also manifestly overthrown. For, in their own
language, Soter is a Greek word of five letters ; but, on the
other hand, in the Hebrew tongue, Jesus contains only two
letters and a half. The total which they reckon up, viz.
eight hundred and eighty-eight, therefore falls to the ground.
And throughout, the Hebrew letters do not correspond in
number with the Greek, although these especially, as being
the more ancient and unchanging, ought to uphold the
reckoning connected with the names. For these ancient,
original, and generally called sacred letters^ of the Hebrews
are ten in number (but they are written by means of fifteen'),
the last letter being joined to the first. And thus they write
some of these letters according to their natural sequence, just
as we do, but others in a reverse direction, from the right
hand towards the left, thus tracing the letters backwards.
The name Christ, too, ought to be capable of being reckoned
up in harmony with the ^ons of their Pleroma, inasmuch
as, according to their statement?, He was produced for the
establishment and rectification of their Pleroma. The Father,
too, in the same way, ought, both by means of letters and
numerical value, to contain the number of those ^ons who
were produced by Him ; Bythus in like manner, and not
less Monogenes ; but pre-eminently the name which is above
all others, by which God is called, and which in the Hebrew
tongue is expressed by Barucli^ [a word] which also contains
^ Nothing can be made of these words ; they have probably been cor-
rupted by ignorant transcribers, and are now wholly unintelligible.
2 "Literse sacerdotales," — another enigma which no man can solve,
Massuet supposes the reference to be to the archaic Hebrew characters,
still used by the priests after the square Chaldaic letters had been gene-
rally adopted. Harvey thinks that sacerdotales represents the Greek
'hsirovyiKK, " meaning letters as popularly used in common computation."
2 The editors have again long notes on this most obscure passage.
Massuet expunges "quseque," and gives a lengthened explanation of the
clause, to which we can only refer the curious reader.
* '^ni, Baruch, llessed, one of the commonest titles of the Almighty.
Book it.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 207
two and a half letters. From this fact, therefore, that the
more important names, both in the Hebrew and Greek
languages, do not conform to their system, either as respects
the number of letters or the reckoning brought out of them,
the forced character of their calculations respecting the rest
becomes clearly manifest.
3. For, choosing out of the law whatever things agree
with the number adopted in their system, they thus violently
strive to obtain proofs of its validity. But if it was really
the purpose of their Mother, or the Saviour, to set forth, by
means of the Demiurge, types of those things which are in
the Pleroma, they should have taken care that the types were
found in things more exactly correspondent and more holy ;
and, above all, in the case of the Ark of the Covenant, on
account of which the whole tabernacle of witness was formed.
Now it was constructed thus : its length^ was two cubits and
a half, its breadth one cubit and a half, its height one cubit
and a half ; but such a number of cubits in no respect cor-
responds with their system, yet by it the type ought to have
been, beyond everything else, clearly set forth. The mercy-
seat^ also does in like manner not at all harmonize w^ith their
expositions. Moreover, the table of shew-bread^ was two
cubits in length, while its height was a cubit and a half.
These stood before the holy of holies, and yet in them not a
single number is of such an amount as contains an indication
of the Tetrad, or the Ogdoad, or of the rest of their Pleroma.
What of the candlestick,'^ too, which had seven '^ branches
and seven lamps? while, if these had been made according
to the type, it ought to have had eight branches and a like
number of lamps, after the type of the primary Ogdoad,
which shines pre-eminently among the -^ons, and illuminates
the whole Pleroma. They have carefully enumerated the
The final •] seems to be reckoned only a half-letter, as being different in
form from what it is when accompanied by a vowel at the beginning
or in the middle of a word.
1 Ex. XXV. 10. = Ex. XXV. 17.
3 Ex. XXV. 23. 4 Ex. XXV. 31, etc.
^ Only six branches are mentioned in Ex. xxv. 32.
208 IRENMUS AGAINST HERESIES, [Book ir.
curtains^ as being ten, declaring these a type of tlie ten
-ZEons ; but they have forgotten to count the coverings of
skin, which were eleven " in number. Nor, again, have they
measured the size of these very curtains, each curtain^ being
eight-and-twenty cubits in length. And they set forth the
length of the pillars as being ten cubits, with a reference
to the Decad of ^ons. " But the breadth of each pillar
was a cubit and a half ;"^ and this they do ndt explain, any
more than they do the entire number of the pillars or of their
bars, because that does not suit the argument. But what of
the anointing oil,^ which sanctified the whole tabernacle ?
Perhaps it escaped the notice of the Saviour, or, while their
Mother was sleeping, the Demiurge of himself gave instruc-
tions as to its weight; and on this account it is out of harmony
with their Pleroma, consisting,^ as it did, of five hundred
shekels of myrrh, five hundred of cassia, two hundred and
fifty of cinnamon, two hundred and fifty of calamus, and oil
in addition, so that it was composed of five ingredients. The
incense " also, in like manner, [was compounded] of stacte,
onycha, galbanum, mint, and frankincense, all which do in
no respect, either as to their mixture or weight, harmonize
with their argument. It is therefore unreasonable and alto-
gether absurd [to maintain] that the types were not preserved
in the sublime and more imposing enactments of the law ;
but in other points, when any number coincides with their
assertions, to affirm that it was a type of the things in the
Pleroma ; while [the truth is, that] every number occurs with
the utmost variety in the Scriptures, so that, should any one
desire it, he might form not only an Ogdoad, and a Decad,
and a Duodecad, but any sort of number 'from the Scriptures,
and then maintain that this was a type of the system of error
devised by himself.
4. But that this point is true, that that number which is
called five^ which agrees in no respect with their argument,
and does not harmonize with their system, nor is suitable for
1 Ex. xxvi. 1. 2 Ex. xxvi. 7. ^ Ex. xxvi. 2.
4 Ex. xxvi. 16. ^ Ex. xxvi. 26. ^ Ex. xxx. 23, etc.
^ Ex. xxx. 34.
Book ii.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 209
a typical manifestation of tlic tilings in the Pleroma, [yet
lias a wide prevalence/] will be proved as follows from the
Scriptures. Soter is a name of five letters ; Pater, too, con-
tains five letters ; Agape (love), too, consists of five letters ;
and our Lord, after ^ blessing the five loaves, fed with them five ,
thousand men. Five virgins^ w^ere called wise by the Lord ;
and, in like manner, five w^ere styled foolish. Again, five
men are said" to have been with the Lord when He obtained
testimony"^ from the Father, — namely, Peter, and James, and
John, and Moses, and Elias. The Lord also, as the fifth
person, entered into the apartment of the dead maiden, and
raised her up again ; for, says [the Scripture], " He suffered
no man to go in, save Peter and James,^ and the father and
mother of the maiden."^ The rich man in hell' declared
that he had five brothers, to whom he desired that one rising
from the dead should go. The pool from which the Lord
commanded the paralytic man to go into his house, had five
porches. The very form of the cross, too, has five extremities,^
two in length, two in breadth, and one in the middle, on
wdiich [last] the person rests who is fixed by the nails. Each
of our hands has five fingers ; we have also five senses ; our
internal organs may also be reckoned as five, viz. the heart,
the liver, the lungs, the spleen, and the kidneys. Moreover,
even the whole person may be divided into this number [of
parts], — the head, the breast, the belly, the thighs, and the
feet. The human race passes through five ages: first infancy,
then boyhood, then youth, then maturity,^ and then old age.
Moses delivered the law to the people in five books. Each
table which he received from God contained five ^^ coitimand-
"^ Some such supplement as this seems requisite, but the syntax in the
Latin text is very confused.
- Matt. xiv. 19, 21 ; Mark vi. 41, 4i ; Luke ix. 13, 14 ; John vi. 9,
[10, 11.
2 Matt. XXV. 2, etc. * Matt. xvii. 1.
fi St. Jolin is here strangely overlooked,
c Luke viii. 51. 7 Luke xvi. 28.
® " Fmcs et summitates ; " coinp. Justm Mart. Dial. c. Tryph. 91.
^ " Juvenis," one in the prime of life.
^^ It has been usual in the Christian church to reckon four command-
O
210 IRENu^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir,
ments. The veil covering^ the holy of holies had five pillars.
The altar of burnt-offerino; also was five cubits in breadth.'^
Five priests were chosen in the wilderness, — namely, Aaron,^
Nadab, Abiud, Eleazar, Ithaniar. The ephod and the breast-
plate, and the other sacerdotal vestments, were formed out of
five ^ materials ; for they combined in themselves gold, and
blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. And there
were five ^ kings of the Amorites, whom Joshua the son of
Nun shut up in a cave, and directed the people to trample
upon their heads. Any one, in fact, might collect many
thousand other things of the same kind, both with respect to
this number and any ^ther he chose to fix upon, either from
the Scriptures, or from the works of nature lying under
his observation. But although such is the case, we do not
therefore affirm that there are five^ons above the Demiurcre;
nor do we consecrate the Pentad, as if it were some divine
thing; nor do we strive to establish things that are untenable,
nor ravings [such as they indulge in], by means of that vain
kind of labour; nor do we perversely force a creation well
adapted by God [for the ends intended to be served], to change
itself into types of things which have no real existence ; nor
do we seek to bring forward impious and abominable doc-
trines, the detection and overthrow of which are easy to all
possessed of intelligence.
5. For who can concede to them that the year has three
hundred and sixty-five days only, in order that there may
be twelve months of thirty days each, after the type of the
twelve ^ons, when the type is in fact altogether out of har-
mony [with the antitype] ? For, in the one case, each of
the ^ons is a thirtieth part of the entire Pleroma, while in
the other they declare that a month is the twelfth part of a
year. If, indeed, the year were divided into thirty parts,
and the month into twelve, then a fitting type might be re-
ments in the first table, and six in the second ; but the above was the
ancient Jewish division. See Joseph. Aniiq. iii. 6.
1 Ex. xxvi. 37.
2 Ex. xxvii. 1 ; •' altitudo "' in the text must be exchanged for "latitudo.'*
^ Ex. xxviii. 1. ■* Ex. xxviii. 5. ^ Josh. x. 17.
Book ii.] IRENJE US A GA INST HERESIES. 2 1 1
garded as having been found for their fictitious system. But,
on the contrary, as the case really stands, their Pleroma is
divided into thirty parts, and a portion of it into twelve ;
while again the whole year is divided into twelve parts, and
a certain portion of it into thirty. The Saviour therefore
acted unwisely in constituting the month a type of the entire
Pleroma, but the year a type only of that Duodecad which
exists in the Pleroma ; for it was more fittino; to divide the
year into thirty parts, even as the whole Pleroma is divided,
but the month into twelve, just as the ^ons are in their
Pleroma. Moreover, thev divide the entire Pleroma into
three portions, — namely, into an Ogdoad, a Decad, and a
Duodecad. But our year is divided into four parts, — namely,
spring, summer, autumn, and winter. And again, not even
do the months, which they maintain to be a type of the Tria-
contad, consist precisely of thirty days, but some have more
and some less, inasmuch as five days remain to them as an
overplus.^ The day, too, does not always consist precisely of
twelve hours, but rises from nine^ to fifteen, and then falls
ao;ain from fifteen to nine. It cannot therefore be held that
months of thirty days each w^ere so formed for the sake of
[typifying] the iEons ; for, in that case, they would have
consisted precisely of thirty days : nor, again, the da^'s of
these months, that by means of twelve hours they might
symbolize the twelve ^ons ; for, in that case, they would
always have consisted precisely of twelve hours.
6. But further, as to their calling material substances " on
the left hand," and maintaining that those things which are
thus on the left hand of necessity fall into corruption, while
they also affirm that the Saviour came to the lost sheep, in
order to transfer it to the right hand, that is, to the ninety
and nine sheep which were in safety, and perished not, but
continued within the fold, yet were of the left hand,^ it
1 3G5 (the clays of the year) = 12x30 + 5.
- These hours of daylight, at the winter and summer solstice respec-
tively, correspond to the latitude of Lyons, 45° 45' N., where Irengeus
resided.
^"Alluding," says Harvey, '*to a custom amonf; the ancients, of
212 IBENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
follows that they must acknowledge that the enjoyment^ of
rest did not imply salvation. And that which has not in like
manner the same number, they "will be compelled to acknow-
ledge as belonging to the left hand, that is, to corruption.
This Greek word Agape (love), then, according to the letters
of the Greeks, by means of which reckoning is carried on
among them, having a numerical value of ninety-three^ is in
like manner assigned to the place of rest on the left hand.
Aletheia (truth), too, having in like manner, according to
the principle indicated above, a numerical value of sixty-four,^
exists among material substances. And thus, in fine, they will
be compelled to acknowledge that all those sacred names
which do not reach a numerical value of one hundred, but
only contain the numbers summed by the left hand, are cor-
ruptible and material.
Chap. xxv. — God is not to he sought after hy means of letters^
syllables, and numbers ; necessity of humility in such
investigations.
1. If any one, however, say in reply to these things. What
then ? Is it a meaningless and accidental thing, that the
positions of names, and the election of the apostles, and the
working of the Lord, and the arrangement of created things,
are what they are ? — we answer them : Certainly not ; but
with great wisdom and diligence, all things have clearly been
made by God, fitted and prepared [for their special purposes] ;
and His word formed both things ancient and those belonging
summing the numbers below 100 by various positions of the left hand
and its fingers ; 100 and upwards being reckoned by corresponding
gestures of the right hand. The ninety and nine sheep, therefore, that
remained quietly in the fold were summed upon the left hand, and
Gnostics professed that they were typical of the true spiritual seed ; but
Scripture always places the workers of iniquity on the left hand, and in
the Gnostic theory the evil principle of matter was sinistral, therefore, '
etc., as above.
■•• "Levamen," corresponding probably to the Greek di)»'7ruvaiv.
^ ^ Kyccir-zi (cf = 1, y = 3, oc = 1, -r = 80, -ii = 8) = 93.
3'AA5j^£/a (« = 1, A = 30, )9 = 8, ^ = 9, £ = 5, / = 10, ct = l) = 64.
Book ii.] IREN2EUS A GAINST HERESIES. 213
to the latest times; and men ought not to connect those
things with the number tliivUj^ but to harmonize them with
w^hat actually exists, or with right reason. Nor should they
seek to prosecute inquiries respecting God by means of num-
bers, syllables, and letters. For this is an uncertain mode of
proceeding, on account of their varied and diverse systems,
and because every sort of hypothesis may at the present day
be, in like manner, devised^ by any one; so that^ they can
derive arguments against the truth from these very theories,
inasmuch as they may be turned in many different directions.
But, on the contrary, they ought to adapt the numbers them-
selves, and those things which have been formed, to the true
theory lying before them. For system* does nr»t spring out
of numbers, but numbers from a system ; nor does God
derive His being from things made, but things made from
God. For all thincrs oric^inatc from one and the same God.
2. But since created things are various and numerous, they
are indeed well fitted and adapted to the whole creation ; yet,
wdien viewed individually, are mutually opposite and inhar-
monious, just as the sound of the lyre, which consists of
many and opposite notes, gives rise to one unbroken melody,
through means of the interval which separates each one
from the others. The lover of truth therefore ought not to
be deceived by the interval between each note, nor should he
imagine that one was due to one artist and author, and another
to another, nor that one person fitted the treble, another the
bass, and yet another the tenor strings; but he should hold that
one and the same person [formed the whole], so as to prove
the judgment, goodness, and skill exhibited in the whole
work and [specimen of] wisdom. Those, too, who listen to
the melody, ought to praise and extol the artist, to admire
the tension of some notes, to attend to the softness of others,
to catch the sound of others between both these extremes,
^ Some read xx., but xxx. is probably correct.
^ Harvey proposes " commentitum " instead cf " coinmentatiim," but
the alteration seems unnecessary.
^ The syntax is in confusion, and the meaning obscure.
4 " Reo-ula."
214 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
and to consider the special cliaracter of others, so as to inquire
at what each one aims, and what is the cause of their variety,
never faiUng to apply our rule, neither giving up the [one^]
artist, nor casting off faith in the one God who formed all
things, nor blaspheming our Creator.
3. If, however, any one do not discover the cause of all
those things which become objects of investigation, let him
reflect that man is infinitelv inferior to God : that he has
received grace only in part, and is not yet equal or similar to
his Maker; and, moreover, that he cannot have experience or
form a conception of all things like God ; but in the same
proportion as he who w^as formed but to-day, and received
the beginning of his creation, is inferior to Him who is un-
created, and wdio is always the same, in that proportion is he,
as respects knowledge and the faculty of investigating the
causes of all things, inferior to Him who made him. For
thou, O man, art not an uncreated being, nor didst thou
always co-exist ^ with God, as did His own Word ; but now,
through His pre-eminent goodness, receiving the beginning
of thy creation, thou dost gradually learn from the Word the
dispensations of God who made thee.
4. Preserve therefore the proper order of thy knowledge,
and do not, as being ignorant of things really good, seek to
rise above God Himself, for He cannot be surpassed; nor
do thou seek after any one above the Creator, for thou wilt
not discover such. For thy Former cannot be contained
within limits ; nor, although thou shouldst measure all this
[universe], and pass through all His creation, and con-
sider it in all its depth, and height, and length, wouldst thou
be able to conceive of any other above the Father Himself.
For thou wilt not be able to think Him fully out, but, indulg-
ing in trains of reflection opposed to thy nature, thou wilt
prove thyself foolish ; and if thou persevere in such a course,
thou wilt fall into utter madness, w^hilst thou deemest thyself
loftier and greater than thy Creator, and imaginest that thou
canst penetrate beyond His dominions.
^ " Errantes ab artifice." The whole sentence is most obscure.
2 Alluding to the imaginary Mon Anthropos, who existed from eternity.
Book ii.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 215
CiiAr. XXVI. — ^^ Knowledge puJ/'etJi up, hut love edifieth^
1. It is therefore better and more profitable to belong to
the simple and unlettered class, and by means of love to at-
tain to nearness to God, than, by imagining ourselves learned
and skilful, to be found [among those who are] blasphemous
against their own God, inasmuch as they conjure up another
God as the Father. And for this reason Paul exclaimed,
^'Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth:"^ not that he
meant to inveigh against a true knowledge of God, for in
that case he would have accused himself ; but, because he
knew that some, puffed up by the pretence of knowledge,
fall away from the love of God, and imagine that they them-
selves are perfect, for this reason that they set forth an im-
perfect Creator, wdth the view of putting an end to the pride
which they feel on account of knowledge of this kind, he says,
" Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth." Now there can
be no greater conceit than this, that any one should imagine
lie is better and more perfect than Pie who made and fashioned
him, and imparted to him the breatli of life, and commanded
this verv thino- into existence. It is therefore better, as I
have said, that one should have no knowledge whatever of
any one reason why a single thing in creation has been made,
but should believe in God, and continue in His love, than"
that, puffed up through knowledge of this kind, he should
fall away from that love which is the life of man ; and that
he should search after no other knowledge except [the know-
ledge of] Jesus Christ the Son of God, who was crucified for
lis, than "^ that by subtle questions and hairsplitting expres-
sions he should fall into impiety.
2. For how would it be, if any one, gradually elated by
attempts of the kind referred to, should, because the Lord
said that "even the hairs of your head are all numbered,"^
set about inquiring into the number of hairs on each one's
^ 1 Cor. viii. i.
2"Aut;" 5j luuing been thus mistakenly rendered instead of
*■' quani."
3 Matt. X. 30.
216 IREN2EUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
liead, and endeavour to search out the reason on . account of
which one man lias so many, and. another so many, since
all have not an equal number, but many thousands upon
thousands are to be found with still varying numbers, on this
account that some have larger and others smaller heads, some
liave bushy heads of hair, others thin, and others scarcely
any hair at all, — and then those who imagine that they have
discovered the number of the hairs, should endeavour to
apply that for the commendation of their own sect which
they have conceived ? Or again, if any one should, because
of this expression which occurs in the Gospel, " Are not two
sparrows sold for a farthing? and not one of them falls to the
ground without the will of your Father," ^ take occasion to
reckon up the number of sparrows caught daily, whether
over all the world or in some particular district, and to make
inquiry as to the reason of so many having been captured
yesterday, so many the day before, and so many again on
this day, and should then join on the number of sparrows to
his [particular] hypothesis, would he not in that case mislead
himself altogether, and drive into absolute insanity those that
agreed with him, since men are always eager in such matters
to be thought to have discovered something more extraordi-
nary than their masters?
3. But if any one should ask us whether every number of
all the things which have been made, and which are made, is
known to God, and whether every one of these [numbers] has,
according to His providence, received that special amount
which it contains ; and on our agreeing that such is the case,
and acknowledging that not one of the things which have
been, or are, or shall be made, escapes the knowledge of
God, but that through His 2)rovidence every one of them has
obtained its nature, and rank, and number, and special quan-
tity, and that nothing whatever either has been or is produced
in vain or accidentally, but with exceeding suitability [to the
purpose intended], and in the exercise of transcendent know-
ledge, and that it was an admirable and truly divine intellect^
which could both distinguish and bring forth the proper
1 Matt. X. 29. 2 u Kationem."
Book ii.] UIENJEJJS AGAINST HERESIES. 217
causes of such a system : if, [I sayj any one, on obtaining
our adherence and consent to this, should proceed to reckon
up the sand and pebbles of the earth, yea also the waves of
the sea and the stars of heaven, and should endeavour to
think out the causes of the number which he imagines him-
self to have discovered, would not his labour be in vain, and
would not such a man be justly declared mad, and destitute
of reason, by all possessed of common sense ? And the more
he occupied himself beyond others in questions of this kind,
and the more he imagines himself to find out beyond others,
styling them unskilful, ignorant, and animal beings, because
they do not enter into his so useless labour, the more is he
[in reality] insane, foolish, struck as it were with a thunder-
bolt, since indeed he does in no one point own himself inferior
to God ; but, by the knowledge which he imagines himself to
have discovered, he changes God Himself, and exalts his own
opinion above the greatness of the Creator.
Chap, xxvii. — Proper mode of interpreting parables and
obscure passages of Scripture.
1. A sound mind, and one which does not expose its pos-
sessor to danger, and is devoted to piety and the love of
truth, will eagerly meditate upon those things which God has
placed within the power of mankind, and has subjected to
our knowledge, and will make advancement in [acquaintance
with] them, rendering the knowledge of them easy to him
by means of daily study. These things are such as fall
[plainly] under our observation, and are clearly and unam-
biguously in express terms set forth in the sacred Scriptures.
And therefore the parables ought not to be adapted to am-
biguous expressions. For, if this be not done, both he who
explains them will do so without danger, and the parables
will receive a like interpretation from all, and the body^ of
truth remains entire, with a harmonious adaptation of its
members, and without any collision [of its several parts].
But to apply expressions which are not clear or evident to
^ "We read " veritatis corpus" for "a veritate corpus" in the text.
218 IRENjEUS against IIEBESIES. [Book ii.
interpretations of the parables, such as every one discovers
for himself as inclination leads him, [is absurd.^] For in this
way no one will possess the rule of truth ; but in accordance
with the number of persons who explain the parables will be
found the various systems of truth, in mutual opposition to
each other, and setting forth antagonistic doctrines, like the
questions current among the Gentile philosophers.
2. According to this course of procedure, therefore, man
would always be inquiring but never finding, because he has
rejected the very method of discovery. And when the Bride-
groom^ comes, he who has his lamp un trimmed, and not
burning with the brightness of a steady light, is classed
among those who obscure the interpretations of the parables,
forsaking Him who by His plain announcements freely im-
parts gifts to all who come to Him, and is excluded from His
marriage-chamber. Since, therefore, the entire Scriptures,
the prophets, and the Gospels, can be clearly, unambiguously,
and harmoniously understood by all, although all do not
believe them ; and^ since they proclaim that one only God,
to the exclusion of all others, formed all things by His word,
wdiether visible or invisible, heavenly or earthly, in the water
or under the earth, as I have shown* from the very Avords
of Scripture ; and since the very system of creation to which
we belong testifies, by what falls under our notice, that one
Being made and governs it, — those persons will seem truly
foolish who blind their eyes to such a clear demonstration,
and will not behold the light of the announcement [made to
them] ; but they put fetters upon themselves, and every one
of them imagines, by means of their obscure interpretations
of the parables, that he has found out a God of his own.
For that there is nothing whatever openly, expressly, and
^Some such expression of disapproval must evidently be supplied,
though wanting in the Latin text.
2 Matt. XXV. 5, etc.
" The text is here elliptical, and we have supplied what seems neces-
sary to complete the sense.
^ It is doubtful whether "demonstravimus" or "demonstrabimus" be
the proper reading : if the former, the reference will be to book i. 22, or
ii. 2 ; if the latter, to book iii. 8.
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 219
without controversy said in any part of Scripture respecting
the Father conceived of by those who hold a contrary opinion,
they themselves testify, when tliey maintain that the Saviour
privately taught these same things not to all, but to certain
only of His disciples who could comprehend them, and wdio
understood what was intended by Him through means of
arguments, enigmas, and parables. They come, [in fine,] to
this, that they maintain there is one Being who is proclaimed
as God, and another as Father, He who is set forth as such
through means of parables and enigmas.
3. But since parables admit of many interpretations, what
lover of truth will not acknowledge, that for them to assert
God is to be searched out from these, while they desert what
is certain, indubitable, and true, is the part of men who
eagerly throw themselves into danger, and act as if destitute
of reason ? And is not such a course of conduct not to build
one's house upon a rock^ which is firm, strong, and placed in
an open position, but upon the shifting sand ? Hence the
overthrow of such a buildinsj is a matter of ease.
CilAP. XXVIII. — Perfect knowledge cannot he attained in the
present life : many questions must he suhmissiveli/ left in
the hands of God.
1. Having therefore the truth itself as our rule, and the
testimony concerning God set clearly before us, we ought
not, by running after numerous and diverse answers to ques-
tions, to cast away the firm and true knowledge of God.
But it is much more suitable that we, directing our inquiries
after this fashion, should exercise ourselves in the investiixa-
tion of the mystery and administration of the living God,
and should increase in the love of Him who has done, and
still docs, so great things for us ; but never should fall from
the belief by which it is most clearly proclaimed that this
Being alone is truly God and Father, who both formed this
world, fashioned man, and bestowed the faculty of increase on
His own creation, and called him upwards from lesser things to
1 Matt. vii. 25.
220 IHEN^US against heresies. [Book ii.
those greater ones which are in His own presence, just as He
brings an infant which lias been conceived in the womb into
the light of the sun, and lays up wheat in the barn after He
has given it full strength on the stalk. But it is one and
the same Creator who both fashioned the womb and created
the sun ; and one and the same Lord who both reared the
stalk of corn, increased and multiplied the wheat, and pre-
pared the barn.
2. If, hovrever, we cannot discover explanations of all
those things in Scripture which are made the subject of
investigation, yet let us not on that account seek after any
other God besides Him who really exists. For this is the very
greatest impiety. We should leave things of that nature to
God who created us, being most properly assured that the
Scriptures are indeed perfect, since they were spoken by the
Word of God and His Spirit ; but we, inasmuch as we are
inferior to, and later in existence than, the Word of God and
His Spirit, are on that very account^ destitute of the know-
ledge of His mysteries. And there is no cause for wonder
if this is the case with us as respects things spiritual and
heavenly, and such as require to be made known to us by
revelation, since many even of those things which lie at our
very feet (I mean such as belong to this world, which we
handle, and see, and are in close contact with) transcend our
knowledge, so that even these we must leave to God. For
it is fitting that He should excel all [in knowledge]. For
how stands the case, for instance, if we endeavour to explain
the cause of the rising of the Nile % AYe may say a great
deal, plausible or otherwise, on the subject ; but what is
true, sure, and incontrovertible regarding it, belongs only to
God. Then, again, the dwelling-place of birds — of those,
I mean, which come to us in spring, but fly away again on
the approach of autumn — though it is a matter connected
with this world, escapes our knowledge. What explana-
tion, again, can we give of the flow and ebb of the ocean,
although every one admits there must be a certain cause
[for these phenomena] ? Or what can we say as to the
1 Or, " to that degree."
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 221
nature of those things which lie beyond it?^ What, more-
over, can we say as to the formation of rain, lightning,
thunder, gatherings of clouds, vapours, the bursting forth of
winds, and such like things ; or tell as to the storehouses
of snow, hail, and other like things ? [What do we know
respecting] the conditions requisite for the preparation of
clouds, or what is the real nature of the vapours in the sky ?
What as to the reason why the moon waxes and wanes, or
what as to the cause of the difference of nature among
various waters, metals, stones, and such like things ? On all
these points we may indeed say a great deal while we search
into their causes, but God alone who made them can declare
the truth regardino; them.
3. If, therefore, even with respect to creation, there are
some things [the knowledge of] which belongs only to God,
and others whicli come within the range of our own know-
ledge, what ground is there for complaint, if, in regard to
those things which we investigate in the Scriptures (wliicli
are throughout spiritual), we are able by the grace of God
to explain some of them, while we must leave others in the
hands of God, and that not only in the present world, but
also in that which is to come, so that God should for ever
teach, and man should for ever learn the thins^s taught him
by God ? As the apostle has said on this point, that, when
other things have been done away, then these three, " faitli,
hope, and charity, shall endure."^ For faith, which has
respect to our Master, endures^ unchangeably, assuring us
1 Comp. Clem. Eom. Ep. to Cor. c. xx. ; and August. Dc Civit. Dciy
xvi. 9.
2 1 Cor. xiii. 13.
3 " Permauet firma," — no doubt corresponding to the /atusi of the
apostle, 1 Cor. xiii. 13. Harvey here remarks, that "the author seems
to misapprehend the apostle's meaning. . . . There will be no longer
room for hope, when the substance of things hoped for shall have be-
come a matter of fruition ; neither will there be any room for faith,
when the soul shall be admitted to see God as He is." But the best
modern interpreters take the same view of the passage as Irenaeus.
They regard the wA 1& of St. Paul as not being kmporal, but logicalj
and conclude therefore the meaning to be, that faith and hope, as well
as love^ will, in a sense, endure for ever. Comp. e.g. Alford, in loc.
222 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book ir.
that there is but one true God, and that we should truly love
Him for ever, seeing that Pie alone is our Father ; while we
hope ever to be receiving more and more from God, and to
learn from Him, because He is good, and possesses boundless
riches, a kingdom without end, and instruction that can never
be exhausted. If, therefore, according to the rule which I
have stated, w^e leave some questions in the hands of God,
we shall both preserve our faith uninjured, and shall con-
tinue without danger; and all Scripture, which has been
given to us by God, shall be found by us perfectly consis-
tent ; and the parables shall harmonize with those passages
which are perfectly plain ; and those statements the meaning
of which is clear, shall serve to explain the parables; and
through the many diversified utterances [of Scripture] there
shall be heard ^ one harmonious melody in us, praising in
hymns that God who created all things. If, for instance,
any one asks, " What was God doing before He made the
w^orld?" we reply that the answer to such a question lies
with God Himself. For that this world was formed perfect^
by God, receiving a beginning in time, the Scriptures teach
us ; but no Scripture reveals to us what God was employed
about before this event. The answer therefore to that ques-
tion remains with God, and it is not proper^ for us to aim at
bringing forward foolish, rash, and blasphemous suppositions
[in reply to it] ; so as, by one's imagining that he has dis-
covered the origin of matter, he should in reality set aside
God Himself who made all things.
4. For consider, all ye who invent such opinions, since the
Father Himself is alone called God, who has a real existence,
but whom ye style the Demiurge ; since, moreover, the Scrip-
tures acknowledge Him alone as God ; and yet again, since
1 The Latin text is here untranslateable. Grabe proposes to read,
" Mna consonans melodia in nobis sentietur ;''"' "while Stieren and others
prefer to exchange ula&riairoct for uad'/iasrcci.
2 " Apotelesticos." This word, says Harvey, " may also refer to the
vital energy of nature, whereby its effects are for ever reproduced in
imceasing succession." Comp. Hippol. Philos. vii. 24.
2 TVe here follow Grabe, who understands decet. Harvey less simply
explains the very obscure Latin text.
Book II.] IRENJEVS AGAINST HERESIES. 223
the Lord confesses IHm alone as His own Father, and knows
no other, as I shall show from His very words, — when ye
style this very Being the fruit of defect, and the offspring
of ignorance, and describe Him as being ignorant of those
things which are above Him, with the various other allega-
tions which you make regarding Him, — consider the terrible
blasphemy [ye are thus guilty of] against Him who truly is
God. Ye seem to affirm gravely and honestly enough that
ye believe in God; but then, as ye are utterly unable to
reveal any other God, ye declare this very Being in wliom
ye profess to believe, the fruit of defect and the offspring of
ifiCnorance. Now this blindness and foolish talking; flow to
you from the fact that ye reserve nothing for God, but ye
wish to proclaim the nativity and production both of God
Himself, of His Ennoea, of His Logos, and Life, and Christ;
and ye form the idea of these from no other than a mere
human experience ; not understanding, as I said before, that
it is possible, in the case of man, who is a compound being,
to speak in this way of the mind of man and the thought of
man ; and to say that thought (ennoea) springs from mind
(sensus), intention (enthymesis) again from thought, and
word (logos) from intention (but which logos ? ^ for there is
among the Greeks one logos which is the principle that
thinks, and another which is the instrument by means of
which thought is expressed) ; and [to say] that a man some-
times is at rest and silent, while at other times he speaks and
is active. But since God is^ all mind, all reason, all active
spirit, all light, and always exists one and the same, as it is
both beneficial for us to tliink of God, and as we learn re-
garding Him from the Scriptures, such feelings and divisions
[of operation] cannot fittingly be ascribed to Him. For our
tongue, as being carnal, is not sufficient to minister to the
rapidity of the human mind, inasmuch as that is of a spiritual
nature, for which reason our word is restrained^ within us,
^ The Greek term Aoyo?, as is well known, denotes both ratio (reason)
and sermo (speech). Some deem the above parenthesis an mterpolation.
2 Comp. i. 12, 2.
' " SnfFugatiir :" some read " sufFocatur;" and Harvey proposes
224 IEENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book ii.
and is not at once expressed as it lias been conceived by the
mind, but is uttered by successive efforts, just as the tongue
is able to serve it.
5. But God being all Mind, and all Logos, both speaks
exactly what He thinks, and thinks exactly what He speaks.
For His thought is Logos, and Logos is Mind, and Mind
comprehending all things is the Father Himself. He, there-
fore, who speaks of the mind of God, and ascribes to it a
special origin of its own, declares Him a compound Being,
as if God w^ere one thing, and the original Mind another.
So, again, with respect to Logos, when one attributes to him
the third^ place of production from the Father ; on which
supposition he is ignorant of His greatness ; and thus Logos
has been far separated from God. As for the prophet, he
declares respecting Him, " Who shall describe His genera-
tion?"^ But ye pretend to set forth His generation from
the Father, and ye transfer the production of the word of
men which takes place by means of a tongue to the Word of
God, and thus are righteously exposed by your own selves as
knowing neither things human nor divine.
6. But, beyond reason inflated [with your own wisdom],
ye presumptuously maintain that ye are acquainted with the
unspeakable mysteries of God; while even the Lord, the very
Son of God, allowed that the Father alone knows the very
day and hour of judgment, when He plainly declares, " But
of that day and that hour knoweth no man, neither the Son,
but the Father only."^ If, then, the Son w^as not ashamed
to ascribe the knowledge of that day to the Father only, but
declared what was true regarding the matter, neither let us
be ashamed to reserve for God those greater questions which
" suffragatur," as the representative of the Greek \py](pi'^ircii. The
meaning in any case is, that while ideas are instantaneously formed in
the human mind, they can be expressed through means of words only
fractionally, and by successive utterances.
^ Thus : Bytlius^ Nous, Logos.
2 Isa. liii. 8.
^ Mark xiii. 32. The words, " neither the angels which are in
heaven," are here omitted, probably because, as usual, the writer quotes
from memory.
Book il] lUENJEVS AGAINST HERESIES. 225
may occur to us. For no man is superior to liis master.^ If
any one, therefore, says to us, " How then was the Son pro-
duced by the Father?" we reply to him, tliat no one under-
stands that production, or generation, or calling, or revelation,
or by whatever name one may describe His generation, which
is in fact altogether indescribable. Neither Valentinus, nor
Marclon, nor Saturninus, nor Basilides, nor angels, nor arch-
angels, nor principalities, nor powers [possess this knowledge],
but the Father only who begat, and the Son who was be-
gotten. Since therefore His generation is unspeakable, those
who strive to set forth generations and productions cannot be
in their right mind, inasmuch as they undertake to describe
thino;s which are indescribable. For that a word is uttered
at the bidding of thought and mind, all men indeed well
understand. Tliose, therefore, who have excogitated [the
theory of] emissions have not discovered anything great, or
revealed any abstruse mystery, when they have simply trans-
ferred what all understand to the only-begotten Word of
God ; and while they style Him unspeakable and unname-
able, they nevertheless set fortli the production and forma-
tion of His first generation, as if they themselves had assisted
at His birth, thus assimilating Him to the word of mankind
formed by emissions.
7. But we shall not be wrons; if we affirm the same thinir
also concerning the substance of matter, that God produced
it. For we have learned from the Scriptures that God holds
the supremacy over all things. But whence or in what way
He produced it, neither has Scripture anywhere declared ;
nor does it become us to conjecture, so as, in accordance with
our own opinions, to form endless conjectures concerning God,
but we should leave such knowledge in the hands of God
Himself. In like manner, also, we must leave the cause why,
while all things were made by God, certain of His creatures
sinned and revolted from a state of submission to God, and
others, indeed the great majority, persevered, and do still
persevere, in [willing] subjection to Him who formed them,
and also of what nature those are who sinned, and of what
' Comp. Matt. x. 24 ; Luke xi. 40.
P
226 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
nature those wlio persevere, — [we must, I say, leave the
cause of these things] to God and His Word, to whom alone
He said, " Sit at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies
Thy footstool."^ But as for us, we still dwell upon the
earth, and have not yet sat down upon His throne. For
although the Spirit of the Saviour that is in Him " searcheth
all things, even the deep things of God," ^ yet as to us " there
are diversities of gifts, differences of administrations, and
diversities of operations ;"^ and we, while upon the earth, as
Paul also declares, "know in part, and prophesy in part."*
Since, therefore, we know but in part, we ought to leave all
sorts of [difficult] questions in the hands of Him who in
some measure, [and that only,] bestows grace on us. That
eternal fire, [for instance,] is prepared for sinners, both the
Lord has plainly declared, and the rest of the Scriptures de-
monstrate. And that God foreknew that this would happen,
the Scriptures do in like manner demonstrate, since He pre-
pared eternal fire from the beginning for those who were
[afterwards] to transgress [His commandments] ; but the
cause itself of the nature of such transgressors neither has
any Scripture informed us, nor has an apostle told us, nor
has the Lord taught us. It becomes us, therefore, to leave
the knowledge of this matter to God, even as the Lord does
of the day and hour [of judgment], and not to rush to such
an extreme of danger, that we will leave nothing in the
hands of God, even though we have received only a measure
of grace [from Him in this world]. But w^hen we investi-
gate points which are above us, and with respect to which
we cannot reach satisfaction, [it is absurd^] that we should
display such an extreme of presumption as to lay open God,
and things which are not yet discovered, as if already we
had found out, by the vain talk about emissions, God Him-
self, the Creator of all things, and to assert that He derived
1 Ps. ex. 1. 2 1 Cor. ii. 10.
3 1 Cor. xii. 4, 5, 6. * 1 Cor. xiii. 9.
® Massuet proposes to insert these words, and some such supplement
seems clearly necessary to complete the sense. But the sentence still
remains confused and doubtful.
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 227
His substance from apostasy and ignorance, so as to frame
an impious hypothesis in opposition to God.
8. Moreover, they possess no proof of their system, which
has but recently been invented by them, sometimes resting
upon certain numbers, sometimes on syllables, and sometimes,
again, on names ; and there are occasions, too, when, by
means of those letters which are contained in letters, by
parables not properly interpreted, or by certain [baseless]
conjectures, they strive to establish that fabulous account
which they have devised. For if any one should inquire
the reason why the Father, who has fellowship with the Son
in all things, has been declared by the Lord alone to know
the hour and the day [of judgment], he will find at present
no more suitable, or becoming, or safe reason than this
(since, indeed, the Lord is the only true Master), that we
may learn through Him that the Father is above all things.
For "the Father," says He, "is greater than I."^ The
Father, therefore, has been declared by our Lord to excel
with respect to knowledge ; for this reason, that we, too, as
long as we are connected with the scheme of things in this
world, should leave perfect knowledge, and such questions
[as have been mentioned], to God, and should not by any
chance, while we seek to investigate the sublime nature of
the Father, fall into the danger of starting the question
whether there is another God above God.
K. 9. But if any lover of strife contradict what I have said,
and also what the apostle affirms, that "we know in part,
and prophesy in part,"^ and imagine that he has acquired
not a partial, but a universal, knowledge of all that exists, —
being such an one as Valentinus, or Ptolemaeus, or Basilides,
or any other of those who maintain that they have searched
out the deep^ things of God, — let him not (arraying himself
in vainglory) boast that he has acquired greater knowledge
than others with respect to those things which are invisible,
or cannot be placed under our observation ; but let him, by
making diligent inquiry, and obtaining information from the
1 John xiv. 28. 2 i Qqj.^ xiii. 9.
3 " Altitudiucs," literally, heights.
228 IHEN^US against heresies. [Book ii.
Father, tell us the reasons (which we know not) of those
things \vliicli are in this world, — as, for instance, the number
of hairs on his own head, and the sparrows which are cap-
tured day by day, and such other points with which we are
not previously acquainted, — so that we may credit him also
with respect to more important points. But if those who are
ferfect do not yet understand the very things in their hands,
and at their feet, and before their eyes, and on the earth,
and especially the rule followed with respect to the hairs
of their head, how can we believe them refrardino; thinc^s
spiritual, and super-celestial, and those which, with a vain
confidence, they assert to be above God? So much, then,
I have said concerning numbers, and names, and syllables,
and questions respecting such things as are above our com-
prehension, and concerning their improper expositions of the
parables : [I add no more on these points,] since thou thyself
mayest enlarge upon them.
Chap. xxix. — Refutation of the views of the heretics as to the
future destiny of the soul and body,
1. Let us return, however, to the remaining points of their
system. For when they declare^ that, at the consummation
of all things, their mother shall re-enter the Pleroma, and
receive the Saviour as her consort ; that they themselves, as
being spiritual, when they have got rid of their animal souls,
and become intellectual spirits, will be the consorts of the
spiritual angels ; but that the Demiurge, since they call him
animal, will pass into the place of the Mother ; that the souls
of the righteous shall psychically repose in the intermediate
place ; — when they declare that like will be gathered to like,
spiritual things to spiritual, while material things continue
among those that are material, they do in fact contradict
themselves, inasmuch as they no longer maintain that souls
pass, on account of their nature, into the intermediate place
to those substances which are similar to themselves, but [that
they do so] on account of the deeds done [in the body], since
^ Comp. i. 7, 1.
Book il] IUENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 229
they affirm that those of the righteous do pass [into that
abode], but those of the impious continue in the fire. For
if it is on account of their nature that all souls attain to the
place of enjoyment/ and all belong to the intermediate place
simply because they are souls, as being thus of the same
nature with it, then it follows that faith is altogether super-
fluous, as was also the descent^ of the Saviour [to this world].
If, on the other hand, it is on account of their righteousness
[that they attain to such a place of rest], then it is no longer
because they are souls, but because they are righteous. But
if souls would have^ perished unless they had been righteous,
then righteousness must have power to save the bodies also
[which these souls inhabited] ; for why should it not save
them, since they, too, participated in righteousness ? For if
nature and substance are the means of salvation, then all
souls shall be saved ; but if righteousness and faith, why
should these not save those bodies which, equally with the
souls, will enter^ into immortality? For righteousness will
appear, in matters of this kind, either impotent or unjust, if
indeed it saves some substances through participating in it,
but not others,
2. For it is manifest that those acts which are deemed
righteous are performed in bodies. Either, therefore, all
souls will of necessity pass into the intermediate place, and
there will never be a judgment ; or bodies, too, which have
participated in righteousness, will attain to the place of en-
joyment, along with the souls which have in like manner
participated, if indeed righteousness is powerful enough to
1 " Refrigerium," jaZace of refreshment.
- Billius, with great apparent reason, proposes to read " dcscensio"
for the unintelHgiblc " discessio" of the Latin text.
^ Grabc and Massuet read, " Si autem animae perire incipcrcnt, nisi
justscfuissent," for " Si autem animoD quai peritura; essent inciperent nisi
justa: fuisscnt," — words which defy all translation.
■* The text is here uncertain and confused ; but, as Harvey remarks,
" the argument is this, That if souls are saved qua intellectual substance,
then all are saved alike ; but if by reason of any moral qualities, then
the bodies that have executed the moral purposes of the soul, must also
be considered to be heirs of salvation."
230 IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
bring thitlicr those substances wbich have participated in it.
And then the doctrine concerninij the resurrection of bodies
which we believe, will emerge true and certain [from their
system] ; since, [as we holdj God, when He resuscitates our
mortal bodies which preserved righteousness, will render
them incorruptible and immortal. For God is superior to
nature, and has in Himself the disposition [to show kindness],
because He is good ; and the ability to do so, because He is
mighty ; and the faculty of fully carrying out His purpose,
because He is rich and perfect.
3. But these men are in all points inconsistent with them-
selves, when they decide that all souls do not enter into the
intermediate place, but those of the righteous only. For
they maintain that, according to nature and substance, three
sorts [of being] were produced by the Mother : the first,
which proceeded from perplexity, and weariness, and fear —
that is material substance ; the second from impetuosity^ —
that is animal substance ; but that which she brought forth
after the vision of those angels who wait upon Christ, is
spiritual substance. If, then, that substance^ which she
brought forth will by all means enter into the Pleroma be-
cause it is spiritual, while that which is material will remain
below because it is material, and shall be totally consumed
by the fire which burns within it, why should not the whole
animal substance go into the intermediate place, into which
also they send the Demiurge ? But what is it which shall
enter within their Pleroma? For they maintain that souls
shall continue in the intermediate place, while bodies, because
they possess material substance, when they have been resolved
into matter, shall be consumed by that fire which exists in it;
but their body being thus destroyed, and their soul remaining
in the intermediate place, no part of man will any longer be
left to enter in within the Pleroma. For the intellect of
^ " De impetu :" it is generally supposed that these -words correspond
to Ix, TJjf i7:iarpo(p7ig (comp. i. 5, 1), but Harvey thinks si opf^vi? prefer-
able (i. 4, 1).
2 The syntax of this sentence is in utter confusion, but the meaning is
doubtless that given above.
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 231
man — his mind, thought, mental intention, and such like — is
nothing else than his soul ; but the emotions and operations
of the soul itself have no substance apart from the soul.
What part of them, then, will still remain to enter into the
Pleroma ? For they themselves, in as far as they are souls,
remain in the intermediate place ; while, in as far as they
are body, they will be consumed with the rest of matter.
Chap. XXX. — Ahsurdity of their styling themselves spiritualy
while the Demiurge is declared to he animal,
1. Such being the state of the case, these infatuated men
declare that they rise above the Creator (Demiurge) ; and,
inasmuch as they proclaim themselves superior to that God
who made and adorned the heavens, and the earth, and all
things that are in them, and maintain that they themselves
are spiritual, while they are in fact shamefully carnal on
account of their so great impiety, — affirming that He, who
has made His angels ^ spirits, and is clothed with light as
with a garment, and holds the circle^ of the earth, as it
were, in His hand, in whose sight its inhabitants are counted
as grasshoppers, and who is the Creator and Lord of all spiri-
tual substance, is of an animal nature, — they do beyond doubt
and verily betray their own madness ; and, as if truly struck
with thunder, even more than those giants who are spoken
of in [heathen] fables, they lift up their opinions against
God, inflated by a vain presumption and unstable glory, —
men for whose purgation all the hellebore ^ on earth would
not suffice, so that they should get rid of their intense folly.
2. The superior person is to be proved by his deeds. In
what way, then, can they show themselves superior to the
Creator (that I too, through the necessity of the argument
in hand, may come down to the level of their impiety, insti-
tuting a comparison between God and foolish men, and, by
descending to their argument, may often refute them by
their own doctrines ; but in thus acting may God be merci-
• Ps. civ. 2, 4. 2 isa. xl. 12, 22.
^ Irenaeus was evidently familiar -with Horace ; comp. Ars Pod. 300.
232 ITtEN2E US A GAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
ful to me, for I venture on these statements, not with the
view of comparing Ilim to them, but of convicting and over-
throwing their insane opinions) — they, for whom many foolish
persons entertain so great an admiration, as if, forsooth, they
could learn from them something more precious than the
truth itself ! That expression of Scripture, " Seek, and ye
shall find,"^ they interpret as spoken with this view, that
they should discover themselves to be above the Creator,
styling themselves greater and better than God, and calling
themselves spiritual, but the Creator animal ; and [affirming]
that for this reason they rise upwards above God, for that
they enter in within the Pleroma, while He remains in the
intermediate place. Let them, then, prove themselves by
their deeds superior to the Creator ; for the superior person
ought to be proved not by what is said, but by what has a
real existence.
3. What work, then, will they point to as having been
accomplished through themselves by the Saviour, or by
their Mother, either greater, or more glorious, or more
adorned with wisdom, than those which have been produced
by Him who was the disposer of all around us ? What
heavens have they established? what earth have they
founded ? what stars have they called into existence ? or
what lights of heaven have they caused to shine ? within
what circles, moreover, have they confined them ? or, what
rains, or frosts, or snows, each suited to the season, and to
every special climate, have they brought upon the earth ?
And again, in opposition to these, what heat or dryness have
they set over against them ? or, what rivers have they made
to flow ? what fountains have they brought forth ? with
wdiat flowers and trees have they adorned this sublunary
world ? or, what multitude of animals have they formed,
some rational, and others irrational, but all adorned with
beauty? And who can enumerate one by one all the re-
maining objects which have been constituted by the power
of God, and are governed by His wisdom ? or who can search
out the greatness of that God who made them ? And what
1 Matt. vii. 7.
Book ii.] IRENJEVS AGAINST HERESIES. 233
can be told of those existences which are above heaven, and
which do not pass away, such as Angels, Archangels, Thrones,
Dominions, and Powers innumerable ? Against what one of
these works, then, do they set themselves in opposition? What
have they similar to show, as having been made through
themselves, or by themselves, since even they too are the
workmanship and creatures of this [Creator] ? For whether
the Saviour or their Mother (to use their own expressions,
proving them false by means of the very terms they them-
selves employ) used this Being, as they maintain, to make
an image of those things which are within the Pleroma, and
of all those beings which she saw waiting upon the Saviour,
she used him (the Demiurge) as being [in a sense] superior to
herself, and better fitted to accomplish her purpose through
his instrumentality ; for she would by no means form the
images of such important beings through means of an in-
ferior, but by a superior, agent.
4. For, [be it observed,] they themselves, according to their
own declarations, were then existing, as a spiritual concep-
tion, in consequence of the contemplation of those beings
who were arranged as satellites around Pandora. And they
Indeed continued useless, the Mother accomplishing nothing
through their instrumentality,^ — an idle conception, owing
their being to the Saviour, and fit for nothing, for not a
thing appears to have been done by them. But the God
who, according to them, was produced, while, as they argue,
inferior to themselves (for they maintain that he is of an
animal nature), was nevertheless the active agent in all things,
efHcIent, and fit for the work to be done, so that by him the
images of all things were made ; and not only were these
things which are seen formed by him, but also all things
invisible. Angels, Archangels, Dominations, Powers, and
Virtues, — [by him, I say,] as being the superior, and capable
of ministering to her desire. But it seems that the ^lother
made nothing whatever through their instrumentality, as
indeed they themselves acknowledge ; so that one may justly
^ The punctuation is here doubtful. "With Massuet and Stieren we
expunge '' vcl" from the text.
234 IBENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
reckon tliem as having been an abortion produced by the
painful travail of their Mother. For no accoucheurs per-
formed their ofBce upon her, and therefore they were cast
forth as an abortion, useful for nothing, and formed to
accomplish no work of the Mother. And yet they describe
themselves as being superior to Him by whom so vast
and admirable works have been accomplished and arranged,
although by their own reasoning they are found to be so
wretchedly inferior !
5. It is as if there were two iron tools, or instruments, the
one of which was continually in the workman's hands and in
constant use, and by the use of which he made whatever
he pleased, and displayed his art and skill, but the other of
which remained idle and useless, never being called into
operation, the workman never appearing to make anything
by it, and making no use of it in any of his labours ; and
then one should maintain that this useless, and idle, and un-
employed tool was superior in nature and value to that which
the artisan employed in his work, and by means of which
he acquired his reputation. Such a man, if any such were
found, would justly be regarded as imbecile, and not in his
right mind. And so should those be judged of who speak
of themselves as being spiritual and superior, and of the
Creator as possessed of an animal nature, and maintain
that for this reason they w^ill ascend on high, and penetrate
within the Pleroma to their own husbands (for, according
to their own statements, they are themselves feminine), but
that God [the Creator] is of an inferior nature, and there-
fore remains in the intermediate place, while all the time
they bring forward no proofs of these assertions : for the
better man is shown by his works, and all works have been
accomplished by the Creator ; but they, having nothing
worthy of reason to point to as having been produced by
themselves, are labouring under the greatest and most incur-
able madness.
6. If, however, they labour to maintain that, while all
material things, such as the heaven, and the whole world
which exists below it, were indeed formed by the Demiurge,
Book ir.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 235
yet all things of a more spiritual nature than these, — those,
namely, which are above the heavens, such as Principalities,
Powers, Angels, Archangels, Dominations, Virtues, — were
produced by a spiritual process of birth (which they declare
themselves to be), then, in the first place, we prove from the
authoritative Scriptures^ that all the things which have been
mentioned, visible and invisible, have been made by one God.
For these men are not more to be depended on than the
Scriptures ; nor ought w'e to give up the declarations of the
Lord, Moses, and the rest of the prophets, w^ho have pro-
claimed the truth, and give credit to them, who do indeed
utter nothing of a sensible nature, but rave about untenable
opinions. And, in the next place, if those things which are
above the heavens were really made through their instni-
mentality, then let them inform us what is the nature of
things invisible, recount the number of the Angels, and the
ranks of the Archangels, reveal the mysteries of the Thrones,
and teach us the differences between the Dominations, Prin-
cipalities, Powers, and Virtues. But they can say nothing
respecting them ; therefore these beings were not made by
them. If, on the other hand, these were made by the
Creator, as was really the case, and are of a spiritual and
holy character, then it follows that He who produced spiri-
tual beings is not Himself of an animal nature, and thus
their fearful system of blasphemy is overthrown.
7. For that there are spiritual creatures in the heavens, all
the Scriptures loudly proclaim ; and Paul expressly testifies
that there are spiritual things when he declares that he was
caught up into the third heaven,^ and again, that he was
carried away to paradise, and heard unspeakable words which
it is not lawful for a man to utter. But what did that profit
him, either his entrance into paradise or his assumption into
the third heaven, since all these things are still but under the
power of the Demiurge, if, as some venture to maintain, he
^ Or, " the Scriptures of the Lord ;" but the words " douiinicis scrip-
turis " probably here represent the Greek Kvpiwj yooc^uv^ and are to be
rendered as above.
2 2 Cor. xii. 2, 3, 4.
23G IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book ii.
had already begun ^ to be a spectator and a hearer of those
mysteries which are affirmed to be above the Demiurge ?
For if it is true that he was becoming acquainted with that
order of things wdiich is above the Demiurge, he w^ould by
no means have remained in the regions of the Demiurge,
and that so as not even thoroughly to explore even these
(for, according to their manner of speaking, there still lay
before him four heavens,^ if he were to approach the Demi-
urge, and thus behold the whole seven lying beneath him) ;
but he might have been admitted, perhaps, into the inter-
mediate place, that is, into the presence of the Mother, that
he might receive instruction from her as to the things wdthin
the Pleroma. For that inner man which was in him, and
spoke in him, as they say, though invisible, could have
attained not only to the third heaven, but even as far as the
presence of their Mother. For if they maintain that they
themselves, that is, their [inner] man, at once ascends above
the Demiurge, and departs to the ^Mother, much more must
this have occurred to the [inner] man of the apostle ; for
the Demiurge w^ould not have hindered him, being, as they
assert, himself already subject to the Saviour. But if he
had tried to hinder him, the effort w^ould have gone for
nothing. For it is not possible that he should prove stronger
than the providence of the Father, and that when the inner
man is said to be invisible even to the Demiurge. But since
he (Paul) has described that assumption of himself up to the
third heaven as something great and pre-eminent, it cannot
be that these men ascend above the seventh heaven, for they
are certainly not superior to the apostle. If they do main-
tain that they are more excellent than he, let them prove
themselves so by their works, for they have never pretended
to anything like [what he describes as occurring to himself].
And for this reason he added, "Whether in the body, or
whether out of the body, God knoweth,"^ that the body
1 u
2 u
Inciperet fieri ;" perhaps for "futurus esset," was to he.
Quartum coelum ; " there still being, according to their theory of
seven heavens, 2b fourth beyond that to which St. Paul had penetrated.
^ 2 Cor. xii. 3, defectively quoted.
Book ii.] IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 237
inif:!;lit neither be thought to be a partaker in that vision/ as
if it could have participated in those tilings which it had seen
and heard ; nor, again, that any one should say that he was
not carried higher on account of the weight of the body ; but
it is therefore thus far permitted even without the body to
behold spiritual mysteries which are the operations of God,
who made the heavens and the earth, and formed man, and
placed him in paradise, so that those should be spectators of
them who, like the apostle, have reached a high degree of
perfection in the love of God.
8. This Being, therefore, also made spiritual things, of
which, as far as to the third heaven, the apostle was made a
spectator, and heard unspeakable words which it is not possible
for a man to utter, inasmuch as they are spiritual ; and He
Himself bestows'"^ [gi^^^] on the worthy as inclination prompts
Him, for paradise is His ; and He is truly the Spirit of God,
and not an animal Demiurge, otherwise He should never
have created spiritual things. But if He really is of an
animal nature, then let them inform us by whom spiritual
things were made. They have no proof which they can give
that this was done by means of the travail of their ^lother,
which they declare themselves to be. For, not to speak of
spiritual things, these men cannot create even a fly, or a
gnat, or any other small and insignificant animal, without
observing that law by w^hich from the beginning animals
have been and are naturally produced by God — through the
deposition of seed in those that are of the same species. Nor
was anything formed by the Mother alone ; [for] they say
that this Demiurge was produced by her, and that lie was
^ This is an exceedingly obscure and diflicult sentence. Grabe and
some of the later editors read, " uti neque non corpus," thus making
Irena3us affirm that the body did participate in the -vision. But Massuet
cojitends strenuously that this is contrary to the author's purpose, as
■wishing to maintain, against a possible exception of the A'alentiniims,
that Paul then witnessed spiritual realities, and by omitting this " non"
before " corpus," makes Irenreus deny that the body Avas a partaker in
the vision. The point can only bo doubtfully decided, but Massuet's
ingenious note inclines us to his side of the question.
2 " Trccstat dignis :" here a very ambiguous exiircssion.
238 IRENJETJS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
tlie Lord (the author) of all creation. And tliey maintain
that he who is the Creator and Lord of all that has been
made is of an animal nature, while they assert that they
themselves are spiritual, — they who are neither the authors
nor lords of any one work, not only of those things which
are extraneous to them, but not even of their own bodies !
Moreover, these men, who call themselves spiritual, and
superior to the Creator, do often suffer much bodily pain,
sorely against their will.
9. Justly, therefore, do we convict them of having departed
far and wide from the truth. For if the Saviour formed
the things which have been made, by means of him (the
Demiurge), he is proved in that case not to be inferior but
superior to them, since he is found to have been the former
even of themselves ; for they, too, have a place among created
things. How, then, can it be argued that these men indeed
are spiritual, but that he by whom they were created is of
an animal nature ? Or, again, if (which is indeed the only
true supposition, as I have shown by numerous arguments of
the very clearest nature) He (the Creator) made all things
freely, and by His own power, and arranged and finished
them, and His will is the substance^ of all things, then He is
discovered to be the one only God who created all things,
who alone is omnipotent, and who is the only Father found-
ing and forming all things, visible and invisible, such as may
be perceived by our senses and such as cannot, heavenly
and earthly, " by the word of His power ;"^ and He has fitted
and arranged all things by His wisdom, while He contains
all things, but He Himself can be contained by no one : He
is the Former, He the Builder, He the Discoverer, He the
Creator, He the Lord of all; and there is no one besides
Him, or above Him, neither has He any mother, as they
falsely ascribe to Him ; nor is there a second God, as Mar-
cion has imagined ; nor is there a Pleroma of thirty ^ons,
1 That is, as Massuet notes, all things derive not only their existence.,
"but their qualities, from His will. Harvey proposes to read causa instead
of substantia, but the change seems needless.
2 Heb. i. 3.
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 239
which has been shown a vain supposition ; nor is there any
such being as Bythus or Proarche ; nor are there a series of
heavens ; nor is there a virginal h'ght/ nor an unnameable
^on, nor, in fact, any one of those things which are madly
dreamt of by these, and by all the heretics. But there is
one only God, the Creator — He wdio is above every Prin-
cipality, and Power, and Dominion, and Virtue : He is
Father, He is God, He the Founder, He the Maker, He the
Creator, who made those things by Himself, that is, through
His Word and His Wisdom — heaven and earth, and the
seas, and all things that are in them : He is just ; He is
good ; He it is who formed man, who planted paradise, who
made the world, who gave rise to the flood, who saved Noah ;
He is the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob, the God of the living : He it is whom the law
proclaims, whom the prophets preach, whom Christ reveals,
whom the apostles make known^ to us, and in whom the
church believes. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ:
through His Word, who is His Son, through Him He is
revealed and manifested to all to whom He is revealed ; for
those [only] know Him to whom the Son has revealed Him.
But the Son, eternally co-existing with the Father, from of
old, yea, from the beginning, always reveals the Father to
Angels, Archangels, Powers, Virtues, and all to whom He
w^ills that God should be revealed.
CnAP. XXXI. — Recapitulation and application of the foregoing
arguments,
1. Those, then, who are of the school of Valentinus being
overthrown, the whole multitude of heretics are, in fact, also
subverted. For all the ariruments I have advanced against
their Pleroma, and with respect to those things which are
beyond it, showing how the Father of all is shut up and cir-
cumscribed by that which is beyond Him (if, indeed, there
be anything beyond Him), and how there is an absolute
1 That is, Barbelos: comp. i. 29, 1.
- " Tradunt;" literally, hand down.
240 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
necessity [on their theory] to conceive of many Fathers, and
many Pleromas, and many creations of worlds, beginning
with one set and ending with another, as existing on every
side ; and that all [the beings referred to] continue in their
own domains, and do not curiously intermeddle >vith others,
since, indeed, no common interest nor any fellowship exists
between them ; and that there is no other God of all, but
that that name belongs only to the Almighty; — [all these
arguments, I say,] will in like manner apply against those
who are of the school of Marcion, and Simon, and Menander,
or whatever others there may be who, like them, cut off that
creation with which we are connected from the Father. The
arguments, again, which I have employed against those who
maintain that the Father of all no doubt contains all things,
but that the creation to which we belong was not formed by
Him, but by a certain other power, or by angels having no
knowledge of the Propator, who is surrounded as a centre
by the immense extent of the universe, just as a stain is by
the [surrounding] cloak ; when I showed that it is not a pro-
bable supposition that any other being than the Father of
all formed that creation to which we belong, — these same
arguments will apply against the followers of Saturninus,
Basilides, Carpocrates, and the rest of the Gnostics, who ex-
press similar opinions. Those statements, again, which have
been made with respect to the emanations, and the ^ons,
and the [supposed state of] degeneracy, and the inconstant
character of their Mother, equally overthrow Basilides, and
all who are falsely styled Gnostics, who do, in fact, just
repeat the same views under different names, but do, to a
greater extent than the former,^ transfer those things which
lie outside^ of the truth to the system of their own doctrine.
And the remarks I have made respecting numbers will also
apply against all those who misappropriate things belonging
to the truth for the support of a system of this kind. And
all that has been said respecting the Creator (Demiurge) to
^ Qui, though here found in all the MSS., seems to have been rightly
expunged by the editors.
^ The reference probably is to opinions and theories of the heathen.
Book il] IUENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 241
show that he alone is God and Father of all, and whatever
remarks may yet be made in the following books, I apply
against the heretics at large. The more moderate and rea-
sonable among them thou wilt convert and convince, so as to
lead them no longer to blaspheme their Creator, and Maker,
and Sustainer, and Lord, nor to ascribe His origin to defect
and ignorance ; but the fierce, and terrible, and irrational
[among them] thou wilt drive far from thee, that you may
no longer have to endure their idle loquaciousness.
2. Moreover, those also will be thus confuted who belong
to Simon and Carpocrates, and if there be any others who are
said to perform miracles — who do not perform what they do
either through the power of God, or in connection with the
truth, nor for the well-being of men, but for the sake of
destroying and misleading mankind, by means of magical
deceptions, and with universal deceit, thus entailing greater
harm than good on those who believe them, with respect to
the point on which they lead them astray. For they can
neither confer sight on the blind, nor hearing on the deaf,
nor chase away all sorts of demons — [none, indeed,] except
those that are sent into others by themselves, if they can
even do so much as this. Nor can they cure the weak, or
the lame, or the paralytic, or those who are distressed in any
other part of the body, as has often been done in regard to
bodily infirmity. Nor can they furnish effective remedies
for those external accidents which may occur. And so far
are they from being able to raise the dead, as the Lord
raised them, and the apostles did by means of prayer, and
as has been frequently done in the brotherhood on account
of some necessity — the entire church in that particular
locality entreating [the boon] with much fasting and prayer,
the spirit of the dead man has returned, and he has been
bestowed in answer to the prayers of the saints — that they
do not even believe this can possibly be done, [and hold]
that the resurrection from the dead^ is simply an acquaint-
ance with that truth which they proclaim.
3. Since, therefore, there exist among them eiTor and mis-
' Comp. 2 Tim. ii. 17, 18.
Q
242 IBENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book ir,
leading influences, and magical illusions are impiously wrought
in the sight of men ; but in the church, sympathy, and com-
passion, and stedfastness, and truth, for the aid and encou-
ragement of mankind, are not only displayed^ without fee or
reward, but we ourselves lay out for the benefit of others our
own means ; and inasmuch as those who are cured very fre-
quently do not possess the things which they require, they
receive them from us; — [since such is the case,] these men
are in this way undoubtedly proved to be utter aliens from
the divine nature, the beneficence of God, and all spiritual
excellence. But they are altogether full of deceit of every
kind, apostate inspiration, demoniacal working, and the phan-
tasms of idolatry, and are in reality the predecessors of that
dragon ^ who, by means of a deception of the same kind, will
with his tail cause a third part of the stars to fall from their
place, and wdll cast them dow^n to the earth. It behoves us
to flee from them as we w^ould from him ; and the greater
the display with which they are said to perform [their mar-
vels], the more carefully should we watch them, as having
been endowed with a greater spirit of wickedness. If any
one will consider the prophecy referred to, and the daily prac-
tices of these men, he will find that their manner of acting is
one and the same with the demons.
Chap, xxxii. — Further exposure of the loiched and
blasphemous doctrines of the heretics,
1. Moreover, this impious opinion of theirs with respect to
actions — namely, that it is incumbent on them to have expe-
rience of all kinds of deeds, even the most abominable — is
refuted by the teaching of the Lord, with whom not only is
the adulterer rejected, but also the man who desires to commit
adultery ; ^ and not only is the actual murderer held guilty of
havincT killed another to his own damnation, but the man also
w^ho is angry with his brother without a cause : who com-
1 " Perficiatur : " it is difficult here to give a fitting translation of
this word. Some prefer to read " impertiatur."
2 Rev. xii. 14. ^ Matt. v. 21, etc.
Book il] lltENJEVS AGAINST HERESIES. 243
manded [Ills disciples] not only not to hate men, but also to
love their enemies ; and enjoined them not only not to swear
falsely, but not even to swear at all ; and not only not to
speak evil of their neighbours, but not even to style any one
"Kaca" and "fool;" [declaring] that otherwise they were
in danger of hell-fire ; and not only not to strike, but even,
when themselves struck, to present the other cheek [to those
that maltreated them] ; and not only not to refuse to give up
the property of others, but even if their own were taken
away, not to demand it back again from those that took it ;
and not only not to injure their neighbours, nor to do them
any evil, but also, when themselves wickedly dealt with, to
be long-suffering, and to show kindness towards those [that
injured them], and to pray for them, that by means of
repentance they might be saved — so that we should in no
respect imitate the arrogance, lust, and pride of others.
Since, therefore. He whom these men boast of as their Master,
and of whom they affirm that He had a soul greatly better
and more highly toned than others, did indeed, wdtli much
earnestness, command certain things to be done as being
good and excellent, and certain things to be abstained from
not only in their actual perpetration, but even in the thoughts
which lead to their performance, as being wicked, pernicious,
and abominable, — how then can they escape being put to
confusion, when they affirm that such a Master was more
highly toned [in spirit] and better than others, and yet mani-
festly give instruction of a kind utterly opposed to His
teaching? And, again, if there were really no such thing as
good and evil, but certain things were deemed righteous, and
certain others unrighteous, in human opinion only, He never
would have expressed Himself thus in His teaching : " The
righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kinojdom of their
Tather :"^ but He shall send the unriiiliteous, and those who-
do not the works of righteousness, "into everlasting fire, where
their worm shall not die, and the fire shall not be quenched."'
2. When they further maintain that it is incumbent on-
them to have experience of every kind^ of work and conduct^
1 Matt. xiii. 43. ' Matt. xxv. 41 ; Mark ix. 44. s Comp. i. 25, 4.
244 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
so that, if it be possible, accomplishing all during one mani-
festation in this life, they may [at once] pass over to the
state of perfection, they are, by no chance, found striving to
do those things which wait upon virtue, and are laborious,
glorious, and skilful,^ which also are approved universally as
being good. For if it be necessary to go through every work
and every kind of operation, they ought, in the first place, to
learn all the arts : all of them, [I say,] whether referring to
theory or practice, whether they be acquired by self-denial,
or are mastered through means of labour, exercise, and perse-
verance ; as, for example, every kind of music, arithmetic,
geometry, astronomy, and all such as are occupied with in-
tellectual pursuits : then, again, the whole study of medicine,
and the knowledge of plants, so as to become acquainted
with those which are prepared for the health of man ; the art
of painting and sculpture, brass and marble work, and the
kindred arts : moreover, [they have to study] every kind of
country labour, the veterinary art, pastoral occupations, the
various kinds of skilled labour, which are said to pervade the
whole circle of [human] exertion ; those, again, connected
with a maritime life, gymnastic exercises, hunting, military and
kingly pursuits, and as many others as may exist, of which,
with the utmost labour, they could not learn the tenth, or
even the thousandth part, in the whole course of their lives.
The fact indeed is, that they endeavour to learn none of
these, although they maintain that it is incumbent on them
to have experience of every kind of work ; but, turning aside
to voluptuousness, and lust, and abominable actions, they
stand self-condemned when they are tried by their own doc-
trine. For, since they are destitute of all those [virtues]
which have been mentioned, they will [of necessity] pass into
the destruction of fire. These men, while they boast of Jesus
as being their Master, do in fact emulate the philosophy of
Epicurus and the indifference of the Cynics, [calling Jesus
their Master,] who not only turned His disciples away from
evil deeds, but even from [wicked] words and thoughts, as I
have already shown.
1 *'Artificialia."
Book ii.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 245
3. Again, while they assert that they possess souls from
the same sphere as Jesus, and that they are like to Him,
sometimes even maintaining that they are superior ; while
[they affirm that they were] produced, like Him, for the per-
formance of works tending to the benefit and establishment
of mankind, they are found doing nothing of the same or a
like kind [with His actions], nor what can in any respect be
brought into comparison with them. And if they have in
truth accomplished anything [remarkable] by means of magic,
they strive [in this way] deceitfully to lead foolish people
astray, since they confer no real benefit or blessing on those
over whom they declare that they exert [supernatural] power;
but, bringing forward mere boys^ [as the subjects on whom
they practise], and deceiving their sight, while they exhibit
phantasms that instantly cease, and do not endure even a
moment of time,^ they are proved to be like, not Jesus our
Lord, but Simon the magician. It is certain,^ too, from the
fact that the Lord rose from the dead on the third day, and
manifested Himself to His disciples, and was in their sight
received up into heaven, that, inasmuch as these men die, and
do not rise again, nor manifest themselves to any, they are
proved as possessing souls in no respect similar to that of
Jesus.
4. If, however, they maintain that the Lord, too, performed
such works simply in appearance, we shall refer them to the
prophetical writings, and prove from these both that all
things were thus* predicted regarding Him, and did take
place undoubtedly, and that He is the only Son of God.
Wherefore, also, those who are in truth His disciples, receiv-
ing grace from Him, do in His name perform [miracles], so
as to promote the welfare of other men, according to the gift
which each one has received from Him. For some do cer-
1 " Pueros invcstes," boys that have not yet reached the age of puberty.
- The text hiis " stillicidio teniporis," literally " a drop of time {arayftri
xoovov) ; biit the original text %vas perhaps ariyf^ri xoouov, " a moment of
time." With either reading the meaning is the same.
^ Some have deemed the words " firnium esse" an interpolation.
* That is, as being done in reality^ and not in appearance.
246 IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
tainly and truly drive out devils, so that those who have thus
been cleansed from evil spirits frequently both believe [in
Christ], and join themselves to the church. Others have
foreknowledge of things to come : they see visions, and utter
prophetic expressions. Others still, heal the sick by laying
their hands upon them, and they are made whole. Yea,
moreover, as I have said, the dead even have been raised up,
and remained^ among us for many years. And what shall I
more say? It is not possible to name the number of the
gifts which the church, [scattered] throughout the whole
world, has received from God, in the name of Jesus Christ,
who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and which she exerts
day by day for the benefit of the Gentiles, neither practising
deception upon any, nor taking any reward^ from them [on
account of such miraculous interpositions]. For as she has
received freely^ from God, freely also does she minister [to
others].
5. Nor does she perform anything by means of angelic
invocations,^ or by incantations, or by any other wicked
curious art; but, directing her prayers to the Lord, who made
all things, in a pure, sincere, and straightforward spirit, and
calling upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, she has
been accustomed to work^ miracles for the advantao;e of man-
kind, and not to lead them into error. If, therefore, the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ even now confers benefits
[upon men], and cures thoroughly and effectively all who
^ Harvey here notes : " The reader will not fail to remark this highly-
interesting testimony, that the divine xu.piQ[ji.a.tu. bestowed upon the
infant church were not wholly extinct in the days of Irenseus. Possibly
the venerable father is speakiug from his own personal recollection of
some who had been raised from the dead, and had continued for a time
living witnesses of the efficacy of Christian faith."
2 Comp. Acts viii. 9, 18. ^ Matt. x. 8.
^ Grabe contends that these words imply that no invocations of
angels, good or bad, were practised in the primitive church. Massuet,
on the other hand, maintains that the words of Irenaeus are plainly to
be restricted to evil spirits, and have no bearing on the general question
of angelic invocation.
^ We follow the common reading, " perfecit;" but one MS. has "per-
ficit," works, which suits the context better.
Book il] IBENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 247
anywhere believe on Illm, but not that of Simon, or Menan-
<ler, or Carpocrates, or of any other man whatever, it is mani-
fest that, when He was made man. He held fellowship with
His own creation, and^ did all things truly through the power
of God, according to the wall of the Father of all, as the
prophets had foretold. But what these things were, shall be
described in dealing with the proofs to be found in the pro-
phetical writings.
Chap, xxxiii. — AhsurdiUj of the doctrine of the
transmigration of souls.
1. We may subvert their doctrine as to transmigration from
body to body by this fact, that souls remember nothing what-
ever of the events which took place in their previous states of
existence. For if they were sent forth with this object, that
they should have experience of every kind of action, they
must of necessity retain a remembrance of those things which
have been previously accomplished, that they might fill up
those in wdiicli they were still deficient, and not by always
hovering, without intermission, round the same pursuits,
spend their labour wretchedly in vain (for the mere union
of a body [with a soul] could not altogether extinguish the
memory and contemplation of those things which had for-
merly been experienced"), and especially as they came [into
the world] for this very purpose. For as, when the body is
asleep and at rest, whatever things the soul sees by herself,
and does in a vision, recollecting many of these, she also
communicates them to the body ; and as it happens that,
when one awakes, perhaps after a long time, he relates what
he saw in a dream, so also would he undoubtedly remember
those things which he did before he came into this parti-
cular body. For if that which is seen only for a very brief
space of time, or has been conceived of simply in a phantasm,
^ Wc insert "ct," in accordance with Grabe's suggestion.
^ Harvey thinks that this parenthesis has fallen out of its proper
place, and would insert it immediately after the opening period of the
chapter.
248 IRENjEUS against HERESIES, [Book ii.
and by the soul alone, through means of a dream, is remem-
bered after she has mingled again with the body, and been
dispersed through all the members, much more would she
remember those things in connection with which she stayed
during so long a time, even throughout the whole period of
a bypast life.
2. With reference to these objections, Plato, that ancient
Athenian, who also w^as the first ^ to introduce this opinion,
when he could not set them aside, invented the [notion of] a
cup of oblivion, imagining that in this way he would escape
this sort of difficulty. He attempted no kind of proof [of
his supposition], but simply replied dogmatically [to the
objection in question], that Avhen souls enter into this life,
they are caused to drink of oblivion by that demon who
watches their entrance [into the world], before they effect an
entrance into the bodies [assigned them]. It escaped him,
that [by speaking thus] he fell into another greater per-
plexity. For if the cup of oblivion, after it has been drunk,
can obliterate the memory of all the deeds that have been
done, how, O Plato, dost thou obtain the knowledge of this
fact (since thy soul is now in the body), that, before it
entered into the body, it was made to drink by the demon a
drug which caused oblivion ? For if thou hast a remem-
brance of the demon, and the cup, and the entrance [into
life], thou oughtest also to be acquainted with other things ;
but if, on the other hand, thou art ignorant of them, then
there is no truth in the story of the demon, nor in the cup of
oblivion prepared with art.
3. In opposition, again, to those who affirm that the body
itself is the drug of oblivion, this observation may be made :
How, then, does it come to pass, that w'hatsoever the soul sees
by her own instrumentality, both in dreams and by reflection
or earnest mental exertion, while the body is passive, she re-
members, and reports to her neighbours ? But, again, if the
^ It is a mistake of Irenseus to say that the doctrine of metempsy-
chosis originated with Plato : it was first publicly taught by Pythagoras,
who learned it from the Egyptians. Comp. Clem. Alex. Strom, i. 15 ;
Herodot. ii. 123.
Book il] IliENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 249
body itself were [the cause of] oblivion, then the soul, as
existing in the body, could not remember even those things
which were perceived long ago either by means of the eyes
or the ears ; but, as soon as the eye was turned from the
things looked at, the memory of them also would undoubt-
edly be destroyed. For the soul, as existing in the very
[cause of] oblivion, could have no knowledge of anything
else than that only which it saw at the present moment.
How, too, could it become acquainted with divine things,
and retain a remembrance of them while existing in the
body, since, as they maintain, the body itself is [the cause
of] oblivion ? But the prophets also, when they were upon
the earth, remembered likewise, on their returning to their
ordinary state of mind,^ whatever things they spiritually saw
or heard in visions of heavenly objects, and related them to
others. The body, therefore, does not cause the soul to for-
get those things which have been spiritually witnessed ; but
the soul teaches the body, and shares with it the spiritual
vision which it has enjoyed.
4. For the body is not possessed of greater power than the
soul, since indeed the former is inspired, and vivified, and
increased, and held together by the latter ; but the soul pos-
sesses " and rules over the body. It is doubtless retarded in
its velocity, just in the exact proportion in wdiich the body
shares in its motion ; but it never loses the knowledge which
properly belongs to it. For the body may be compared to
an instrument ; but the soul is possessed of the reason of an
artist. As, therefore, the artist finds the idea of a work to
spring up rapidly in his mind, but can only carry it out
slowly by means of an instrument, owing to the want of per-
fect pliability in the matter acted upon, and thus the rapidity
of his mental operation, being blended with the slow action
of the instrument, gives rise to a moderate kind of movement
1 " In hominem conversi," literally, " retui-ning into man."
^ " Possidet." ^Massuet supposes this Avord to represent Kvpisvstj
" rules over," and Stieren Koonvvu^ governs ; while Harvey tliinks the
whole clause corresponds to Kpxrtt kuI Kvpuvu rot/ aufcxrog^ which we
have rendered as above.
250 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
[towards the end contemplated] ; so also the soul, by being
mixed up with the body belonging to it, is in a certain mea-
sure impeded, its rapidity being blended with the body's slow-
ness. Yet it does not lose altogether its own peculiar powers ;
but while, as it were, sharing life with the body, it does not
itself cease to live. Thus, too, while communicating other
things to the body, it neither loses the knowledge of them,
nor the memory of those things which have been witnessed.
5. If, therefore, the soul remembers nothing^ of what took
place in a former state of existence, but has a perception of
those things which are here, it follows that she never existed
in other bodies, nor did things of which she has no know-
ledge, nor [once] knew things which she cannot [now men-
tally] contemplate. But, as each one of us receives his body
through the skilful working of God, so does he also possess
his soul. For God is not so poor or destitute in resources,
that He cannot confer its own proper soul on each indivi-
dual body, even as He gives it also its special character.
And therefore, when the number [fixed upon] is completed,
[that number] wdiich He had predetermined in His own
counsel, all those wdio have been enrolled for life [eternal]
shall rise again, having their own bodies, and having also
their own souls, and their own spirits, in which they had
pleased God. Those, on the other hand, wdio are worthy of
punishment, shall go away into it, they too having their ow^n
souls, and their own bodies, in which they stood apart from
the grace of God. Both classes shall then cease from any
longer begetting and being begotten, from marrying and
being given in marriage; so that the number of mankind,
corresponding to the fore-ordination of God, being completed,
may fully realize the scheme formed by the Father.^
Chap, xxxiv. — Souls can be recognised in the separate state,
and are immortal although they once had a beginning.
1. The Lord has taught with very great fulness, that souls
^ Literally, none of tilings past.
2 The Latin text is here very confused, but the Greek original of the
greater part of this section has happily been preserved.
Book il] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 251
not only continue to exist, not by passing from body to body,
but that tlicy preserve the same form^ [in their separate
state] as the body had to which they were adapted, and that
they remember the deeds which they did in this state of
existence, and from which they have now ceased, — in that
narrative which is recorded respecting the rich man and that
Lazarus who found repose in the bosom of Abraham. In
this account He states^ that Dives knew Lazarus after death,
and Abraham in like manner, and that each one of these
persons continued in his own proper position, and that [Dives]
requested Lazarus to be sent to relieve him — [Lazarus], on
whom he did not [formerly] bestow even the crumbs [which
fell] from his table. [He tells us] also of the answer given
by Abraham, who was acquainted not only with what re-
spected himself, but Dives also, and who enjoined those who
did not wish to come into that place of torment to believe
!Moses and the prophets, and to receive^ the preaching of
Him who was^ to rise again from the dead. By these
things, then, it is plainly declared that souls continue to exist,
that they do not pass from body to body, that they possess
the form of a man, so that they may be recognised, and
retain the memory of things in this world ; moreover, that
the gift of prophecy was possessed by Abraham, and that
each class [of souls] receives a habitation such as it has
deserved, even before the judgment.
2. But if any persons at this point maintain that those
souls, which only began a little while ago to exist, cannot
endure for any length of time ; but that they must, on the
one hand, either be unborn, in order that they may be im-
1 Grabe refers to Tertullian, De Anima, cli. vii., as making a similar
statement. Massuct, on the other hand, denies that Ironicus here ex-
presses an opinion Hke that of Tertullian in the passage referred to, and
thinks that the special form (character) mentioned is to be understood
as simply denoting individual spiritual properties. But his vemarks are
not satisfactory.
- lAike xvi. 19, etc.
^ AVith ^lassuct and Stieren, we here supply esse.
* Some read rcsurgerct^ and others resurrexerit ; we deem the former
reading preferable.
252 IBENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book ii.
mortal, or, if they have had a beginning in the way of gene-
ration, that they should die with the body itself — let them
learn that God alone, who is Lord of all, is without begin-
ning and without end, being truly and for ever the same,
and always remaining the same unchangeable Being. But
all things which proceed from Him, whatsoever have been
made, and are made, do indeed receive their own beginning
of generation, and on this account are inferior to Him who
formed them, inasmuch as they are not unbegotten. Neverthe-
less they endure, and extend their existence into a long series
of ages in accordance with the will of God their Creator ; so
that He grants them that they should be thus formed at the
beginning, and that they should so exist afterwards.
3. For as the heaven which is above us, the firmament, the
sun, the moon, the rest of the stars, and all their grandeur,
although they had no previous existence, were called into being,
and continue throughout a long course of time according to
the will of God, so also any one who thinks thus respecting
souls and spirits, and, in fact, respecting all created things,
will not by any means go far astray, inasmuch as all things
that have been made had a beginning when they were formed,
but endure as long as God wills that they should have an
existence and continuance. The prophetic Spirit bears testi-
mony to these opinions, when He declares, " For He spake,
and they were made; He commanded, and they were created:
He hath established them for ever, yea, for ever and ever."-^
And again. He thus speaks respecting the salvation of man :
"He asked life of Thee, and Thou gavest him length of
days for ever and ever ;"^ indicating that it is the Father of
all who imparts continuance for ever and ever on those wdio
are saved. For life does not arise from us, nor from our
own nature ; but it is bestowed according to the grace of
God. And therefore he who shall preserve the life bestowed
upon him, and give thanks to Him who imparted it, shall re-
ceive also length of days for ever and ever. But he who
shall reject it, and prove himself ungrateful to his Maker,
inasmuch as he has been created, and has not recognised
^ Ps. cxlviii. 5, 6. ^ Ps. xxi. 4.
Book il] IUENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 253
Ilim who bestowed [the gift upon him], deprives himself of
[the privilege of] continuance for ever and ever.^ And, for
this reason, the Lord declared to those who showed themselves
ungrateful towards Him ; " If ye have not been faithful in
that which is little, who will give you that which is great ?"^
indicating that those who, in this brief temporal life, have
shown themselves ungrateful to Him who bestowed it, shall
justly not receive from Him length of days for ever and ever.
4. But as the animal body is certainly not itself the soul,
yet has fellowship with the soul as long as God pleases ; so
the soul herself is not life,^ but partakes in that life bestowed
upon her by God. Wherefore also the prophetic word declares
of the first-formed man, " He became a living soul,"^ teach-
ing us that by the participation of life the soul became alive ;
so that the soul, and the life which it possesses, must be
understood as being separate existences. When God there-
fore bestows life and perpetual duration, it comes to pass that
even souls which did not previously exist should henceforth
endure [for ever], since God has both willed that they should
exist, and should continue in existence. For the will of God
ought to govern and rule in all things, while all other things
give way to Him, are in subjection, and devoted to His ser-
vice. Thus far, then, let me speak concerning the creation
and the continued duration of the soul.
Chap. xxxv. — Hefutation of BasiUdes, and of the opinion
that the prophets uttered their predictions under the inspi-
ration of different gods.
1. Moreover, in addition to what has been said, Basilides
himself will, according to his own principles, find it necessary
to maintain not only that there are three hundred and sixty-
^ As Massuet observes, this statement is to be understood in harmony
with the repeated assertion of Irenreus that the wicked will exist in misery
for ever. It refers not to annihilation, but to deprivation of happiness.
- Luke xvi. 11, quoted loosely from memory. Grabe, however, thinks
they are cited from the apocryphal Gospel according to the Egyptians.
2 Comp. Justin Martyr, Dial. c. Tryph. ch. vi. * Gen. ii. 7.
254 lEEN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
five heavens made in succession by one another, but that an
immense and innumerable multitude of heavens have always
been in the process of being made, and are being made, and
will continue to be made, so that the formation of heavens
of this kind can never cease. For if from the efflux^ of
the first heaven the second was made after its likeness, and
the third after the Hkeness of the second, and so on with all
the remaining subsequent ones, then it follows, as a matter
of necessity, that from the efflux of our heaven, which he
indeed terms the last, another be formed like to it, and from
that again a third ; and thus there can never cease, either
the process of efflux from those heavens which have been
already made, or the manufacture of [new] heavens, but the
operation must go on ad infinitum, and give rise to a number
of heavens -which will be altocrether indefinite.
o
2. The remainder of those who are falsely termed Gnostics,
and wdio maintain that the prophets uttered their prophecies
under the inspiration of different gods, will be easily over-
thrown by this fact, that all the prophets proclaimed one
God and Lord, and that the very Maker of heaven and
earth, and of all things which are therein ; while they more-
over announced the advent of His Son, as I shall demonstrate
from the Scriptures themselves, in the books w'hich follow.
o. If, however, any object that, in the Hebrew language,
diverse expressions [to represent God] occur in the Scriptures,
such as Sabaoth, Eloe, Adonai, and all other such terms, striv-
ing to prove from these that there are different pov/ers and
gods, let them learn that all expressions of this kind are but
announcements and appellations of one and the same Being.
For the term Eloii in the Jewish language denotes God,
while Eloeim^ and Eloeuth in the Hebrew^ language signify
" that luJiich contains all^ As to the appellation Adonai, some-
times it denotes what is nameable^ and admirahle; but at other
^ Ex defluxu^ corresponding to s^ ccTroppoIx; in the Greek.
2 Elox here occurs in the Latin text, but Harvey supposes that the
Greek had been ' EA^ys/^. He also remarks that Eloeuth (D^HPS) is the
rabbinical abstract term, Godhead.
3 All that can be remarked on this is, that the Jews substituted the
Book ii.] IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 255
times, when the letter Daleth in it is doubled, and the word re-
ceives an initial^ guttural sound — thus Addonai — [it signifies],
" One who bounds and separates the land from the water,"
so that the water should not subsequently^ submerge the land.
In like manner also, Sahaoth,^ when it is spelled by a Greek
Omega in the last syllable [Sabaoth], denotes " a voluntanj
agent ;" but wdien it is spelled with a Greek Omicron — as, for
instance, Sabaoth — it expresses " the first heaven^ In the
same way, too, the word Jaotli^ when the last syllable is made
long and aspirated, denotes "a 'predetermined measure;'' but
when it is written shortly by the Greek letter Omicron,
namely Jaothj it signifies "one v:Jio puts evils to fiif/ht.'^ All
the other expressions likewise bring out'^ the title of one and
the same Being ; as, for example (in English^), The Lord of
Powers, The Father of all, God Almighty, The Most High,
The Creator, The Maker, and such like. These are not the
names and titles of a succession of different beings, but of
one and the same, by means of which the one God and
term Adonai OjIS) for the name Jehovah, as often as the latter occurred
in the sacred text. The former might therefore be styled namcahle.
1 The Latin text is, " aliquando autem duplicata litera delta cimi
aspiratione," and Harvey supposes that the doubling of the Daleth
would give "to the scarcely articulate t< a more decidedly guttural cha-
racter ; " but the sense is extremely doubtful.
2 Instead of " ncc postcaquam insurgere," Feuardent and ^lassuet
read " ne possit insurgere," and include the clause in the definition of
Addonai
^ The author is here utterly mistaken, and, notwithstanding Harvey's
earnest claim for him of a knowledge of Hebrew, seems clearly to betray
his ignorance of that language. The term Sabaoth is never written with
an Omicron, cither in the LXX. or by the Greek fathers, but always
with an Omega (2oc/3aa)^). Although Harvey remarks in his preface,
that "it is hoped the Hebrew attainments of Irenseus will no longer be
donicd,'' there appears enough, in the etymologies and explanations of
Hebrew terms given in this chapter by the venerable father, to prevent
such a conclusion ; and Massuet's observation on the passage seems not
improbable, when he says, " Sciolus quispiam Irenaeo nostro, in Hebraicis
hand satis perito, hie fucmn fecisse videtur."
■* Probably corrcsponchug to the Hebrew term Jehovah (nin^).
^ Literally, " belong to one and the same name."
^ " Secundum Latinitaiem"' in the text.
256 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ii.
Father is revealed, lie who contains all things, and grants to
all the boon of existence.
4. Now, that the preaching of the apostles, the authori-
tative teaching of the Lord, the announcements of the pro-
phets, the dictated utterances of the apostles,^ and the mini-
stration of the law — all of which praise one and the same
Being, the God and Father of all, and not many diverse
beings, nor one deriving his substance from different gods
or powers, but [declare] that all things [were formed] by
one and the same Father (who nevertheless adapts [His
works] to the natures and tendencies of the materials dealt
with), things visible and invisible, and, in short, all things
that have been made [were created] neither by angels, nor
by any other powxr, but by God alone, the Father — are all in
harmony with our statements, has, I think, been sufficiently
proved, while by these w^eighty arguments it has been shown
that there is but one God, the Maker of all things. But that
I may not be thought to avoid that series of proofs which may
be derived from the Scriptures of the Lord (since, indeed, these
Scriptures do much more evidently and clearly proclaim this
very point), I shall, for the benefit of those at least who do
not bring a depraved mind to bear upon them, devote a spe-
cial book to the Scriptures referred to, which shall fairly
follow them out [and explain them], and I shall plainly set
forth from these divine Scriptures proofs to [satisfy] all the
lovers of truth.^
' The words are " apostolorum dictatio," probably referring to the
letters of the apostles, as distinguished from their preaching already
mentioned.
2 This last sentence is very confused and ambiguous, and the editors
throw but little light upon it. We have endeavoured to translate it
according to the ordinary text and punctuation, but strongly suspect
interpolation and corruption. If we might venture to strike out "has
Scripturas," and connect "his tamen" with " prsedicantibus," a better
sense would be yielded, as follows : " But that I may not be thought to
avoid that series of proofs which may be derived from the Scriptures of
the Lord (since, indeed, these Scriptures do much more evidently and
clearly set forth this very point, to those at least who do not bring a
depraved mind to their consideration), I shall devote the particular book
which follows to them, and shall," etc.
ieentEus against heresies.
BOOK III.
PREFACE.
jIIOU hadst indeed enjoined upon me, my very
dear friend, that I should brino; to lio-jit the
Valentinian doctrines, concealed, as their votaries
imagine ; that I should exhibit their diversity,
and compose a treatise in refutation of them. I therefore
have undertaken — showing that they spring from Simon, the
father of all heretics — to exhibit both their doctrines and
successions, and to set forth arguments against them all.
Wherefore, since the conviction of these men and their
exposure is in many points but one work, I have sent unto
thee [certain] books, of which the first comprises the opinions
of all these men, and exhibits their customs, and the cha-
racter of their behaviour. In the second, again, their per-
verse teachings are cast down and overthrown, and, such as
they really are, laid bare and open to view. But in this,
the third book, I shall adduce proofs from the Scriptures,
so that I may come behind in nothing of what thou hast
enjoined ; yea, that over and above what thou didst reckon
upon, thou mayest receive from me the means of combating
and vanquishing those who, in whatever manner, are pro-
pagating falsehood. For the love of God, being rich and
ungrudging, confers upon the suppliant more than he can
ask from it. Call to mind, then, the things which I have
stated in the two preceding books, and, taking these in con-
nection with them, thou shalt have from me a very copious
B
258 IBENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
refutation of all the heretics ; and faithfully and strenuously
shalt thou resist them in defence of the only true and life-
giving faith, which the church has received from the apostles
and imparted to her sons. For the Lord of all gave to His
apostles the power of the gospel, through whom also we have
known the truth, that is, the doctrine of the Son of God ; to
whom also did the Lord declare : '^ He that heareth you,
heareth me ; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me, and
Him that sent me." ^
Chap. i. — The apostles did not commence to preach the gospel,
or to place anything on record, until they were endowed
ivith the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit, They
preached one God alone. Maker of heaven and earth.
1. We have learned from none others the plan of our sal-
vation, than from those through whom the gospel has come
down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public,
and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to
us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our
faith .^ For it is unlawful to assert that they preached before
they possessed "perfect knowledge," as some do even venture
to say, boasting themselves as improvers of the apostles.
For, after our Lord rose from the dead, [the apostles] were
invested with power from on high when the Holy Spirit
came down [upon them], were filled from all [His gifts],
and had perfect knowledge : they departed to the ends of
the earth, preaching the glad tidings of the good things
[sent] from God to us, and proclaiming the peace of
heaven to men, who indeed do all equally and individually
possess the gospel of God. Matthew also issued a written
gospel among the Hebrews^ in their own dialect, while
1 Luke X. 16.
2 See 1 Tim. iii. 15, where these terms are used in reference to the
church.
2 On this and similar statements in the fathers, the reader may con-
sult Dr. Roberts' Discussions on the Gospels, in which they are fully
criticised, and the Greek original of St. Matthew's Gospel maintained.
Book hi.] IIIENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 259
Peter and Paul were preaching at Kome, and laying the
foundations of the church. After their departure, Mark,
the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down
to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke
also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the gospel
preached by him. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the
Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself
publish a gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.
2. These have all declared to us that there is one God,
Creator of heaven and earth, announced by the law and the
prophets ; and one Christ, the Son of God. If any one do
not agree to these truths, he despises the companions of the
Lord ; nay more, he despises Christ Himself the Lord ; yea,
he despises the Father also, and stands self-condemned, re-
sisting and opposing his own salvation, as is the case with all
heretics.
Chap. ii. — The heretics follow neither Scripture nor
tradition.
1. When, however, they are confuted from the Scriptures,
they turn round and accuse these same Scriptures, as if they
were not correct, nor of authority, and [assert] that they
are ambiguous, and that the truth cannot be extracted from
them by those who are ignorant of tradition. For [they
allege] that the truth was not delivered by means of written
documents, but viva voce: wherefore also Paul declared,
" But we speak wisdom among those that are perfect, but
not the wisdom of this world." ^ And this wisdom each one
of them allco;es to be the fiction of his own inventlnix, for-
sooth ; so that, according to their idea, the truth properly
resides at one time in Valentlnus, at another In ^larcion, at
another in Cerlnthus, then afterwards in Basilldes, or has
even been indifferently in any other opponent,' who could
speak nothing pertaining to salvation. For every one of
1 1 Cor. ii. G.
* This is Harvey's rendcriiig of the old Latin, in illo qui contra dis-
putat.
260 IBENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book hi.
these men, being altogether of a perverse disposition, deprav-
ing the system of truth, is not ashamed to preach himself.
2. But, again, when we refer them to that tradition whicli
originates from the apostles, [and] which is preserved by
means of the successions of presbyters in the churches, they
object to tradition, saying that they themselves are wiser
not merely than the presbyters, but even than the apostles,
because they have discovered the unadulterated truth. For
[thoy maintain] that the apostles intermingled the things of
the law with the words of the Saviour ; and that not the
apostles alone, but even the Lord Himself, spoke as at one
time from the Demiurge, at another from the intermediate
place, and yet again from the Pleroma, but that they them-
selves, indubitably, unsulliedly, and purely, have knowledge
of the hidden mystery : this is, indeed, to blaspheme their
Creator after a most impudent manner ! It comes to this,
therefore, that these men do now consent neither to Scripture
nor to tradition.
3. Such are the adversaries with whom we have to deal, my
very dear friend, endeavouring like slippery serpents to escape
at all points. Wherefore they must be opposed at all points,
if perchance, by cutting off their retreat, we may succeed in
turning them back to the truth. For, though it is not an
easy thing for a soul under the influence of error to repent,
yet, on the other hand, it is not altogether impossible to
escape from error when the truth is brought alongside it.
Chap. hi. — A refutation of the heretics, from the fact that,
in the various churches, a perpetual succession of bishops
was kept up.
• 1. It is wathin the power of all, therefore, in every church,
who may wish to see the truth, to contemplate clearly the tradi-
tion of the apostles manifested throughout the whole world ;
and we are in a position to reckon up those who were by the
apostles instituted bishops in the churches, and [to demon-
strate] the successions of these men to our own times ; those
who neither taught nor knew of anything like what these
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 2G1
[heretics] rave about. For if the apostles had known hidden
mysteries, which they were in the habit of imparting to " the
perfect" apart and privily from the rest, they would have
delivered them especially to those to whom they were also
committing the churches themselves. For they were desir-
ous that these men should be very perfect and blameless in
all things, whom also they were leaving behind as their suc-
cessors, delivering up their own place of government to these
men ; which men, if they discharged their functions honestly,
would be a great boon [to the church], but if they should fall
away, the direst calamity.
2. Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a
volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the churches,
we do put to confusion all those who, in wdiatever manner,
whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blind-
ness and perverse opinion, assemble in unauthorized meet-
ings ; [we do this, I say,] by indicating that tradition derived
from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and
universally known church founded and organized at Rome
by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul ; as also
[by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes
down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops.
For it is a matter of necessity that every church should agree
with this church, on account of its pre-eminent authority,^
that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolical
tradition has been preserved continuously by those [faithful
men] who exist everywhere.
3. The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up
the church, committed into the hands of Linus the office
of the episcopate. Of this Linus, Paul makes mention in
^ The Latin text of this difficult but import<ant clause is, "Ad hanc
onim ccclcsiam propter potiorem principalitatein nccesse est omnein
convonirc ecclesiam." Both the text and meaning have here given rise
to much discussion. It is impossible to say \\'\i\\ certainty of what
words in the Greek original " potiorem principalitatem " may be the
translation. We are far from sure that the rendering given above is
correct, but we have been unable to think of anything better. A dis-
cussion of the subject may be seen in chap. xii. of Dr. "Wordsworth's
St. liippohjias and the Church of Rome.
2C2 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book hi.
the Epistles to Timothy. To liim succeeded Anacletus ; and
after liim, in the tliird place from the apostles, Clement was
allotted the bishopric. This man, as he had seen the blessed
apostles, and had been conversant with them, might be said to
have the preaching of the apostles still echoing [in his ears],
and their traditions before his eyes. Nor was he alone [in
this], for tliere were many still remaining who had received
instructions from the apostles. In the time of this Clement,
no small dissension having occurred among the brethren at
Corinth, the church in Rome despatched a most powerful
letter to the Corinthians, exhorting them to peace, renewing
their faith, and declaring the tradition which it had lately
received from the apostles, proclaiming the one God, omni-
potent, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Creator of man,
who brought on the deluge, and called Abraham, who led the
people from the land of Egypt, spake with Moses, set forth
the law, sent the prophets, and who has prepared fire for the
devil and his angels. From this document, whosoever chooses
to do so, may learn that He, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, was preached by the churches, and may also under-
stand the apostolical tradition of the church, since this epistle
is of older date than these men who are now propagating
falsehood, and who conjure into existence another god beyond
the Creator and the [Maker of all existing things. To this
Clement there succeeded Evaristus. Alexander followed
Evaristus ; then, sixth from the apostles, Sixtus was ap-
pointed ; after him Telesphorus, who was gloriously martyred;
then Hyginus ; after him, Pius ; then after him, Anicctus.
Soter having succeeded Anicctus, Eleutherius does now, in
the twelfth place from the apostles, hold the inheritance of
the episcopate. In this order, and by this succession, the
ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles, and the preaching of
the truth, have come down to us. And this is most abundant ,
proof that there is one and the same vivifying faith, which /
has been preserved in the church from the apostles until
now, and handed down in truth.
4. But Poly carp also was not only instructed by apostles, s
and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was
Book hi.] 1RENJEU8 AGAINST HERESIES. 2G3
also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the church in
Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried
[on earth] a very long time, and, when a very old man,
gloriously and most nobly suffering martyrdom,^ departed
this life, having always taught the things which he had
learned from the apostles, and which the church has handed
down, and which alone are true. To these things all the
Asiatic churches testify, as do also those men who have
succeeded Polycarp down to the present time, — a man who
was of much greater w^eight, and a more stedfast witness
of truth, than Valentinus, and Marcion, and the rest of the
lieretics. He it was who, coming to Rome in the time of >
Anicetus, caused many to turn away from the aforesaid i
heretics to the church of God, proclaiming that he had
received this one and sole truth from the apostles, — that,
namely, which is handed down by the church.^ There are also
those who heard from him that John, the disciple of the Lord,
going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within,
rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming,
" Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because
Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within." And Polycarp
himself replied to Marcion, who met him on one occasion, and
said, " Dost thou know me "? " "I do know thee, the -first-
born of Satan." Such was the horror which the apostles
and their disciples had against holding even a verbal com-
munication with any corrupters of the truth ; as Paul also
says, " A man that is an heretic, after the first and second
admonition, reject ; knowing that he that is such is subverted,
and sinncth, being condemned of himself."^ There is also a
very powerful "* epistle of Polycarp written to the Philippians,
from which those who choose to do so, and are anxious about
^ Polycarp suffered about the year 167, in the reign of Marcus Aure-
lius. His great age of eighty- six years implies that he wjis contempo-
rary with St. John for nearly twenty years.
- So the Greek. The Latin reads : " ^Yhich he also handed down to
the church."
s Tit. iii. 10.
^ 'iKccjuroirin. Harvey translates this all- sufficient^ and thus paraphrases :
But his epistle is all-sufficient^ to teach those that are desirous to leani.
264 lUENuEUS AGAINST IIEnESIES. [Book hi.
their salvation, can learn the character of his faith, and the
preaching of the truth. Then, again, the church in Ephesus,
founded by Paul, and having John remaining among them
permanently until the times of Trajan, is a true witness of
the tradition of the apostles.
Chap. iv. — The truth is to he found nowhere else hut in the
catholic churchy the sole depository of apostolical doc-
trine. Heresies are of recent formation^ and cannot trace
their origin up to the apostles.
Since therefore we have such proofs, it is not necessary to
seek the truth among others which it is easy to obtain from
the church ; since the apostles, like a rich man [depositing
his money] in a bank, lodged in her hands most copiously
all things pertaining to the truth : sa that every man, who-
soever will, can draw from her the water of life.^ For she
is the entrance to life; all others are thieves and robbers.
On this account are we bound to avoid them, but to make
choice of the things pertaining to the church with the utmost
diligence, and to lay hold of the tradition of the truth. For
how stands the case ? Suppose there arise a dispute relative
to some important question"'^ among us, should we not have
recourse to the most ancient churches with which the apostles
held constant intercourse, and learn from them what is cer-
tain and clear in regard to the present question? For how
should it be if the apostles themselves had not left us
writings ? AYould it not be necessary, [in that case,] to fol-
low the course of the tradition which they handed down to
those to whom they did commit the churches ?
2. To which course many nations of those barbarians who
believe in Christ do assent, having salvation written in their
hearts by the Spirit, without paper or ink, and, carefully
preserving the ancient tradition, believing in one God, the
Creator of heaven and earth, and all things therein, by means
of Christ Jesus, the Son of God ; who, because of His sur-
passing love towards His creation, condescended to be born
^ Rev. xxii. 17. ^ Latin, " modica quaestione."
Book III.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 265
of the virgin, He Himself unltino; man through Himself to
God, and having suffered under Pontius Pilate, and rising
again, and having been received up in splendour, shall come
in glory, the Saviour of those who are saved, and the Judge
of those who are judged, and sending into eternal fire those
who transform the truth, and despise His Father and His
advent. Those who, in the absence of written documents,^
have believed this faith, are barbarians, so far as regards our
language ; but as regards doctrine, manner, and tenor of life,
they are, because of faith, very wise indeed ; and they do
please God, ordering their conversation in all righteousness,
chastity, and wisdom. If any one were to preach to these
men the inventions of the heretics, speaking to them in their
own language, they would at once stop their ears, and flee
as far off as possible, not enduring even to listen to the
blasphemous address. Thus, by means of that ancient tradi-
tion of the apostles, they do not suffer their mind to conceive
anything of the [doctrines suggested by the] portentous
language of these teachers, among whom neither church nor
doctrine has ever been established.
3. For, prior to Yalentinus, those who follow Valentinus
had no existence ; nor did those from Marcion exist before
Marcion ; nor, in short, had any of those malignant-minded
people, whom I have above enumerated, any being previous
to the initiators and inventors of their perversity. For
Valentinus came to Pome in the time of Hyginus, flourished
under Pius, and remained until Anicetus. Cordon, too, ^lar-
cion's predecessor, himself arrived in the time of Hyginus,
who was the ninth bishop.' Coming frequently into the
church, and making public confession, he thus remained,
one time teaching in secret, and then again making public
1 Literally, " without letters;" equivalent to, " without paper and
ink," a few lines previously.
- The old Latin translation says the eiglilh bishop ; but there is no
discrepancy. Eusebius, who has preserved the Greek of this passage,
probably counted the apostles as the Jirst skjy in the episcopal succes-
sion. As Irenaius tells us in the preceding chapter, Linus is to bo
counted as the first bishop.
266 IHENjEUS against heresies. [Book hi.
confession ; but at last, having been denounced for corrupt
teaching, he was excommunicated^ from the assembly of the
brethren. Marcion, then, succeeding him, flourished under
Anicetus, who held the tenth place of the episcopate. But
the rest, who are called Gnostics, take rise from Menander,
Simon's disciple, as I have shown ; and each one of them
appeared to be both the father and the high priest of that
doctrine into which he has been initiated. But all these
(the Marcosians) broke out into their apostasy much later,
even during the intermediate period of the church.
Chap. v. — Christ and His apostles, ivithout any fraud, decep-
tion, or hypocrisy, preached that one God, the Father, was
the Founder of all things. They did not accommodate
their doctrine to the prepossessions of their hearers,
1. Since, therefore, the tradition from the apostles does
thus exist in the church, and is permanent among us, let us
revert to the scriptural proof furnished by those apostles who
did also write the Gospel, in wdiich they recorded the doctrine
regarding God, pointing out that our Lord Jesus Christ is
the truth,^ and that no lie is in Him. As also David says,
prophesying His birth from a virgin, and the resurrection
from the dead, " Truth has sprung out of the earth." ^ The
apostles, likewise, being disciples of the truth, are above all
falsehood ; for a lie has no fellowship with the truth, just as
darkness has none with light, but the presence of the one
shuts out that of the other. Our Lord, therefore, being the
truth, did not speak lies ; and whom He knew to have taken
origin from a defect. He never would have acknowledged as
God, even the God of all, the Supreme King, too, and His
own Father, an imperfect being as a perfect one, an animal
one as a spiritual. Him who was without the Pleroma as Him
who was within it. Neither did His disciples make mention
^ It is thouglit that this does not mean excommunication properly so
called, but a species of self-excommunication, i.e. anticipating the sen-
tence of the church, by quitting it altogether. See Valesius' note in
his edition of Eusebius.
2 John xiv. 6. . ^ Ps. Ixxxv. 11.
Book hi.] inEN^EUS AGAINST HERESIES. 267
of any other God, or term any other Lord, except Him, who
was truly the God and Lord of all, as these most vain
sophists affirm that the apostles did with hypocrisy frame
their doctrine according to the capacity of their hearers, and
gave answers after the opinions of their questioners, — fabling
blind things for the blind, according to their blindness ; for
the dull according to their dulness ; for those in error accord-
in£c to their error. And to those who ima^^ined that the
Demiurge alone was God, they preached him ; but to those
who are capable of comprehending the unnameable Father,
they did declare the unspeakable mystery through parables
and enigmas : so that the Lord and the apostles exercised the
office of teacher not to further the cause of truth, but even
in hypocrisy, and as each individual was able to receive it.
2. Such [a line of conduct] belongs not to those who heal,
or who give life : it is rather that of those bringing on dis-
eases, and increasing ignorance ; and much more true than
these men shall the law be found, which pronounces every
one accursed who sends the blind man astray in the way.
For the apostles, who were commissioned to find out the
wanderers, and to be for sight to those who saw not, and
medicine to the weak, certainly did not address them in
accordance with their opinion at the time, but according to
revealed truth. For no persons of any kind w^ould act
properly, if they should advise blind men, just about to fall
over a precipice, to continue their most dangerous path, as if
it were the right one, and as if they might go on in safety.
Or what medical man, anxious to heal a sick person, would
prescribe in accordance with the patient's whims, and not
according to the requisite medicine ? But that the Lord
came as the physician of the sick. He does Himself declare,
saying, " They that are whole need not a physician, but they
that are sick ; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners
to repentance."^ How then shall the sick be strengthened,
or how shall sinners come to repentance I Is it by perse-
vering in the very same courses ? or, on the contrary, is it
by undergoing a great change and reversal of their former
1 Luke V. 31, 32.
268 IEENjEUS against HEBESIES. [Book hi.
mode of living, by which they have brought upon them-
selves no slight amount of sickness, and many sins ? But
ignorance, the mother of all these, is driven out by know-
ledge. Wherefore the Lord used to impart knowledge to
His disciples, by which also it was His practice to heal those
who were suffering, and to keep back sinners from sin. He
therefore did not address them in accordance with their
pristine notions, nor did He reply to them in harmony with
the opinion of His questioners, but according to the doctrine
leading to salvation, without hypocrisy or respect of person.
3. This is also made clear from the words of the Lord,
who did truly reveal the Son of God to those of the circum-
cision— Him who had been foretold as Christ by the prophets ;
that is, He set Himself forth, avIio had restored liberty to
men, and bestowed on them the inheritance of incorruption.
And again, the apostles taught the Gentiles that they should
leave vain stocks and stones, which they imagined to be gods,
and worship the true God, who had created and made all the
human family, and, by means of His creation, did nourish,
increase, strengthen, and preserve them in being ; and that
they might look for His Son Jesus Christ, who redeemed us
from apostasy with His own blood, so that we should also be
a sanctified people, — who shall also descend from heaven in
His Father's power, and pass judgment upon all, and who
shall freely give the good things of God to those who shall
have kept Ilis commandments. He, appearing in these last
times, the chief corner-stone, has gathered into one, and
united those that were far off and those that were near ;^ that
is, the circumcision and the uncircumcision, enlarging Japhet,
and placing him in the dwelling of Shem.^
Chap. vi. — The Holy Ghost, throughout the Old Testament
Scriptures, made mention of no other God or Lord, save
Him icho is the true God.
1. Therefore neither would the Lord, nor the Holy Spirit,
nor the apostles, have ever named as God, definitely and
absolutely, him who was not God, unless he were truly God ;
1 Eph. n. 17. 2 Gen. ix. 27.
Book hi.] IEENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 269
nor would tlicy have named any one in liis own person Lord,
except God the Father ruling over all, and His Son who has
received dominion from His Father over all creation, as this
passage has it : " The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at
my right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool."^
Here [the Scripture] represents to us the Father addressing
the Son ; He who gave Him the inheritance of the heathen,
and subjected to Him all His enemies. Since, therefore, the
Father is truly Lord, and the Son truly Lord, the Holy
Spirit has fitly designated them by the title of Lord. And
again, referring to the destruction of the Sodomites, the
Scripture says, " Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and
upon Gomorrah fire and brimstone from the Lord out of
heaven."^ For it here points out that the Son, who had
also been talking with Abraham, had received power to judge
the Sodomites for their wickedness. And this [text follow-
ing] does declare the same truth : " Thy throne, O God, is
for ever and ever ; the sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right
sceptre. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity:
therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee." ^ For the
Spirit designates both [of them] by the name of God — both
Him who is anointed as Son, and Him who does anoint, that
is, the Father. And again: " God stood in the congregation
of the gods. He judges among the gods." ^ He [here] refers
to the Father and the Son, and those who have received the
adoption ; but these are the church. For she is the syna-
gogue of God, which God — that is, the Son Himself — has
gathered by Himself. Of whom He again speaks : '^ The
God of gods, the Lord hath spoken, and hath called the
earth." ^ Who is meant by God? He of whom He has
said, " God shall come openly, our God, and shall not keep
silence ; " ^ that is, the Son, who came manifested to men,
who said, " I have openly appeared to those who seek me
not." ' But of what gods [does he speak] ? [Of those] to
whom He says, " I have said. Ye arc gods, and all sons of
^ Ts. ex. 1. 2 Gen. xix. 2^. - Ps. xlv. 6.
-» Ps. Ixxxii. 1. B Ps. 1. 1. c i>s. 1. 3.
'' Isa. Ixv. 1.
270
lUENJE US A GAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
the Most High." ^ To tliose, no doubt, who liave received
the grace of tiie " adoption, by which wc cry, Abba Father."^
2. Wherefore, as I have ah'cady stated, no other is named
as God, or is called Lord, except Him who is God and Lord
of all, who also said to !Moses, " I AM that I AM. And thus
shalt thou say to the children of Israel : He who is, hath sent
me unto you ; " ^ and His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who
makes those that believe in His name the sons of God.
And again, when the Son speaks to Moses, He says, " I am
come down to deliver this people." * For it is He who de-
scended and ascended for the salvation of men. Therefore
God has been declared through the Son, who is in the Father,
and has the Father in Himself — He who is, the Father bear-
ing witness to the Son, and the Son announcing the Father.
As also Esaias says, " I too am witness," he declares, " saith
the Lord God, and the Son whom I have chosen, that ye
may know, and believe, and understand that I AM."^
3. When, however, the Scrijoture terms them [gods] which
are no gods, it does not, as I have already remarked, declare
them as gods in every sense, but with a certain addition and
signification, by which they are shown to be no gods at all.
As with David : " The gods of the heathen are idols of
demons;"^ and, "Ye shall not follow other gods."^ For in
that he says " the gods of the heathen" — but the heathen are
ignorant of the true God — and calls them " other gods," he
bars their claim [to be looked upon] as gods at all. But as to
what they are in their own person, he speaks concerning them;
" for they are," he says, " the idols of demons." And Esaias :
*^ Let them be confounded, all who blaspheme God, and carve
useless things;^ even I am witness, saith God." ^ Here-
moves them from [the category of] gods, but he makes use
of the word alone, for this [purpose], that we may know of
whom he speaks. Jeremiah also says the same ; " The gods
1 Ps. Ixxxii. 6. 2 p^om, yiii. 15. s Ex. iii. 14. * Ex. iii. 8.
* Isa. xliii. 10. ® Ps. xcvi. 5. ^ Ps. Ixxxi. 9.
^ These words are an interpolation : it is supposed they have been
carelessly repeated from the preceding quotation of Isaiah.
^ Isa. xliv. 9.
Book hi.] IUENJEVS, AGAINST HERESIES, 271
that Lave not made the heavens and earth, let them perish
from the earth which is under the heaven." ^ For, from the
fact of his having subjoined their destruction, he shows them
to be no gods at alL EHas, too, when all Israel was assem-
bled at Mount Carmel, wishing to turn them from idolatry,
says to them, " How long halt ye between two opinions ? ^
If the Lord be God,^ follow Him." * And again, at the
burnt-offering, he thus addresses the idolatrous priests : " Ye
shall call upon the name of your gods, and I will call on the
name of the Lord my God ; and the Lord that will hearken
by fire,^ He is God." Now, from the fact of the prophet
having said these words, he proves that these gods wdiich were
reputed so among those men, are no gods at all. He directed
them to that God upon whom he believed, and who was truly
God; whom invoking, he exclaimed, " Lord God of Abraham,
God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, hear me to-day, and let all
this people know that Thou art the God of Israel." ^
4. Wherefore I do also call upon thee, Lord God of
Abraham, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob and. Israel,
who art the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who,
through the abundance of Thy mercy, hast had a favour
towards us, that we should know Thee, who hast made heaven
and earth, who rulest over all, wdio art the only and the
true God, above whom there is none other God ; grant, by
our Lord Jesus Christ, the governing power of the Holy
Spirit ; give to every reader of this book to know Thee, that
Thou art God alone, to be strengthened in Thee, and to
avoid every heretical, and godless, and impious doctrine.
5. And the Apostle Paul also, saying, " For though ye
have served them which are no gods ; ye now know God,
1 Jer. X. 11.
2 Literally, " In both hocks," in aiiibabus suffraginibus.
2 The old Latin translation has, " Si iimis est Dominns Dens" — If the
Lord God is one ; which is supposed by the critics to have occurred
through carelessness of the translator.
* 1 Kings xviii. 21, etc,
^ The Latin version has, " that answereth to-day " (hodie)^ — an e\i-
dent error for ignc.
6 1 Kings xviii. 3G.
272 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book iii.
or rather, are known of God,"^ has made a separation be-
tween those that were not [gods] and Ilim wlio is God.
And again, speaking of Antichrist, he says, " who opposeth
and exaltcth himself above all that is called God, or that is
w^orshipped."" He points out here those who are called gods,
by such as know not God, that is, idols. For the Father of
all is called God, and is so ; and Antichrist shall be lifted
up, not above Him, but above those which are indeed called
gods, but are not. And Paul himself says that this is true :
" We know that an idol is nothing, and that there is none
other God but one. For thouirh there be that are called
gods, whether in heaven or in earth ; yet to us there is but
one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we through
Him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things,
and we by Him."'^ For he has made a distinction, and
separated those which are indeed called gods, but which are
none, from the one God the Father, from whom are all
things, and, he has confessed in the most decided manner
in his own person, one Lord Jesus Christ. But in this
[clause], " whether in heaven or in earth," he does not
speak of the formers of the W'Orld, as these [teachers] ex-
pound it ; but his meaning is similar to that of Moses, when
it is said, " Thou shalt not make to thyself any image for
God, of whatsoever things are in heaven above, whatsoever
in the earth beneath, and whatsoever in the waters under the
earth." ^ And he does thus explain what are meant by the
things in heaven : " Lest when," he says, " looking towards
heaven, and observing the sun, and the moon, and the stars,
and all the ornament of heaven, falling into error, thou
shouldest adore and serve them."'' And Moses himself,
being a man of God, was indeed given as a god before
Pharaoh ; ^ but he is not properly termed Lord, nor is called
God by the prophets, but is spoken of by the Spirit as
"Moses, the faithful minister and servant of God,"^ which
also he was.
' Gal. iv. 8, 9. ^2 Tliess. ii. 4. ^ i Cor. viii. 4, etc.
^ Deut. V. 8. " Deut. iv. 19. ^ Ex. vii. 1.
^ Heb. iii. 5 ; Num. xii. 7.
Book hi.] IEENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 273
CiiAr. VII. — Reply to an objection founded on the words of
St, Paul (2 Cor. iv. 5). St. Paid occasionally uses
words not in their grammatical sequence.
1. As to their affirming that Paul said plainly in the
Second [Epistle] to the Corinthians, " In whom the God of
this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not," ^
and maintaining that there is indeed one God of this w^orld,
but another who is beyond all principality, and beginning,
and power, we are not to blame if they, who give out that
they do themselves know mysteries beyond God, know not
how to read Paul. For if any one read the passage thus —
according to Paul's custom, as I show elsewhere, and by
many examples, that he uses transposition of w^ords — " In
whom God," then pointing it off, and making a slight inter-
val, and at the same time read also the rest [of the sentence]
in one [clause], "hath blinded the minds of them of this
world that believe not," he shall find out the true [sense] ;
that it is contained in the expression, " God hath blinded the
minds of the unbelievers of this world." And this is shown
by means of the little interval [between the clauses]. For
Paul does not say, " the God of this world," as if recognising
any other beyond Him ; but he confessed God as indeed
God. And he says, " the unbelievers of this world," because
they shall not inherit the future age of incorruption. I shall
show from Paul himself, how it is that God has blinded the
minds of them that believe not, in the course of this work,
that we may not just at present distract our mind from the
matter in hand, [by wandering] at large.
2. From many other instances also, we may discover that
the apostle frequently uses a transposed order in his sen-
tences, due to the rapidity of his discourses, and the impetus
of the Spirit which is in him. An example occurs in the
[Epistle] to the Galatians, where he expresses himself as
follows : " Wherefore then the law of works? "" It was added,
1 2 Cor. iv. 4.
2 This is according to the reading of the old Italic version, for it is
S
274 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iir.
until the seed should come to whom the promise was made ;
[and it was] ordained by angels in the hand of a Mediator."^
For the order of the words runs thus : " Wherefore then the
law of works ? Ordained by angels in the hand of a Media-
tor, it was added until the seed should come to whom the
promise was made," — man thus asking the question, and the
Spirit making answer. And again, in the second to the
Thessalonians, speaking of Antichrist, he says, " And then
shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus Christ^
shall slay with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy
him^ with the presence of his coming ; [even him] whose
coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and
signs, and lying wonders."^ Now in these [sentences] the
order of the words is this : " And then shall be revealed that
wicked, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all
power, and signs, and lying wonders, whom the Lord Jesus
shall slay with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy
with the presence of His coming." For he does not mean
that the coming of the Lord is after the working of Satan ;
but the coming of the wicked one, whom we also call Anti-
christ. If, then, one does not attend to the [proper] reading
[of the passage], and if he do not exhibit the intervals of
breathing as they occur, there shall be not only incongrui-
ties, but also, when reading, he will utter blasphemy, as if
the advent of the Lord could take place according to the
working of Satan. So therefore, in such passages, the liyper-
haton must be exhibited by the reading, and the apostle's
meaning following on, preserved ; and thus we do not read
in that passage, " the god of this world," but, " God,"
whom we do truly call God ; and we hear [it declared of]
the unbelieving and the blinded of this world, that they shall
not inherit the world of life which is to come.
not so read in any of our existing manuscripts of the Greek New Testa-
ment.
1 Gal. iii. 19.
2 This word is not found in the second quotation of this passage im-
mediately following.
3 2 Thess. ii. 8.
i
Book hi.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 275
ClIAP. VIII. — Ansioer to an objection^ arising from tlie words
of Christ (Matt. vi. 24). God alone is to be really called
God and Lord, for He is ivithout beginning and end,
1. This calumny, then, of these men, having been quashed,
it is clearly proved that neither the prophets nor the apostles
did ever name another God, or call [him] Lord, except the
true and only God. Much more [would this be the case
with regard to] tlie Lord Himself, who did also direct us to
" render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God
the things that are God's ;"^ naming indeed Cassar as Cassar,
but confessing God as God. In like manner also, that [text]
which says, "Ye cannot serve two masters,"" He docs Him-
self interpret, saying, "Ye cannot serve God and mammon;"
acknowledging God indeed as God, but mentioning mammon,
a thing having also an existence. He does not call mammon
Lord when He says, "Ye cannot serve two masters;" but
He teaches His disciples who serve God, not to be subject to
mammon, nor to be ruled by it. For He says, " He that
committeth sin is the slave of sin."^ Liasmuch, then, as He
terms those " the slaves of sin" who serve sin, but does not
certainly call sin itself God, thus also He terms those who
serve mammon " the slaves of mammon," not callinfT mammon
God. For mammon is, accordinfr to the Jewish lancruaixe,
which the Samaritans do also use, a covetous man, and one
who wishes to have more than he ought to have. But
according to the Hebrew, it is by the addition of a syllable
(adjunctive) called Mamuel,'* and signifies guloswn, that is,
one whose gullet is insatiable. Therefore, according to both
these things which are indicated, we cannot serve God and
mammon.
2. But also, when He spoke of the devil as strong, not
absolutely so, but as in comparison with us, the Lord showed
Himself under every aspect and truly to be the strong man,
1 Matt. xxii. 21. 2 ^att. vi. 24. « John viii. 34.
* A word of which many explauatioiis have been proposed, but none
are quite satisfactory. Harvey seems inclined to suspect the reading to
be corrupt, through the ignorance and carelessness of the copyist.
276 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book hi.
saying that one can in no other Avay " spoil the goods of a
strong man, if he do not first l)ind the strong man himself,
and then he will spoil his house." ^ Now we were the vessels
and the house of this [strong man] when we were in a state
of apostasy ; for he put us to whatever use he pleased, and
the unclean spirit dwelt within us. For he was not strong,
as opposed to Him who bound him, and spoiled his house ;
but as against those persons who w^ere his tools, inasmuch as
he caused their thought to wander away from God ^. these
did the Lord snatch from his grasp. As also Jeremiah
declares, " The Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and has snatched
him from the hand of him that was stronger than he." " If,
then, he had not pointed out Him who binds and spoils his
goods, but had merely spoken of him as being strong, the
strong man should have been unconquered. But he also
subjoined Him who obtains and retains possession ; for he
holds who binds, but he is held who is bound. And this he
did without any comparison, so that, apostate slave as he was,
he might not be compared to the Lord : for not he alone,
but not one of created and subject things, shall ever be com-
pared to the Word of God, by whom all things were made,
who is our Lord Jesus Christ.
3. For that all things, whether Angels, or Archangels, or
Thrones, or Dominions, were both established and created by
Him who is God over all, through His Word, John has thus
pointed out. For when he had spoken of the Word of God
as having been in the Father, he added, " All things were
made by Him, and without Plim was not anything made."^
David also, when he had enumerated [His] praises, subjoins
by name all things whatsoever I have mentioned, both the
heavens and all the powers therein : " For He commanded,
and they were created ; He spake, and they were made."
Whom, therefore, did He command? The Word, no doubt,
" by whom," he says, " the heavens were established, and all
their power by the breath of His mouth." ^ But that He
did Himself make all things freely, and as He pleased, again
1 Matt. xii. 29. ^' Jer. xxxi. 11.
a John i. 3. ^ Ps. xxxiii. 6.
Book hi.] ILlENJETJS AGAINST HERESIES. 211
David says, " But our God is in the heavens above, and in
the earth; He hath made all things whatsoever He pleased."^
But the things established are distinct from Him who has
established them, and what have been made from Him who
has made them. For He is Himself uncreated, both without
beginning and end, and lacking nothing. He is Himself
sufficient for Himself; and still further, He grants to all
others this very thing, existence ; but the things which have
been made by Him have received a beginning. But what-
ever things had a beinnnino-, and are liable to dissolution,
and are subject to and stand in need of Him who made
them, must necessarily in all respects have a different term
[applied to them], even by those who have but a moderate
capacity for discerning such things ; so that He indeed who
made all things can alone, together with His Word, properly
be termed God and Lord : but the thiniijs which have been
made cannot have this term applied to them, neither should
they justly assume that appellation which belongs to the
Creator.
Chap. ix. — One and the same Godf the Creator of heaven and
earthy is He ivhom the projyhets foretold, and ivho was
declared hy the gospel. Proof of thisj at the outset, from
St. Mattheios Gospel.
1. This, therefore, having been clearly demonstrated here
(and it shall yet be so still n:iore clearly), that neither the
prophets, nor the apostles, nor the Lord Christ in His own
person, did acknowledge any other Lord or God, but the
God and Lord supreme : the prophets and the apostles con-
fessing the Father and the Son ; but naming no other as
God, and confessing no other as Lord : and the Lord Him-
self handing down to His disciples, that He, the Father, is
the only God and Lord, who alone is God and ruler of all ;
— it is incumbent on us to follow, if we are their disciples
indeed, their testimonies to this effect. For ^latthcw the
apostle — knowing, as one and the same God, Him who had
1 Ps. cxv. 3.
278 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book hi.
given promise to Abraham, tliat lie would make liis seed as
the stars of heaven/ and Ilim \vlio, by His Son Christ Jesus,
has called us to the knowledge of Himself, from the worship
of stones, so that those who w^ere not a people were made a
people, and she beloved wdio was not beloved " — declares that
John, when preparing the way for Christ, said to those who
were boasting of their relationship [to Abraham] according
to the flesh, but who had their mind tinged and stuffed with
all manner of evil, preaching that repentance which should
call them back from their evil doings, said, " O generation of
vipers, wdio hath shown you to flee from the wrath to come ?
Bring forth therefore fruit meet for repentance. And think
not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham [to our]
father : for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones
to raise up children unto Abraham."^ He preached to them,
therefore, the repentance from wickedness, but he did not
declare to them another God, besides Him who made the
promise to Abraham ; he, the forerunner of Christ, of whom
Matthew asjain savs, and Luke hkewise, " For this is he that
was spoken of from the Lord by the prophet, The voice of
one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make straight the paths of our God. Every valley shall be
filled, and every mountain and hill brought low; and the
crooked shall be made straii^ht, and the rouirh into smooth
ways ; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." ^ There
is therefore one and the same God, the Father of our Lord,
who also promised, through the prophets, that He would
send His forerunner ; and His salvation — that is, His Word
— He caused to be made visible to all flesh, [the Word] Him-
self being made incarnate, that in all things their King
miffht become manifest. For it is necessary that those
[beings] wdiich are judged do see the judge, and know Him
from whom they receive judgment; and it is also proper,
that those which follow on to glory should know Him who
bestows upon them the gift of glory.
2. Then again Matthew, when speaking of the angel, says,
^ Gen. XV. 5. ^ Rom. ix. 25.
3 Matt. iii. 7. ^ Matt. iii. 3.
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 279
" The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in sleep." ^ Of
what Lord he does himself interpret : " That it may be ful-
filled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, Out of
Egypt have I called my son." " " Behold, a virgin shall con-
ceive, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall his name
Emmanuel ; which is, being interpreted, God with us." ^
David likewise speaks of Him who, from the virgin, is
Emmanuel : " Turn not away the face of Thine anointed.
The Lord hath sworn a truth to David, and will not turn
from him. Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy seat."^
And again : " In Judea is God known ; His place has been
made in peace, and His dwelling in Zion.""" Therefore there
is one and the same God, who was proclaimed by the prophets
and announced by the gospel ; and His Son, who was of the
fruit of David's body, that is, of the virgin of [the house of]
David, and Emmanuel; whose star also Balaam thus pro-
phesied : " There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a
leader shall rise in Israel." ^ But Matthew says, that the
Magi, coming from the east, exclaimed, ^' For we have seen
His star in the east, and arc come to worship Him ;" ' and
that, havinir been led bv tlie star into the house of Jacob to
Emmanuel, they showed, by these gifts which they offered,
who it was that was worshipped : myrrh, because it was He
who should die and be buried for the mortal human race ;
gold, because He was a King, '• of whose kingdom is no end;"^
and fraiilclncciisej because He was God, who also "was made
known in Judea," ^ and was " declared to those who sought
Him not." '
3. And then, [speaking of His] baptism, ^Matthew says,
'' The heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God, as
a dove, coming upon Him : and lo a voice from heaven, say-
ing, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." ^^
For Christ did not at that time descend upon Jesus, neither
was Christ one and Jesus another : but the Word of God —
1 Matt. i. 20. 2 Matt ii. 15. " .Afatt. i. 23.
* Ps. cxxx. 11. ^ Ps. Ixxvi. 1. ^ Num. xxiv. 17.
7 ^[att. ii. 2. 8 Luke i. 33. » Isa. Ixv. 1.
10 Matt. iii. 16.
280 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
• who is the Saviour of all, and the ruler of heaven and earth,
who is Jesus, as I have already pointed out, who did also
take upon Ilim flesh, and was anointed by the Spirit from
the Father — was made Jesus Christ, as Esaias also says,
" There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a
flower shall rise from his root ; and the Spirit of God shall
rest upon Him : the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and piety,
and the spirit of the fear of God, shall fill Him. He shall
not judge according to glory,^ nor reprove after the manner
of speech ; but He shall dispense judgment to the humble
man, and reprove the haughty ones of the earth." ^ And
again Esaias, pointing out beforehand His unction, and the
reason why he was anointed, does himself say, " The Spirit
of God is upon me, because He hath anointed me : He hath
sent me to preach the gospel to the lowly, to heal the broken
up in heart, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and sight to
the blind ; to announce the acceptable year of the Lord, and
the day of vengeance ; to comfort all that mourn." '^ For
inasmuch as the Word of God was man from the root of
Jesse, and son of Abraham, in this respect did the Spirit of
God rest upon Him, and anoint Him to preach the gospel to
the lowly. But inasmuch as He was God, He did not judge
according to glory, nor reprove after the manner of speech.
For " He needed not that any should testify to Him of
man,^ for He Himself knew what was in man." ^ For He
called all men that mourn ; and granting forgiveness to those
who had been led into captivity by their sins, He loosed
them from their chains, of whom Solomon says, " Every one
shall be holden with the cords of his own sins." ^ Therefore
did the Spirit of God descend upon Him, [the Spirit] of Him
^ This is after the version of the Septuagint, ov K!x,roi r'/iu ^6^(zv;
but the word lo^ot may have the meaning opinio as well as gloria. If
thLs be admitted here, the passage would bear much the same sense as
it does in the authorized version, "He shall not judge after the sight
of His eyes."
^ Isa. xi. 1, etc. " Isa. Ixi. 1.
* This is according to the Syriac Peschito version.
« John ii. 25. ^ Prov. v. 22.
Book hi.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 281
who had promised by the prophets that He would anoint
Him, so that we, receiving from the abundance of His
unction, might be saved. Such, then, [is the witness] of
Matthew.
Chap. x. — Proofs of the foregoing^ drawn from the Gospels
of Mark and Luke,
1. Luke also, the follower and disciple of the apostles,
referring to Zacharias and Elisabeth, from whom, according
to promise, John was born, says : " And they were both
righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and
ordinances of the Lord blameless."-^ And again, speaking
of Zacharias : '' And it came to pass, that while he executed
the priest's office before God in the order of his course,
according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to
burn incense;"^ and he came to sacrifice, "entering into the
temple of the Lord."*^ Whose angel Gabriel, also, who
stands prominently in the presence of the Lord, simply,
absolutely, and decidedly confessed in his own person as
God and Lord, Him who had chosen Jerusalem, and had
instituted the sacerdotal office. For he knew of none other
above Him ; since, if he had been in possession of the know-
ledge of any other more perfect God and Lord besides Him,
he surely would never — as I have already shown — have con-
fessed Him, whom he knew to be the fruit of a defect, as
absolutely and altogether God and Lord. And then, speak-
ing of John, he thus says : " For he shall be great in the
sight of the Lord, and many of the children of Israel shall
he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before
Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to make ready a people
prepared for the Lord."* For whom, then, did he prepare
the people, and in the sight of what Lord was he made
great ? Truly of Him who said that John had something
even "more than a prophet,"^ and that "among those born
^ Luke i. 6.
^ Literally, " that lie should place the incense." The next clause is
most likely an interpolation for the sake of explanation.
3 Luke 1. 8, etc. •* Luke i. 15, etc. ^ Matt. xi. 9, 11.
282 lEENJSUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
of women none is greater than John the Baptist ;" wlio did
also make the people ready for the Lord's advent, warning
his fellow-servants, and preaching to them repentance, that
they might receive remission from the Lord when He should
be present, having been converted to Him, from wdiom they
had been alienated because of sins and transgressions. As
also David says, " The alienated are sinners from the womb :
they go astray as soon as they are born."^ And it was on
account of this that he, turning them to their Lord, pre-
pared, in the spirit and power of Elias, a perfect people for
the Lord.
2. And again, speaking in reference to the angel, he says :
^' But at that time the angel Gabriel was sent from God, who
did also say to the virgin. Fear not, Mary ; for thou hast
found favour with God."^' And he says concerning the
Lord : " He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the
Highest : and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne
of His father David : and He shall reign over the house of
Jacob for ever ; and of His kingdom there shall be no end."^
For who else is there who can reign uninterruptedly over the
house of Jacob for ever, except Jesus Christ our Lord, the
Son of the ]\Iost High God, v/ho promised by the law and
the prophets that He would make His salvation visible to
all flesh ; so that He would become the Son of man for this
purpose, that man also might become the son of God ? And
Mary, exulting because of this, cried out, prophesying on
behalf of the church, " My soul doth magnify the Lord, and
my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For He hath
taken up His child Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as
He spake to our fathers, Abraham, and his seed for ever."*
By these and such like [passages] the Gospel points out that
it was God who spake to the fathers ; that it was He who,
by Moses, instituted the legal dispensation, by which giving
of the law we know that He spake to the fathers. This
same God, after His great goodness, poured His compassion
upon us, through which compassion " the Dayspring from
on high hath looked upon us, and appeared to those who
1 Ps. Iviii. 3. 2 Luke i. 26, etc. 3 Luke i. 32. * Luke i. 46.
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 283
sat in darkness and the shadow of death, and lias guided our
feet into the way of peace ;".^ as Zacliarias also, recovering
from the state of dumbness which he had suffered on account
of unbehef, having been filled with a new spirit, did bless
God in a new manner. For all things had entered upon
a new phase, the Word arranging after a new manner the
advent in the flesh, that He might win back" to God that
Imman nature (Jiominem) which had departed from God ;
and therefore men were taught to worship God after a
new fashion, but not another God, because in truth there
is but " one God, who justifieth tlie circumcision by faith,
and the uncircumcision through faith." ^ But Zacharias
prophesying, exclaimed, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel;
for He hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised
up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant
David ; as He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets,
which have been since the world begun ; salvation from our
enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us ; to perform
the mercy [promised] to our fathers, and to remember His
holy covenant, the oath which He sware to our father
Abraham, that He would grant unto us, that we, being
delivered out of the hand of -our enemies, might serve Him
without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all our
days.""* Then he says to John : "And thou, child, shalt be
called the prophet of the Highest : for thou shalt go before
the face of the Lord to prepare His ways ; to give knowledge
of salvation to His people, for the remission of their sins."^
For this is the knowledo-e of salvation which was wantinof to
them, that of the Son of God, which John made known,
saying, "' Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the
sin of the world. This is He of whom I said. After me
Cometh a man who was made before me ; ^ because He was
1 Luke i. 78. 2 " Ascribcrct Deo" — miike the property of God.
3 Kom. iii. 30. '' Luke i. C8, etc. ^ Luke i. 7G.
6 Harvey observes that the Syriac, agreeing with the Latin here, ex-
presses priority in point of time ; but our translation, without reason,
makes it the precedence of honour, viz. icas preferred before me. The
Greek is, ttoutos fcov.
284 IBENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
prior to me : and of His fulness have all we received." ^ This,
therefore, was the knowledge of salvation ; but [it did not con-
sist in] another God, nor another Father, nor Bythus, nor
the Pleroma of thirty ^ons, nor the Mother of the (lower)
Oijdoad : but the knowledcre of salvation was the knowledrre
of the Son of God, who is both called and actually is, sal-
vation, and Saviour, and salutary. Salvation, indeed, as
follows : " I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord." '^ And
then again. Saviour : " Behold my God, my Saviour, I will
put my trust in Him." ^ But as bringing salvation, thus :
" God hath made known His salvation {salutare) in the sight
of the heathen."^ For He is indeed Saviour^ as being the
Son and Word of God ; but salutary, since [He is] Spirit ;
for he says : " The Spirit of our countenance, Christ the
Lord." ^ But salvation, as being flesh : for " the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt amono; us." ^ This knowledore of
salvation, therefore, John did impart to those repenting, and
believing in the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of
the world.
4. And the angel of the Lord, he says, appeared to tlie
shepherds, proclaiming joy to them : " For^ there is born in
the house of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Then [appeared] a multitude of the heavenly host, praising
God, and saying. Glory in the highest to God, and on earth
peace, to men of good will." ^ The falsely-called Gnostics
say that these angels came from the Ogdoad, and made
manifest the descent of the superior Christ. But they are
aiiain in error, when savinf:r that the Christ and Saviour
from above was not born, but that also, after the baptism of
the dispensational Jesus, he, [the Christ of the Pleroma,]
descended upon him as a dove. Therefore, according to
1 John i. 29, 15, 16. ^ Qen. xlix. 18. - Isa. xii. 2. ^ Ps. xcviii. 2.
^ Lam. iv. 20, after LXX. <^ Johni. 14. '^ Lukeii. 11, etc.
^ Thus found ako in the Vulgate. Harvey supposes that the original
of Irenseus read according to our textus receptus, and that the Vulgate
rendering was adopted in this passage by the transcribers of the Latin
version of our author. There can be no doubt, however, that the reading
ivloKlotg is supported by many and weighty ancient authorities.
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 285
these men, the angels of the Ogdoad lied, when they said,
" For unto you is born this day a Saviour, who is Christ
the Lord, in the city of David." For neither was Christ
nor the Saviour born at that time, by their account ; but it
was he, the dispensational Jesus, who is of the framer of the
world, the [Demiurge], and upon whom, after his baptism,
that is, after [the lapse of] thirty years, they maintain the
Saviour from above descended. But why did [the angels]
add, " in the city of David," if they did not proclaim the
glad tidings of the fulfilment of God's promise made to
David, that from the fruit of his body there should be an
eternal King? For the Framer [Demiurge] of the entire
universe made promise to David, as David himself declares :
" My help is from God, who made heaven and earth ;" ^ and
again : " In His hand are the ends of the earth, and the
heights of the mountains are His. For the sea is His, and He
did Himself make it ; and His hands founded the dry land.
Come ye, let us worship and fall down before Him, and weep
in the presence of the Lord who made us ; for He is the Lord
our God." " The Holy Spirit evidently thus declares by
David to those hearing him, that there shall be those who
despise Him who formed us, and who is God alone. Where-
fore he also uttered the foregoing w^ords, meaning to say : See
that ye do not err ; besides or above Him there is no other
God, to wjiom ye should rather stretch out [your hands], thus
rendering us pious and grateful towards Him who made, estab-
lished, and [still] nourishes us. What, then, shall happen
to those who have been the authors of so much blasphemy
atrainst their Creator ? This identical truth was also what
the angels [proclaimed]. For when they exclaim, '* Glory
to God in the highest, and in earth peace," they have glori-
fied with these words Him who is the Creator of the highest,
that is, of super-celestial things, and the Founder of every-
thing on earth : who has sent to His own handywork, that is,
to men, the blessing of His salvation from heaven. Where-
fore he adds : " The shepherds returned, glorifying God for
all which they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them." ^
1 Ps. cxxiv. 8. 2 Ps. xcv. 4. « Luke ii. 20.
286 IRENjEUS against HERESIES, [Book hi.
For the Israelitisli shepherds did not glorify another God,
but Him who had been announced by the law and the pro-
phets, the Maker of all things, whom also the angels glorified.
But if the angels who were from the Ogdoad were accus-
tomed to glorify any other, different from Him whom the
shepherds [adored], these angels from the Ogdoad brought
to them error and not truth.
5. And still further does Luke say in reference to the
Lord : " When the days of purification were accomplished,
they brought Him up to Jerusalem, to present Him before
the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, That every
male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;
and that they should offer a sacrifice, as it is said in the law
of the Lord, a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons : " ^
in his own person most clearly calling Him Lord, who
appointed the legal dispensation. But " Simeon," he also
says, "blessed God, and said. Lord, now lettest Thou Thy
servant depart in peace ; for mine eyes have seen Thy salva-
tion, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people ;
a light for the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of
Thy people Israel."^ And " Anna" ^ also, " the prophetess,"
he says, in like manner glorified God when she saw Christ,
" and spake of Him to all them who were looking for the
redemption of Jerusalem."* Now by all these one God is
shown forth, revealing to men the new dispensation of liberty,
the covenant, through the new advent of His Son.
6. Wherefore also Mark, the interpreter and follower of
Peter, does thus commence his gospel narrative : " The be-
ginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God ; as
it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger
before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way.^ The voice of
• Luke ii. 22. ^ L^^e ii. 29, etc. ^ L^i^-e ii. 35.
^ The text seems to be corrupt in the old Latin translation. The ren-
dering here follows Harvey's conjectural restoration of the original Greek
of the passage.
* The Greek of this passage in St. Mark reads, zoig rpi(iovg avrov, i.e.
Ills paths., which varies from the Hebrew original, to which the text of
Trenseus seems to revert, unless indeed his copy of the Gospels contained
the reading of the Codex Bezae at this text.
Book hi.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 287
one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make the paths straight before our God." Plainly does the
commencement of the Gospel quote the words of the holy
prophets, and point out Him at once, whom they confessed as
God and Lord ; Plim, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who had also made promise to Him, that He would send His
messenger before His face, who was John, crying in the wil-
derness, in " the spirit and power of Elias,"^ ^'Prepare ye the
way of the Lord, make straight paths before our God." For
the prophets did not announce one and another God, but
one and the same ; under various aspects, however, and
many titles. For varied and rich in attribute is the Father,
as I have already shown in the book preceding^ this; and I
shall show [the same truth] from the prophets themselves in
the further course of this work. Also, towards the conclu-
sion of his Gospel, Mark says : " So then, after the Lord
Jesus had spoken to them. He was received up into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God;"^ confirming what
had been spoken by the prophet : " The Lord said to my
Lord, Sit Thou on my right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy
footstool." ^ Thus God and the Father are truly one and the
same ; He who was announced by the prophets, and handed
down by the true gospel ; whom we Christians worship and
love with the whole heart, as the Maker of heaven and earth,
and of all thincis therein.
CilAP. XI. — Proofs in continuation, extracted from St. Joluis
Gospel. The Gospels are four in numhery neither more
nor less. Mystic reasons for this.
1. John, the disciple of the Lord, preaches this faith, and
seeks, by the proclamation of the gospel, to remove that error
which by Cerinthus had been disseminated among men, and
a long time previously by those termed Nicolaitans, who are
an offset of that ^'knowledge" falsely so called, that he might
confound them, and persuade them that there is but one God,
who made all things by His Word ; and not, as they allege,
that the Creator was one, but the Father of the Lord another;
1 Luke i. 17. 2 g.^ ii. .So, 3. 3 M^ik xvi. 19. ^ Ps. ex. 1.
288 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
and that the Son of the Creator was, forsooth, one, but the
Christ from above another, who also continued impassible,
descending upon Jesus, the Son of the Creator, and flew
back again into His Pleroma ; and that Monogenes was the
beginning, but Logos was the true son of Monogenes ; and
that this creation to which we belong was not made by the
primary God, but by some power lying far below Him, and
shut off from communion with the things invisible and in-
effable. The disciple of the Lord therefore desiring to put an
end to all such doctrines, and to establish the rule of truth
in the church, that there is one Almighty God, who made
all things by His Word, both visible and invisible ; showing
at the same time, that by the Word, through whom God
made the creation. He also bestowed salvation on the men in-
cluded in the creation ; thus commenced His teaching in the
gospel : " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the
beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and
without Him was nothing made.^ What was made was life
in Him, and the life was the light of men. And the light
shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not."^
"All things," he says, "were made by Him;" therefore in
" all things " this creation of ours is [included], for we can-
not concede to these men that [the words] " all things" are
spoken in reference to those within their Pleroma. For if
their Pleroma do indeed contain these, this creation, as being
such, is not outside, as I have demonstrated in the preceding
book ; ^ but if they are outside the Pleroma, which indeed
appeared impossible, it follows, in that case, that their Ple-
roma cannot be " all thincfs:" therefore this vast creation is
not outside [the Pleroma].
2. John, however, does himself put this matter beyond all
controversy on our part, when he says, " He was in this
world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew
1 Ireiiseus frequently quotes this text, and always uses the punctua-
tion here adopted. Tertullian and many others of the fathers follow
his example.
2 John i. 1, etc. ^ See ii. 1, etc.
Book hi.] IUENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 289
Him not. He came unto Ilis own [things], and Ilis own
[people] received Him not."^ But according to Marcion,
and those like him, neither was the world made by Him ;
nor did He come to His own things, but to those of another.
And, according to certain of the Gnostics, this world was
made by angels, and not by the Word of God. But ac-
cordinix to the followers of Valentinus, the world was not
made by Plim, but by the Demiurge. For he (Soter) caused
such similitudes to be made, after the pattern of things
above, as they allege ; but the Demiurge accomplished the
work of creation. For they say that he, the Lord and
Creator of the plan of creation, by whom they hold that this
world was made, was produced from the Mother ; while the
Gospel affirms plainly, that by the Word, which was in the
beginning with God, all things were made, which Word, he
says, " was made flesh, and dwelt among us."^
3. But, according to these men, neither was the Word
made flesh, nor Christ, nor the Saviour (Soter), who was
produced from [the joint contributions of] all [the ^ons].
For they will have it, that the Word and Christ never came
into this world; that the Saviour, too, never became incar-
nate, nor suffered, but that He descended like a dove upon
the dispensational Jesus ; and that, as soon as He had de-
clared the unknown Father, He did again ascend into the
Pleroma. Some, however, make the assertion, that this
dispensational Jesus did become incarnate, and suffered,
whom they represent as having passed through Mary just as
water through a tube ; but others allege him to be the Son
of the Demiurge, upon whom the dispensational Jesus de-
scended ; while others, again, say that Jesus 'svas born from
Joseph and Mary, and that the Christ from above descended
upon him, being without flesh, and impassible. But accord-
ing to the opinion of no one of the heretics was the Word of
God made flesh. For if any one carefully examines the
systems of them all, he will find that the AVord of God is
brought in by all of them as not having become incarnate
{sine came) and impassible, as is also the Christ from above.
1 John i. 10, 11. 2 jolin i. U.
T
290 IRENj^US against HERESIES. [Book hi.
Others consider Him to have been manifested as a trans-
figured man ; but they maintain Him to have been neither
born nor to have become incarnate ; whilst others [hold]
that He did not assume a human form at all, but that, as a
dove. He did descend upon that Jesus who was born from
Mary. Therefore the Lord's disciple, pointing them all out
as false witnesses, says, " And the Word was made flesh, and
dwelt among us."^
4. And that we may not have to ask. Of what God was the
Word made flesh? he does himself previously teach us, saying,
" There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
The same came as a witness, that he mii^ht bear witness
of that Light. He was not that Light, but [came] that he
might testify of the Light." ^ By what God, then, was John,
the forerunner, who testifies of the Light, sent [into the
world] ? Truly it was by Him, of whom Gabriel is the angel,
who also announced the glad tidings of his birth : [that
God] who also had promised by the prophets that He would
send His messenfjer before the face of His Son,^ who should
prepare His way, that is, that he should bear witness of that
Light in the spirit and power of Elias.^ But, again, of what
God was Elias the servant and the prophet ? Of Him who
made heaven and earth/ as he does himself confess. John,
therefore, having been sent by the founder and maker of
this world, how could he testify of that Light, which came
down from things unspeakable and invisible? For all the
heretics have decided that the Demiurge was ignorant of
that Power above him, whose witness and herald John is
found to be. Wherefore the Lord said that He deemed him
"more than a prophet." ^ For all the other prophets preached
the advent of the paternal Light, and desired to be worthy
of seeing Him whom they preached; but John did both
announce [the advent] beforehand, in a like manner as did
1 John i. 14. ^ John i. 6.
3 Mai. iii. 1. ' * Luke i. 17.
^ This evidently refers to 1 Kings xviii. 36, where Ehjah invokes God
as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, etc.
« Matt. xi. 9 ; Luke vii. 26.
Book hi.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 291
the otliers, and actually saw Him when Pie came, and pointed
Plim out, and persuaded many to believe on Plim, so that he
did himself hold the place of both prophet and apostle. For
this is to be more than a prophet, because, " first apostles,
secondarily prophets;"^ but all things from one and the
same God Himself.
5. That wine,^ which was produced by God in a vineyard,
and which was first consumed, was good. None^ of those
who drank of it found fault with it ; and the Lord partook
of it also. But that wine was better which the Word made
from water, on the moment, and simply for the use of those
who had been called to the marriage. For although the
Lord had the power to supply wine to those feasting, inde-
pendently of any created substance, and to fill with food
those who were hungry. He did not adopt this course ; but,
taking the loaves which the earth had produced, and giving
thanks,^ and on the other occasion making water wine, He
satisfied those who were reclining [at table], and gave drink
to those who had been invited to the marriage ; showing that
the God who made the earth, and commanded it to bring
forth fruit, who established the waters, and brought forth
the fountains, was He who in these last times bestowed upon
mankind, by His Son, the blessing of food and the favour
of drink : the Incomprehensible [acting thus] by means of
the comprehensible, and the Invisible by the visible ; since
there is none beyond Him, but He exists in the bosom of the
Father.
6. For " no man," he says, " hath seen God at any time,"
unless " the only begotten Son of God, which is in the bosom
of the Father, He hath declared [Him]." ^ For He, the Son
who is in His bosom, declares to all the Father who is in-
visible. Wherefore tliey know Him to whom the Son reveals
Him ; and again, the Father, by means of the Son, gives
knowledge of His Son to those who love Him. By whom
1 1 Cor. xii. 28.
- The transition here is so abrupt, that some critics suspect the loss
of part of the text before these words.
2 John ii. 3. •* John vi. 11. 5 John i. 18.
292
IRENjEUS against heresies. [Book hi.
also Nathanael, being taught, recognised [Him], he to wliom
also the Lord bare Avitness, that he was " an Israelite indeed,
in whom Avas no <:!;uile." ^ The Israelite reco£:jnised his Kiuir,
therefore did he cry out to Him, " Ilabbi, Thou art the Son
of God, Thou art the King of Israel." By whom also Peter,
having been taught, recognised Christ as the Son of the
living God, when [God] said, " Behold my dearly beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased : I will put my Spirit upon
Him, and He shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall
not strive, nor cry ; neither shall any man hear His voice in
the streets. A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking
flax shall He not quench, until He send forth judgment into
contention;" and in His name shall the Gentiles trust." ^
7. Such, then, are the first principles of the gospel : that
there is one God, the maker of this universe ; He who vras
also announced by the prophets, and who by Moses set forth
the dispensation of the law, — [principles] which proclaim the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and ignore any other God
or Father except Him. So firm is the ground upon which
these Gospels rest, that the very heretics themselves bear
witness to them, and, starting from these [documents], each
one of them endeavours to establish his own peculiar doctrine.
For the Ebionites, who use Matthew's Gospel^ o^lj? ^I'c con-
futed out of this very same, making false suppositions with
regard to the Lord. But Marcion, mutilating that according
to Luke, is proved to be a blasphemer of the only existing
God, from those [passages] which he still retains. Those,
again, wdio separate Jesus from Christ, alleging that Christ
remained impassible, but that it was Jesus who suffered, pre-
ferring the Gospel by Mark, if they read it with a love of
truth, may have their errors rectified. Those, moreover, who
follow Valentinus, making copious use of that according to
^ John i. 47.
- The reading us7ko; having been followed instead of uly.og, victory.
3 John i. 49, vi. C9 ; Matt. xii. 18.
** Harvey tliinks that this is the Hebrew Gospel of which Irenfcus
speaks in the opening of this book ; but comp. Dr. Roberts' Discussions
on the Gospels, part ii. chap. iv.
Book III.] IRENJEUS AGAINST IIEUESIES. 293
Jolni, to illustrate their conjunctions, shall he proved to he
totally in error hy means of this very Gospel, as I have
shown in the first book. Since, then, our opponents do hear
testimony to us, and make use of these [documents], onr
proof derived from them is firm and true.
8. It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or
fewer in number than they are. For, since there are four zones
of the w^orld in which we live, and four principal winds,^ while
the church is scattered throughout all the \vorld, and the ^'pillar
and ground"^ of the church is the gospel and the spirit of life;
it is fitting that she should have four pillars, breathing out im-
mortality on every side, and vivifying men afresh. From which
fact, it is evident that the Word, the Artificer of all. He that
sitteth upon the cherubim, and contains all things. He who was
manifested to men, has given us the gospel under four aspects,
but bound together by one Spirit. As also David says, when
entreating His manifestation, " Thou that sittest between the
cherubim, shine forth." ^ For the cherubim, too, were four-
faced, and their faces were images of the dispensation of the
Son of God. For, [as the Scripture] says, " The first living
creature was like a lion," "^ symbolizing His effectual working,
His leadership, and royal power ; the second [living creature]
was like a calf, signifying [His] sacrificial and sacerdotal
order; but ^^the third had, as it were, the face as of a man," —
an evident description of His advent as a human being; "the
fourth was like a flvino; eaMe," pointing out the cift of the
S])irit hoverino; with His winf]^s over the church. And there-
fore the Gospels are in accord with these things, among Avhich
Christ Jesus is seated. For that accordino: to John relates
His original, effectual, and glorious generation from the
Father, thus dcclarinof, " In the befrinniniT was the Word,
and the AVord was with God, and the Word was God."''
Also, " all things were made by Him, and without Him was
nothing made." For this reason, too, is that Gospel full of
1 Literally, " four catholic spirits;" Greek, ncaotpx y.udo'KiKdc TrinvfActrct'^
Latin, " quatuor priucipales spiritus."
2 1 Tim. iii. 15. 3 Ps. Ixxx. 1.
* Rev. iv. 7. ^ John i. 1.
294 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
all confideiice, for such is His person.^ But that according
to Luke, taking up [His] priestly character, commenced with
Zacharias the priest offering sacrifice to God. For now was
made ready the fatted calf, about to be immolated for ^ the
finding again of the younger son. Matthew, again, relates His
generation as a man, saying, " The book of the generation of
JTesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraliam ;" ^ and also,
" The birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise." This, then, is
the Gospel of His humanity ;^ for wliich reason it is, too, that
[the character of] a humble and meek man is kept up through
the whole Gospel. Mark, on the other hand, commences with
[a reference to] the prophetical spirit coming down from on
high to men, saying, " The beginning of the gospel of Jesus
Christ, as it is written in Esaias the prophet," — pointing to
the winged aspect of the Gospel; and on this account he made
a compendious and cursory narrative, for such is the pro-
phetical character. And the Word of God Himself used to
converse with the ante-Mosaic patriarchs, in accordance with
His divinity and glory ; but for those under the law he
instituted a sacerdotal and liturofical service.'^ Afterwards,
being made man for us. He sent the gift of the celestial
Spirit over all the earth, protecting us with His wings.
Such, then, as was the course followed by the Son of God,
so w^as also the form of the living creatures ; and such as
was the form of the living creatures, so was also the charac-
ter of the Gospel.^ For the living creatures are quadriform,
and the Gospel is quadriform, as is also the course followed
by the Lord. For this reason were four principal (jcaGo-
^ The above is the literal renderiDg of this very obscure sentence ; it is
not at all represented in the Greek here preserved.
2 The Greek is vTzip ; the Latin, " pro." ^ ;Matt. i. 1, 18.
^ The Greek text of this clause, literally rendered, is, " This Gospel,
then, is anthropomorphic."
^ Or, " a sacerdotal and liturgical order," following the fragment of the
Greek text recovered here. Harvey thinks that the old Latin " actum"
indicates the true reading of the original T^'pSL^iv^ and that ra^tv is an
error. The earlier editors, however, are of a contrary opinion.
6 That is, the appearance of the Gospel taken as a whole ; it beiug
presented under a fourfold aspect.
3ooK III.] IEENjEUS against HERESIES. 295
XiKol) covenants given to the human race '} one, prior to the
deluge, under Adam; the second, that after the deluge, under
Noah ; the third, the giving of the law, under Moses ; the
fourth, that which renovates man, and sums up all things in
itself by means of the gospel, raising and bearing men upon
its wings into the heavenly kingdom.
9. These things being so, all who destroy the form of the
gospel are vain, unlearned, and also audacious ; those, [I
mean,] who represent the aspects of the gospel as being either
more in number than as aforesaid, or, on the other hand,
fewer. The former class [do so], that they may seem to
have discovered more than is of the truth ; the latter, that
they may set the dispensations of God aside. For Marcion,
rejecting the entire gospel, yea rather, cutting himself off from
the gospel, boasts that he has part in the [blessings of] the
gospel.^ Others, again (the Montanists), that they may set
at nought the gift of the Spirit, which in the latter times
has been, by the good pleasure of the Father, poured out
upon the human race, do not admit that aspect [of the evan-
gelical dispensation] presented by John's Gospel, in which
the Lord promised that He would send the Paraclete ; ^ but
set aside at once both the gospel and the prophetic Spirit.
Wretched men indeed ! who wish to be pseudo-prophets,
forsooth, but who set aside the gift of prophecy from the
church ; acting like those (the Encratitoe) ^ who, on account
of such as come in hypocrisy, hold themselves aloof from the
^ A portion of the Greek lias been preserved here, but it differs mate-
rially from the old Latin version, which seems to represent the original
•with greater exactness, and has therefore been followed. The Greek re-
presents the first covenant as having been given to Xoah, at the deluge,
under the sign of the rainbow ; the second as that given to Abraham, under
the sign of circumcision; the third, as being the giving of the law, under
Moses ; and the fourth, as that of the gospel, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
- The old Latin reads, "partem gloriatur se habere Evangelii." Massuet
changed imrtcm into paritcr, thinking that partem gave a sense incon-
sistent with the Marcionite curtailment of St. Luke. Harvey, however,
observes: " But the f]ospd\\QVQ means the blessings of the gospel, in which
Marcion certainly claimed a share."
^ John xiv. 16, etc.
4 Slighting, as did some later heretics, the Pauline epistles.
29G lEENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iir.
communion of the brethren. We must conclude, moreover,
tliat these men (the Montanists) cannot admit the Apostle
Paul either. For, in his Epistle to the Corinthians,^ he speaks
expressly of prophetical gifts, and recognises men and women
prophesying in the church. Sinning, therefore, in all these
particulars, against the Spirit of God,^ they fall into the irre-
missible sin. But those "who are from Yalentinus, being, on
the other hand, altogether reckless, Avhile they put forth their
own compositions, boast that they possess more Gospels than
there really are. Indeed, they have arrived at such a pitch of
audacity, as to entitle their comparatively recent writing " the
Gospel of Truth," though it agrees in nothing with the Gospels
of the Apostles, so that they have really no gospel which is
not full of blasphemy. For if what they have published is
the Gospel of truth, and yet is totally unlike those which
have been handed down to lis from the apostles, any who
please may learn, as is shown from the Scriptures themselves,
that that Avhich has been handed down from the apostles can
no longer be reckoned the Gospel of truth. But that these
Gospels alone are true and reliable, and admit neither an in-
crease nor diminution of the aforesaid number, I have proved
by so many and such [arguments]. For, since God made all
things in due proportion and adaptation, it was fit also that
the outward aspect of the gospel should be well arranged
and harmonized. The opinion of those men, therefore, who
handed the gospel down to iis, having been investigated, from
their very fountainheads, let us proceed also to the remain-
ing apostles, and inquire into their doctrine with regard to
God ; then, in due course we shall listen to the very words of
the Lord.
Chap. xii. — Tlie doctrine of the rest of the apostles,
1. The Apostle Peter, therefore, after the resurrection of
the Lord, and His assumption into the heavens, being desir-
ous of filling up the number of the twelve apostles, and of
electing into the place of Judas any substitute who should
1 1 Cor. xi. 4, 6. 2 Matt. xii. 31.
Book hi.] IUENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 297
be chosen by God, thus addressed those who were present :
" Men [and] brethren, this scripture must needs have been
fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost, by the mouth of David,
spake before concerning Judas, which was made guide to
them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us:^ . . .
Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein;^
and, His bishoprick let another take ; "^ — thus leading to the
completion of the apostles, according to the words spoken by
David. Again, when the Holy Ghost had descended, upon
the disciples, that they all might prophesy and speak with
tongues, and some mocked them, as if drunken with new
wine, Peter said that they were not drunken, for it was the
third hour of the day ; but that this was what had been
spoken by the prophet : " It shall come to pass in the last
days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh,
and they shall prophesy." ^ The God, therefore, who did.
promise by the prophet, that He would send His Spirit upon
the whole human race, was He who did send ; and God Him-
self is announced by Peter as having fulfilled. His own
promise.
2. For Peter said, " Ye men of Israel, hear my words ;
Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God among you by
powers, and wonders, and signs, which God did by Him in
the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know : Him, being
delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of
God, by the hands of wicked men ye have slain, afiixing [to
the cross] ; whom God hath raised up, having loosed the
pains of death ; because it was not possible that he should be
holdcn of them. For David speaketh concerning Him,^ I
foresaw the Lord always before my face ; for He is on my
right hand, lest I should be moved : therefore did my heart
rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also, my flesh shall
rest in hope : because Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
neither wilt Thou give Thy Holy One to see corruption." ^
Then he proceeds to speak confidently to them concerning
the patriarch David, that he was dead and buried, and that
1 Acts i. IG, etc. ^ pg^ ^xix. 25. ^ Ps. cix. 8.
■» Joel ii. 28. ^ Ps. xv. 8. « Acts ii. 22-27.
298 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book hi.
his sepulchre is ^Yith them to this day. He said, " But since
he was a prophet, and knew that God had sworn with an
oath to him, that of the fruit of his body one should sit in
his throne ; foreseeing this, he spake of the resurrection of
Christ, that Pie was not left in hell, neither did His flesh see
corruption. This Jesus," he said, " hath God raised up, of
which w^e all are witnesses : who, being exalted by the right
hand of God, receiving from the Father the promise of the
Holy Ghost, hath shed forth this gift^ which ye now see and
hear. For David has not ascended into the heavens ; but
he saith himself. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou
on my right hand, until I make Thy foes Thy footstool.
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that
God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified,
both Lord and Christ."^ And when the multitudes ex-
claimed, "AYhat shall we do then?" Peter says to them,
" Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost." ^ Thus the apostles did not preach
another God, or another Fulness ; nor, that the Christ who
suffered and rose again was one, while he who flew off
on high was another, and remained impassible ; but that
there was one and the same God the Father, and Christ
Jesus who rose from the dead ; and they preached faith in
Him, to those who did not believe on the Son of God, and
exhorted them out of the prophets, that the Christ whom
God promised to send, He sent in Jesus, whom they crucified
and God raised up.
3. Again, when Peter, accompanied by John, had looked
upon the man lame from his birth, before that gate of the
temple which is called Beautiful, sitting and seeking alms,
he said to him, " Silver and ffold have I none ; but such as I
have give I thee : In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
rise up and walk. And immediately his legs and his feet
^ The word lojpou or lupni^u, is supposed by some to have existed in the
earliest Greek texts, although not found in any extant now. It is thus
quoted by others besides Irenosus.
2 Acts ii. 30-37. ^ Acts ii. 37, 38.
Book in.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 299
received strength ; and he walked, and entered with them into
the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God."^ Then,
when a multitude had gathered around them from all quar-
ters because of this unexpected deed, Peter addressed them :
" Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this ; or why look ye so
earnestly on us, as though by our own power we had made
this man to walk ? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified
His Son, whom ye delivered up for judgment," and denied in
the presence of Pilate, when he wished to let Him go. But
ye were bitterly set against^ the Holy One and the Just, and
desired a murderer to be granted unto you ; but ye killed the
Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead, where-
of we are witnesses. And in the faith of His name, him,
whom ye see and know, hath Plis name made strong ; yea,
the faith which is by Him, hath given him this perfect sound-
ness in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I wot
that through ignorance ye did this wuckedness.^ . . . But
those things which God before had showed b}^ the mouth of
all the prophets, that His Christ should suffer. He hath so
fulfilled. Kepent ye therefore, and be converted, that your
sins may be blotted out, and that^ the times of refreshing
may come to you from the presence of the Lord ; and He
shall send Jesus Christ, prepared for you beforehand,^ whom
the heaven must indeed receive until the times of the arranire-
ment^ of all things, of which God hath spoken by His holy
prophets. For INIoses truly said unto our fathers. Your Lord
God shall raise up to you a Prophet from your brethren,
like unto me ; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He
shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every
soul, whosoever will not hear that Prophet, shall be dc-
^ Acts iii. G, etc.
- These interpolations are also found in the Codex Bezre.
^ " Et veniant" in Latin text : oVtjj ku 'ixdaaiv in Greek. The transla-
tion of these Greek words by " when — come," is one of tlie most glai-ing
errors in the authorized English version.
^ Irenaius, like the majority of the early authorities, manifestly read
'TrpoKiy^iipiaf/.ivov instead of 'jrpoKSK.ipvyyAuoy, as in textus receptiis.
^ Dispositionis.
300 inENJEJJS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
stroyed from among the people. And all [the prophets] from
Samuel, and henceforth, as many as have spoken, have like-
wise foretold of these days. Ye are the children of the pro-
phets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers,
saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds
of the earth be blessed. Unto you first, God, having raised
up Plis Son, sent Him blessing you, that each may turn
himself from his iniquities." ^ Peter, together with John,
preached to them this plain message of glad tidings, that the
promise which God made to the fathers had been fulfilled
by Jesus ; not certainly proclaiming another God, but the
Son of God, who also was made man, and suffered ; thus
leading Israel into knowledge, and through Jesus preaching
the resurrection of the dead,^ and showing, that whatever
the prophets had proclaimed as to the suffering of Christ,
these had God fulfilled.
4. For this reason, too, when the chief priests were
assembled, Peter, full of boldness, said to them, " Ye rulers
of the people, and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined
by you of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what
means he has been made whole ; be it known to you all, and
to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, wdiom ye crucified, whom God raised from the
dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you
whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you
builders, which is become the head-stone of the corner.
[Neither is there salvation in any other : for] there is none
other name under heaven, which is given to men, whereby
we must be saved." ^ Thus the apostles did not change God,
but preached to the people that Christ w^as Jesus the cruci-
fied One, whom the same God that had sent the prophets,
being God Himself, raised up, and gave in Him salvation to
men.
5. They were confounded, therefore, both by this instance
of healing ("for the man was above forty years old on whom
this miracle of healing took place "^), and by the doctrine of
^ Acts iii. 12, etc. ^ ^^ts iv. 2.
3 Acts iv. 8, etc. * Acts iv. 22.
Book hi.] IHENJEUS AGAINST HEBESIES. 301
tlie apostles, and by the exposition of the prophets, when the
chief priests had sent away Peter and John. [These latter]
returned to the rest of their fellow-apostles and disciples of
the Lord, that is, to the church, and related what had oc-
curred, and how courageously they had acted in the name of
Jesus. The whole church, it is then said, " when they had
heard that, lifted up the voice to God with one accord, and
said, Lord, Thou art God, which hast made heaven, and
earth, and the sea, and all that in them is ; who, through
the Holy Ghost,^ by the mouth of our father David, Thy
servant, hast said. Why did the heathen rage, and the people
imagine vain things ? The kings of the earth stood up, and
the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and
against His Christ. For of a truth, in this city," against
Thy holy Son Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod
and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of
Israel, were gathered together, to do whatsoever Thy hand
and Thy counsel determined before to be done."^ These
[are the] voices of the church from which every church had
its origin ; these are the voices of the metropolis of the
citizens of the new covenant ; these are the voices of the
apostles ; these are the voices of the disciples of the Lord,
the truly perfect, who, after the assumption of the Lord,
were perfected by the Spirit, and called upon the God who
made heaven, and earth, and the sea, — who was announced
by the prophets, — and Jesus Christ His Son, whom God
anointed, and who knew no other [God]. For at that time
and place there was neither Valentinus, nor Marcion, nor
the rest of these subverters [of the truth], and their adhe-
rents. Wherefore God, the Maker of all things, heard them.
For it is said, " The place was shaken where they were
assembled together ; and they were all filled with the Holy
^ These words, though not in tcxtus rcccptus^ are found in some
ancient MSS. and vei-sions ; but not the words " our father," which
follow.
- '' In hac civitate" are words not represented in tlie tcxtus rcccptns^
but have a place in all modern critical cchtions of the New Testament.
^ Acts iv. 24, etc.
302 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book iii.
Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness "^ to
every one that was willing to believe.^ "And with great
power," it is added, " gave the apostles witness of the resur-
rection of the Lord Jesus," ^ saying to them, "The God of
our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye seized and slew, hang-
ing [Him] upon a beam of wood : Him hath God raised up
by His right hand^ to be a Prince and Saviour, to give
repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are
in this witnesses of these words ; as also is the Holy Ghost,
whom God hath given to them that believe in Him." ^ " And
daily," it is said, " in the temple, and from house to house,
they ceased not to teach and preach Christ Jesus," ^ the Son
of God. For this was the knowledge of salvation, which
renders those who acknowledge His Son's advent perfect
towards God.
6. But as some of these men impudently assert that the
apostles, wdien preaching among the Jews, could not declare
to them another God besides Him in whom they (their
hearers^) believed, we say to them, that if the apostles used
to speak to people in accordance with the opinion instilled
into them of old, no one learned the truth from them, nor,
at a much earlier date, from the Lord ; for they say that
He did Himself speak after the same fashion. AYherefore
neither do these men themselves know the truth ; but since
such was their opinion regarding God, they had just received
doctrine as they were able to hear it. According to this
manner of speaking, therefore, the rule of truth can be with
nobody ; but all learners will ascribe this practice to all
[teachers], that just as every person thought, and as far as
his capability extended, so was also the language addressed
to him. But the advent of the Lord will appear superfluous
^ Acts iv. 31. - The Latin is, " ut convertat se unusquisquc."
" Acts iv. 33.
** This is following Grabe's emendation of the text. The old Latin
reads "gloria sua," the translator having evidently mistaken os|/« for
^ Acts V. 30. ^ Acts V. 42.
"^ These words have apparently been omitted through inadvertence.
Book hi.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 303
and useless, if He did indeed come intending to tolerate and
to preserve each man's idea regarding God rooted in him
from of old. Besides this, also, it was a much heavier task,
that He whom the Jews had seen as a man, and had fastened
to the cross, should be preached as Christ the Son of God,
their eternal King. Since this, however, was so, they cer-
tainly did not speak to them in accordance with their old
behef. For they, who told them to their face that they were
the slayers of the Lord, would themselves also much more
boldly preach that Father who is above the Demiurge, and
not what each individual did himself believe [respecting
God] ; and the sin was much less, if indeed they had not
fastened to the cross the siaperior Saviour (to whom it be-
hoved them to ascend), since He was impassible. For,
as they did not speak to the Gentiles in compliance with
their notions, but told them with boldness that their gods
were no gods, but the idols of demons ; so would they in
like manner have preached to the Jews, if they had known
another greater or more perfect Father, not nourishing nor
strengthening the untrue opinion of these men regarding
God. Moreover, while destroying the error of the Gentiles,
and bearing them away from their gods, they did not cer-
tainly induce another error upoii them ; but, removing those
which were no gods, they pointed out Him who alone was
God and the true Father.
7. From the words of Peter, therefore, which he addressed
in CiTCsarea to Cornelius the centurion, and those Gentiles
with him, to whom the word of God was first preached, we can
understand what the apostles used to preach, the nature of
their preaching, and their idea with regard to God. For this
Cornelius was, it is said, " a devout man, and one who feared
God with all his house, giving much alms to the people, and
praying to God always. He saw therefore, about the ninth
hour of the day, an angel of God coming in to him, and
saying. Thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
Wherefore send to Simon, who is called Peter." ^ But when
Peter saw the vision, in which the voice from heaven said to
^ Acts X. 1-5.
304 IRENJEUS AGAINST IIEBESIES. [Book hi.
liim, "What God Iiatli cleansed, that call not thou common,"^
this happened [to teach him] that the God Avho had, tlirough
the law, distinguished between clean and unclean, was He
who had purified the Gentiles through the blood of His
Son — He whom also Cornelius worshipped ; to whom Peter,
coming in, said, " Of a truth I perceive that God is no re-
specter of persons : but in every nation, he that feareth Him,
and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to Him." ^ He thus
clearly indicates, that He whom Cornelius had previously
feared as God, of whom he had heard throuMi the law and
the prophets, for whose sake also he used to give alms, is,
in truth, God. The knowledge of the Son was, however,
wanting to him ; therefore did [Peter] add, " The word, ye
know, which was published throughout all Judea, beginning
from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached, Jesus
of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Ghost,
and with power ; who went about doing good, and healing all
that were oppressed of the devil ; for God was with Him.
And we are witnesses of all those things which He did both
in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem ; whom they slew,
hanging Him on a beam of wood : Him God raised up the
third day, and showed Him openly ; not to all the people, but
unto us, witnesses chosen before of God, who did eat and
drink with Him after the resurrection from the dead. And
He commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify
that it is Pie which was ordained of God to be the Judge of
quick and dead. To Him give all the prophets witness, that,
through His name, every one that believeth in Plim does
receive remission of sins." ^ The apostles, therefore, did
1^ reach the Son of God, of whom men were ignorant; and
His advent, to those who had been already instructed as to
God ; but they did not bring in another God. For if Peter
had known any such thing, he would have preached freely to
the Gentiles, that the God of the Jews was indeed one, but
the God of the Christians another ; and all of them, doubt-
loss, being awe-struck because of the vision of the angel,
would have believed whatever he told them. But it is
1 Acts X. 15. 2 ^cts X. 34, 35. » Acts x. 37-44.
Book hi.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HEP.ESIES. S05
evident from Peter's words that he did indeed still retain the
God who was already known to them ; but he also bare witness
to them that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, the Judge
of quick and dead, into whom he did also command them
to be baptized for the remission of sins ; and not this alone,
but he witnessed that Jesus was Himself the Son of God,
who also, having been anointed with the Holy Spirit, is called
Jesus Christ. And He is the same being that was born of \
Mary, as the testimony of Peter implies. Can it really be,
that Peter was not at that time as yet in possession of the
perfect knowledge which these men discovered afterwards ?
According to them, therefore, Peter was imperfect, and the rest
of the apostles were imperfect; and so it would be fitting that
they, coming to life again, should become disciples of these
men, in order that they too might be made perfect. But this is
truly ridiculous. These men, in fact, are proved to be not dis-|
ciples of the apostles, but of their own wicked notions. To this
cause also are due the various opinions which exist among them,
inasmuch as each one adopted error just as he was capable^ [of
embracing it]. But the church throughout all the world,
having its origin firm from the apostles, perseveres in one
and the same opinion with regard to God and His Son.
8. But again : Whom did Philip preach to the eunuch of
the queen of the Ethiopians, returning from Jerusalem, and
reading Esaias the prophet, when he and this man were
alone together ? Was it not He of whom the prophet spoke:
" He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb
dumb before the shearer, so He opened not the mouth?"
"But who shall declare His nativity? for His life shall be
taken away from the earth." ^ [Philip declared] that this
was Jesus, and that the Scripture was fulfilled in Him ; as
did also the believing eunuch himself : and, immediately re-
questing to be baptized, he said, " I believe Jesus Christ to
be the Son of God." ^ This man was also sent into the
regions of Ethiopia, to preach what he had himself believed,
that there was one God preached by the prophets, but that
1 Quemadnwdum capichat; perhaps, "just as it presented itself to him."
- Acts viii. 32 ; Isa. liii. 7, 8. ^ Acts viii. 37.
U
306 IBENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book hi.
the Son of this [God] had already made [His] appearance in
human nature (secundum ho?ninem), and had been led as a
sheep to the slaughter ; and all the other statements which
the prophets make regarding Him.
9. Paul himself also — after that the Lord spoke to him out
of heaven, and showed him that, in persecuting His discij^les,
he persecuted his own Lord, and sent Ananias to him, that
he might recover his sight, and be baptized — " preached," it
is said, " Jesus in the s^magogues at Damascus, with all
freedom of speech, that this is the Son of God, the Christ."^
This is the mystery which he says was made known to him
by revelation, that Pie who suffered under Pontius Pilate,
the same is Lord of all, and King, and God, and Judge,
receiving power from Him who is the God of all, because Pie
became " obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." '^
And inasmuch as this is true, when preaching to the Athe-
nians on the Areopagus — wdiere, no Jews being present, he
had it in his power to preach God with freedom of speech —
he said to them : " God, who made the world, and all things
therein. He, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not
in temples made with hands ; neither is He touched ^ by men's
hands, as though He needed anything, seeing He giveth to
all life, and breath, and all things ; who hath made from
one blood the whole race of men to dwell upon the face of
the whole earth,* predetermining the times according to the
boundary of their habitation, to seek the Deity, if by any
means they might be able to track Him out, or find Him,
althouMi Pie be not far from each of us. For in Him we
live, and move, and have our being, as certain men of your
own have said, For we are also His offspring. Inasmuch,
then, as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think
that the Deity is like unto gold or silver, or stone graven by
art or man's device. Therefore God, winking at the times of
1 Acts ix. 20. 2 phu. ii. 8.
^ Latin translation, tractatur ; which Harvey thinks affords a conclu-
sive proof that Ircnseus occasionally quotes Scripture by retranslatic^
from the Syriac.
^ It will be observed that Scripture is here very loosely quoted.
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST IIEBESIES. 307
ignorance, does now command all men everywhere to turn to
llim with repentance ; because He hath appointed a day, on
which the world shall be judged in righteousness by the man
Jesus ; whereof He hath given assurance by raising Him from
the dead." ^ Now in this passage he does not only declare
to them God as the Creator of the world, no Jews being
present, but that He did also make one race of men to dwell
upon all the earth ; as also Moses declared : ^* When the
Most High divided the nations, as He scattered the sons of
Adam, He set the bounds of the nations after the number of
the angels of God ; " ^ but that people which believes in God
is not now under the power of angels, but under the Lord's
[rule]. " For His people Jacob was made the portion of the
Lord, Israel the cord of His inheritance." "' And again, at
Lystra of Lycia (Lycaonia), when Paul was with Barnabas,
and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ had made a man
to walk who had been lame from his birth, and when the
crowd wished to honour them as gods because of the astonish-
ing deed, he said to them : ^' We are men like unto you,
preaching to you God, that ye may be turned away from
these vain idols to [serve] the living God, who made heaven,
and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein ; who
in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways,
although He left not Himself without witness, performing
acts of goodness, giving you rain from heaven, and fruitful
seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness." * But
that all his epistles are consonant to these declarations, I shall,
when expounding the apostle, show from the epistles them-
selves, in the right place. But while I bring out by these
proofs the truths of Scripture, and set forth briefly and com-
pendiously things which are stated in various ways, do thou
also attend to them with patience, and not deem them prolix ;
taking this into account, that proofs [of the things which are]
contained in the Scriptures cannot bo shown except from the
Scriptures themselves.
10. And still further, Stephen, who was chosen the first
1 Acts xvii. 24, etc. - Dout. xxxii. 8 [LXX.].
» Deut. xxxii. 9. * Acts xiv. 15-17.
308 IliEN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
deacon by the apostles, and wlio, of all men, was the first to
follow the footsteps of the martyrdom of the Lord, being the
first that was slain for confessing Christ, speaking boldly
among the people, and teaching them, says : " The God of
glory appeared to our father Abraham, . . . and said to him,
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come
into the land which I shall show thee ; . . . and lie removed
him into this land, wherein ve now dwell. And He fiave him
none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on;
yet He promised that He would give it to him for a possession,
and to his seed after him. . . . And God spake on this wise.
That his seed should sojourn in a strange land, and should
be brought into bondage, and should be evii-entreated four
hundred years ; and the nation whom they shall serve will I
judge, says the Lord. And after that shall they come forth,
and serve me in this place. And He gave him the covenant
of circumcision : and so [Abraham] begat Isaac." ^ And the
rest of his words announce the same God, who was with
Joseph and with the patriarchs,' and who spake with Moses.
11. And that the whole range of the doctrine of the
apostles proclaimed one and the same God, who removed
Abraham, who made to him the promise of inheritance, who
in due season gave to him the covenant of circumcision,
who called his descendants out of Egypt, preserved out-
wardly by circumcision — for he gave it as a sign, that they
might not be like the Egyptians — that He was the Maker of
all things, that He was the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that He was the God of glory, — they who wish may learn
from the very words and acts of the apostles, and may con-
template the fact that this God is one, above whom is no
other. But even if there were another God above Him, we
should say, upon [instituting] a comparison of .the quantity
[of the work done by each], that the latter is superior to the
former. For by deeds the better man appears, as I have
already remarked ; ^ and, inasmuch as these men have no
works of their father to adduce, the latter is shown to be
God alone. But if any one, "doting about questions,"^ do
1 Acts vii. 2-8. 2 Boq]. ji, ^b. xxx. 2. ^ 1 Tim. vi. 4.
Book hi.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 309
imagine that what the apostles have declared about God
should be allegorized, let him consider my previous state-
ments, in which I set forth one God as the Founder and
Maker of all things, and destroyed and laid bare their allega-
tions; and he shall find them agreeable to the doctrine of
the apostles, and so to maintain wdiat they used to teach, and
were persuaded of, that there is one God, the Maker of all
things. And when he shall have divested his mind of such
error, and of that blasphemy against God which it implies,
he will of himself find reason to acknowledge that both the
Mosaic law and the grace of the new covenant, as both fitted
for the times [at which they were given], were bestow^ed by
one and the same God for the benefit of the human race.
12. For all those wdio are of a perverse mind, having been
set against the Mosaic legislation, judging it to be dissimilar
and contrary to the doctrine of the gospel, have not applied
themselves to investigate the causes of the difference of each
covenant. Since, therefore, they have been deserted by the
paternal love, and puffed up by Satan, being brought over to
the doctrine of Simon Magus, they have apostatized in their
opinions from Him who is God, and imagined that they have
themselves discovered more than the apostles, by finding out
another God; and [maintained] that the apostles preached
the gospel still somevvhat under the influence of Jewish
opinions, but that they themselves are purer [in doctrine],
and more intelligent, than the apostles. Wherefore also
Tllarcion and his followers have betaken themselves to muti-
lating the Scriptures, not acknowledging some books at all ;
and, curtailing the Gospel according to Luke and the epistles
of Paul, they assert that these are alone authentic, which
they have themselves thus shortened. In another work,^
however, I shall, God granting [me strength], refute them
out of these which they still retain. But all the rest, inflated
with the false name of " knowledge," do certainly recognise
the Scriptures ; but they pervert the interpretations, as I have
shown in the first book. And, indeed, the followers of Mar-
^ No reference is made to this promised work in the writings of his
successors. Probably it never was undertaken.
010 IBENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, [Book hi.
cion do directly blaspheme the Creator, alleging him to be
the creator of evils, [but] holding a more tolerable' theory
as to his origin, [and] maintaining that there are two beings,
Gods by nature, differing from each other, — the one being
good, but the other evil. Those from Valentinus, however,
while they employ names of a more honourable kind, and
set forth that He who is Creator is both Father, and Lord,
and God, do [nevertheless] render their theory or sect more
blasphemous, by maintaining that He was not produced from
any one of those ^ons within the Pleroma, but from that
defect which had been expelled beyond the Pleroma. Igno-
rance of the Scriptures and of the dispensation of God has
brought all these things upon them. And in the course of
this work I shall touch upon the cause of the difference of
the covenants on the one hand, and, on the other hand, of
their unity and harmony.
13. But that both the apostles and their disciples thus
taught as the church preaches, and thus teaching were per-
fected, wherefore also they were called away to that which is
perfect — Stephen, teaching these truths, when he was yet on
earth, saw the glory of God, and Jesus on His right hand,
and exclaimed, " Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the
Son of man standiniij on the ri2;ht hand of God."' These
words he said, and was stoned ; and thus did he fulfil the
perfect doctrine, copying in every respect the Leader of
martyrdom, and praying for those who were slaying him, in
these words : " Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Thus
were they perfected who knew one and the same God, who
from beginning to end was present with mankind in the
various dispensations ; as the prophet Hosea declares : " I
have filled up visions, and used similitudes by the hands of
the prophets."^ Those, therefore, who delivered up their
souls to death for Christ's gospel — how could they have
spoken to men in accordance with old-established opinion?
If this had been the course adopted by them, they should
^ Most of the MSS. read " intolerabiliorem," but one reads as above,
and is followed by all the editors.
2 Acts vii. 56. ^ Hos. xii. 10.
Book hi.] IBEN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 311
not liave suffered ; but inasmuch as tliey did preach things
contrary to tliose persons who did not assent to the truth, for
that reason they suffered. It is evident, therefore, that tliey
did not rehnquish the truth, but with all boldness preached
to the Jews and Greeks. To the Jews, indeed, [they pro-
claimed] that the Jesus who was crucified by them was the
Son of God, the Judge of quick and dead, and that He has
received from His Father an eternal kingdom in Israel, as
I have pointed out ; but to the Greeks they preached one
God, who made all things, and Jesus Christ His Son.
14. This is shown in a still clearer light from the letter of
the apostles, which they forwarded neither to the Jews nor
to the Greeks, but to those who from the Gentiles believed in
Christ, confirming their faith. For when certain men had
come down from Judea to Antioch — where also, first of all,
the Lord's disciples were called Cliristians, because of their
faith in Christ — and sought to persuade those who had be-
lieved on the Lord to be circumcised, and to perform other
things after the observance of the law ; and when Paul and
Barnabas had gone up to Jerusalem to the apostles on
account of this question, and the whole church had convened
together, Peter thus addressed them : " jMen, brethren, ye
know how that from the days of old God made choice among
you, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word
of the gospel, and believe. And God, the Searcher of
the heart, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost,
even as to us ; and put no difference between us and them,
j)urifying their hearts by faith. Xow therefore why tempt
ye God, to impose a yoke upon the neck of the disciples,
wliicli neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But
we believe that, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we are to be saved, even as they." ^ After him James spoke
as follows : "Men, brethren, Simon hath declared Iiow God
did jnu'pose to take from among the Gentiles a people for
His name. And thus" do the words of the prophets agree,
^ Acts XV. 15, etc.
- Irenreus manifestly read ovruc for rovru, and in this ho agrees with
Codex BczjB. "\Vo may remaik, once for all, that iu the valuations from
312 IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again
the tabernacle of David, which Is fallen down ; and I will
build the ruins thereof, and I will set it up : that the residue
of men may seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, amoncr
whom my name has been invoked, saith the Lord, doing these
things/ Known from eternity is His work to God. Where-
fore I for my part give judgment, that we trouble not them
who from among the Gentiles are turned to God: but that it
be enjoined them, that they do abstain from the vanities of
idols, and from fornication, and from blood ; and whatsoever"
they wish not to be done to themselves, let them not do to
others."^ And when these things had been said, and all had
given their consent, they wrote to them after this manner :
" The apostles, and the presbyters, [and] the brethren, unto
those brethren from among the Gentiles who are in Antioch,
and Syria, and Cilicla, greeting : Forasmuch as we have
heard that certain persons going out from us have troubled
you with words, subverting your souls, saying. Ye must be
circumcised, and keep the law ; to whom we gave no such
commandment : it seemed good unto us, being assembled
with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our be-
loved Barnabas and Paul ; men who have delivered up their
soul for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent
therefore Judas and Silas, that they may declare our opinion
by word of mouth. For it seemed good to. the Holy Ghost,
and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these
necessary things ; that ye abstain from meats offered to idols,
and from blood, and from fornication ; and whatsoever ye do
not wish to be done to you, do not ye to others : from which
preserving yourselves, ye shall do well, walking* in the Holy
Spirit." From all these passages, then, it is evident that
the received text of tlie New Testament which occur in our author, his
quotations are very often in accordance with the readings of the Cam-
bridge MS.
1 Amos ix. 11, 12.
2 This addition is also found m Cod. Bezse, and in Cyprian and others.
® Acts XV. 14, etc.
4 Another addition, also found in the Codex Bezse, and in Tertullian.
Book III.] IREN^US AGAINST IlEBESIES, 313
tliey did not teach the existence of another Father, but gave
the new covenant of liberty to those who had lately believed
in God by the Holy Spirit. But they clearly indicated, from
the nature of the point debated by them, as to whether or
not it were still necessary to circumcise the disciples, that
they had no idea of another God.
15. Neither [in that case] would they have had such a
terror with regard to the first covenant, as not even to have
been willing to eat with the Gentiles. For even Peter,
althouorh he had been sent to instruct them, and had been
constrained by a vision to that effect, spake nevertheless with
not a little hesitation, saying to them : " Ye know how it is
an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jev/ to keep company
with, or to come unto, one of another nation ; but God hath
shown me that I should not call any man common or un-
clean. Therefore came I without gainsaying;"^ indicating
by these words, that he would not have come to them unless
he had been commanded. Neither, for a like reason, would
he have given them baptism so readily, had he not heard
them propliesying when the Holy Ghost rested upon them.
And therefore did he exclaim, " Can any man forbid water,
that these should not be baptized, who have received the
Holy Ghost as well as we?"^ He persuaded, at the same
time, those that were with him, and pointed out that, unless
the Holy Ghost had rested upon them, there might have -been
some one who would have raised objections to their baptism.
And the apostles who were with James allowed the Gentiles
to act freely, yielding us up to the Spirit of God. But they
themselves, while knowing the same God, continued in the
ancient observances ; so that even Peter, fearing also lest
he might incur their reproof, although formerly eating with
the Gentiles, because of the vision, and of the Spirit who
had rested upon them, yet, when certain persons came from
James, withdrew himself, and did not eat with them. And
Paul said that Barnabas likewise did the same thincr.^
D
Thus did the apostles, whom the Lord made witnesses of
every action and of every doctrine — for upon all occasions
1 Acts X. 28, 29. 2 ^c^ X 47 s Qal. ii. 12, 13.
314 JnENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
do we find Peter, and James, and John present with Him —
scrupulously act according to the dispensation of the Mosaic
law, showing that it was from one and the same God ;
which they certainly never would have done, as I have
already said, if they had learned from the Lord [that there
existed] another Father besides Him who appointed the dis-
pensation of the law.
Chap. xiii. — Befutation of the opinion^ that Paul luas the
onlij apostle icho had knowledge of the truth.
1. With regard to those (the Marcionites) who allege that
Paul alone knew the truth, and that to him the mystery was
manifested by revelation, let Paul himself convict them, when
he says, that one and the same God wrought in Peter for the
apostolate of the circumcision, and in himself for the Gen-
tiles.-^ Peter, therefore, was an apostle of that very God
whose was also Paul ; and Him whom Peter preached as
God among those of the circumcision, and likewise the Son
of God, did Paul [declare] also among the Gentiles. For our
Lord never came to save Paul alone, nor is God so limited in
means, that lie should have but one apostle who knew the
dispensation of His Son. And again, when Paul says, " How
beautiful are the feet of those brino;in£^ Mad tidings of £jood
things, and preaching the gospel of peace," ^ he shows clearly
that it was not merely one, but that there were many who
used to preach the truth. And again, in the Epistle to the
Corinthians, when he had recounted all those who had seen
God '^ after the resurrection, he says in continuation, " But
whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed,"*
acknowledging as one and the same, the preaching of all
those who saw God ^ after the resurrection from the dead.
1 Gal. ii. 8. ^ Rom. x. 15 ; Isa. lii. 7.
^ AU the previous editors accept the reading Deum without remark,
but Harvey argues that it must be regarded as a mistake for Dominum.
He scarcely seems, however, to give sufficient weight to the quotation
wliich immediately follows.
* 1 Cor. XV. 11.
Book hi.] inENJEUS AGAINST IIEUESIES, 315
2. And again, tlie Lord replied to Phillio, who wished to
beliold the Father, " Have I been so long a time with you,
and yet thou hast not known me, Phihp ? He that sees me,
sees also the Father ; and how sayest thou then, Show us
the Father ? For I am in the Father, and the Father in
me ; and henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him." ^
To these men, therefore, did the Lord bear witness, that in
Himself they had both known and seen the Father (and the
Father is truth). To allege, then, that these men did not
know the truth, is to act the part of false witnesses, and of
those who have been alienated from the doctrine of Christ.
For why did the Lord send the twelve apostles to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel," if these men did not know the
truth ? How also did the seventy preach, unless they had
themselves previously known the truth of what was preached?
Or how could Peter have been in io;norance, to whom the
Lord gave testimony, that flesh and blood had not revealed
to him, but the Father, who is in heaven ? " Just, then, as
" Paul [was] an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by
Jesus Christ, and God the Father,"'* [so w'ith the rest;]'
the Son indeed leading them to the Father, but the Father
revealino; to them the Son.
3. But that Paul acceded to [the request of] those who
summoned him to the apostles, on account of the question
I which had been raised], and went up to them, with Barnabas,
to Jerusalem, not without reason, but that the liberty of the
Gentiles might be confirmed by them, he does himself say, in
the Epistle to the Galatians : " Then, fourteen years after, I
went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking also Titus.
But I went up by revelation, and connnunicated to them that
gospel which I preach among the Gentiles."^ And again he
says, " For an hour we did give place to subjection,^ that the
> John xiv. 7, 9, 10. - Matt. x. G. » ^[.^^t. xvi. 17. * Gal. i. 1.
* Some such supplement seems necessary, as Grabe suggests, though
Harvey contends that no apodosis is requisite.
" Gal. ii. 1, 2.
' Latin, "Ad horam cessimus subjectioni" (Gal. ii. 5). Irenncus gives
it an altogether different meaning from that which it has in the received
316 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
truth of the gospel might continue with you." If, then, any-
one shall, from the Acts of the Apostles, carefully scrutinize
the time concerning which it is written that he went up to
Jerusalem on account of the forcmentioncd question, he will
find those years mentioned by Paul coinciding with it. Thus
the statement of Paul harmonizes with, and is, as it were,
identical with, the testimony of Luke regarding the apostles.
Chap. xiv. — If Paul had known any mysteries unrevealed to
the other apostles^ Liike^ his constant companion and
fellow-traveller^ could not have been ignorant of tliem;
neither coidd the truth have possibly lain hid from him,
through luhom alone ive learn many and most important
particulars of the gospel history,
1. But that this Luke was inseparable from Paul, and his
fellow-labourer in the gospel, he himself clearly evinces, not
as a matter of boasting, but as bound to do so by the truth
itself. For he says that when Barnabas, and John who was
called Mark, had parted company from Paul, and sailed to
Cyprus, " we came to Troas ;" -^ and when Paul had be-
held in a dream a man of Macedonia, saying, " Come into
Macedonia, Paul, and help us," " immediately," he says, " we
endeavoured to go into Macedonia, understanding that the
Lord had called us to preach the gospel unto them. There-
fore, sailing from Troas, we directed our ship's course towards
Samothracia." And then he carefully indicates all the rest of
their journey as far as Philippi, and how they delivered their
first address: "for, sitting down," he says, "we spake unto
the women who had assembled ;" ^ and certain believed, even a
great many. And again does he say, " But we sailed from
Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came to
Troas, where we abode seven days." ^ And all the remaining
text. Jerome says that there was as much variation in the copies of
Scripture in his day with regard to the passage, — some retaining, others
rejecting the negative. Tertullian argues for the removal of the nega-
tive {Adv. Marc. v. 3).
^ Acts xvi. 8, etc. ^ Acts xvi. 13. * Acts xx. 5, 6.
Book hi.] IUEN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 317
[details] of his course witli Paul he recounts, indicating with
all diligence both places, and cities, and number of days, until
they went up to Jerusalem ; and what befell Paul there,^ how
he was sent to Rome in bonds ; the name of the centurion
who took him in charge ;^ and the signs of the ships, and
how they made shipwreck ; ^ and the island upon which they
escaped, and how they received kindness there, Paul healing
the chief man of that island; and how they sailed from thence
to Putcoli, and from that arrived at Rome; and for what
period they sojourned at Rome. As Luke was present at all
these occurrences, he carefully noted them down in writing,
so that he cannot be convicted of falsehood or boastfulness,
because all these [particulars] proved both that he was senior
to all those who now teach otherwise, and that he was not
ignorant of the truth. That he was not merely a follower,
but also a fellow-labourer of the apostles, but especially of
Paul, Paul has himself declared also in the epistles, saying :
" Demas hath forsaken me, . . . and is departed unto Thessa-
lonica ; Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke
is with me."^ From this he shows that he was always
attached to and inseparable from him. And again he says,
in the Epistle to the Colossians : " Luke, the beloved physi-
cian, greets you."^ But surely if Luke, who always preached
in company with Paul, and is called by him " the beloved,"
and with him performed the work of an evangelist, and was
entrusted to hand down to us a Gospel, learned nothing
different from him (Paul), as has been pointed out from his
words, how can these men, who were never attached to
Paul, boast that they have learned hidden and unspeakable
mysteries ?
2. But that Paul taught with simplicity wnat ne knew,
not only to those who were [employed] with him, but to those
that heard him, he does himself make manifest. For when
the bishops and presbyters who came from Ephesus and thei
other cities adjoining had assembled in jMiletus, since he was
himself hastening to Jerusalem to observe Pentecost, after
* Acts xxl. * Acts xxvii. ^ ^^cts xxviii. 11.
* 2 Tim. iv. 10, 11. " Col. iv. 11.
318 IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book m.
testifying many things to them, and declaring what must
happen to him at Jerusalem, he added : '^ I know that ye
shall see my face no more. Therefore I take you to record
this day, that I am pure from the blood of all. For I have
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Take heed, therefore, both to yourselves, and to all the flock
over which the Holy Ghost has placed you as bishops, to
rule the church of the Lord,-^ which He has acquired for
Himself throusjh His own blood." ^ Then, referrina: to the
evil teachers wdio should arise, he said : " I know that after
my departure shall grievous wolves come to you, not sparing
the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking
perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." " I have
not shunned," he says, " to declare unto you all the counsel
of God." Thus did the apostles simply, and without respect
of persons, deliver to all what they had themselves learned
from the Lord. Thus also does Luke, without respect of
persons, deliver to us what he had learned from them, as he
has himself testified, saying, " Even as they delivered them
unto us, wdio from the beginning were eye-witnesses and
ministers of the Word."'^
3. Now if any man set Luke aside, as one who did not
know tlie truth, he will, [by so acting,] manifestly reject that
gospel of which he claims to be a disciple. For through him
we have become acquainted with very many and important
parts of the gospel ; for instance, the generation of John, the
history of Zacharias, the coming of the angel to Mary, the
exclamation of Elisabeth, the descent of the angels to the
shepherds, the words spoken by them, the testimony of Anna
and of Simeon with regard to Christ, and that at twelve
years of age He was left behind at Jerusalem ; also the bap-
tism of John, the number of the Lord's years when He was
baptized, and that this occurred in the fifteenth year of Tiberius
^ In this very important passage of Scripture, Irenseus manifestly read
Kvpi'ov instead of Qsov, which is found in text. rec. The Codex Bezaa
has the same reading ; but all the other most ancient MSS. agree with the
received text.
2 Acts XX. 25, etc. ^ Luke i. 2.
Book hi.] mENJEVS AGAINST IlEUESIES. 319
Caesar. And in His office of teacher tliis is what He has
said to the rich : " Woe unto you that are rich, for ye have
received your consolation ;"^ and, " Woe unto you that are
full, for ye shall hunger ; and ye who laugh now, for ye
shall weep ;'* and, " Woe unto you when all men shall speak
well of you : for so did your fathers to the false prophets."
All thino;s of the followin^j kind we have known thron<Tli
Luke alone (and numerous actions of the Lord we have
learned through him, which also all [the Evangelists] notice) :
the multitude of fishes which Peter's companions enclosed,
when at the Lord's command they cast the nets ;^ the woman
who had suffered for eighteen years, and was healed on the
Sabbath-day ;'^ the man who had the dropsy, whom the Lord
made whole on the Sabbath, and how He did defend Himself
for having performed an act of healing on that day ; how
He taught His disciples not to aspire to the uppermost rooms ;
how we should invite the poor and feeble, who cannot recom-
pense us ; the man who knocked during the night to obtain
loaves, and did obtain them, because of the urgency of his
importunity ;'^ how, when [our Lord] was sitting at meat
with a Pharisee, a woman that was a sinner kissed His feet,
and anointed them with ointment, with what the Lord said
to Simon on her behalf concerning the two debtors;^ also
about the parable of that rich man who stored up the goods
which had accrued to him, to whom it was also said, " In this
night they shall demand thy soul from thee ; whose then
shall those things be which thou hast prepared?"^ and similar
to this, that of the rich man, who was clothed in purple and
who fared sumptuously, and the indigent Lazarus ;" also the
answer which He gave to His disciples when they said, " Li-
crease our faith; "^ also His conversation with Zacchcus the
publican;'"^ also about the Pharisee and the publican, who
were praying in the temple at the same time \^^ also the ten
lepers, whom He cleansed in the way simultaneously ;^^ also
^ Luke vi. 24, etc. - Luke v. ^ Luke xiii.
•* Luke xi. * Luke vii. •• Luke xii. 20.
' Luke xvi. ^ Luke xvii. 5. ^ Luke xix.
^® Luke xviii. " Luke xvii.
320 IRENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi
liow He ordered the lame and the blind to be gathered to the
wedding from the lanes and streets ;^ also the parable of the
judge v>'ho feared not God, whom the widow's importunity
led to avenge her cause ;^ and about the fig-tree in the vine-
yard which produced no fruit. There are also many other
particulars to be found mentioned by Luke alone, which are
made use of by both Marcion and Valentinus. And besides
all these, [he records] what [Christ] said to His disciples in
the way, after the resurrection, and how they recognised Him
in the breakincr of bread.^
4. It follows then, nsof course, that these men must either
receive the rest of liis narrative, or else reject these parts
also. For no persons of common sense can permit them to
receive some things recounted by Luke as being true, and to
set others aside, as if he had not known the truth. And if
indeed Marcion' s followers reject these, they will then pos-
sess no Gospel ; for, curtailing that according to Luke, as I
have said already, they boast in having the Gospel [in what
remains]. But the followers of Valentinus must give up their
utterly vain talk ; for they have taken from that [Gospel]
many occasions for their own speculations, to put an evil
interpretation upon what he has well said. If, on the other
hand, they feel compelled to receive the remaining portions
also, then, by studying the perfect Gospel, and the doctrine
of the apostles, they v.ill find it necessary to repent, that they
may be saved from the danger [to which they are exposed].
Chap. xv. — Refutation of the Ehionites, iclio disparaged the
authority of St. Paul, from the ivritings of St. Luke, ivhich
must he received as a ivhole. 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.
1. But again, we allege the same against those who do not
recognise Paul as an apostle : that they should either reject
the other words of the Gospel which we have come to know
^ Luke xviii. ^ Luke xiii. ^ Luke xxiv.
Book in.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 321
througli Luke alone, and not make use of them ; or else, if
they do receive all these, they must necessarily admit also
that testimony concerning Paul, when he (Luke) tells us that
the Lord spoke at first to him from heaven : ^' Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me ? I am Jesus Christ, whom thou
persecutest ;"^ and then to Ananias, saying regarding him:
" Go thy way ; for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my
name among the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of
Israel. For I will show him, from this time, how great things
he must suffer for my name's sake."^ Those, therefore,
who do not accept of him [as a teacher], who was chosen
by God for this purpose, that he might boldly bear His name,
as being sent to the forementioned nations, do despise the
election of God, and separate themselves from the company of
the apostles. For neither can they contend that Paul was no
apostle, when he was chosen for this purpose ; nor can they
prove Luke guilty of falsehood, when he proclaims the truth
to us with all diligence. It may be, indeed, that it was with
this view that God set forth very many gospel truths, through
Luke's instrumentality, which all should esteem it necessary
to use, in order that all persons, following his subsequent
testimony, which treats upon the acts and the doctrine of
the apostles, and holding the unadulterated rule of truth, may
be saved. His testimony, therefore, is true, and the doctrine
of the apostles is open and stedfast, holding nothing in re-
serve ; nor did they teach one set of doctrines in private, and
another in public.
2. For this is the subterfuge of false persons, evil seducers,
and hypocrites, as they act who are from Valentinus. These
men discourse to the multitude about those who belong to
the church, whom they do themselves term " vulgar," and
" ecclesiastic. " '^ By these words they entrap the more
simple, and entice them, imitating our phraseology, that these
[dupes] may listen to them the oftener ; and then these are
^ Actsxxii. 8, xxvi. 15. 2 ^Vcts ix. 15, 16.
^ Latin, "'communes et ecclesiasticos : " Kotdo'Aty.ov; is translated here
"communes," as for some time after the word cathoUcus had not been
added to the Latin language in its ecclesiastical sense.
X
322 lUENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iii.
asked^ regarding us, how it is, tliat when they hold doctrines
similar to ours, we, without cause, keep ourselves aloof from
their company ; and [how it is, that] when they say the same
things, and hold the same doctrine, we call them heretics?
When they have thus, by means of questions, overthrown
the faith of any, and rendered them uncontradicting hearers
of their own, they describe to them in private the unspeakable
mystery of their Pleroma. But they are altogether deceived,
who imagine that they may learn from the scriptural texts ad-
duced by heretics, that [doctrine] which their words plausibly
teach.^ For error is plausible, and bears a resemblance to
the truth, but requires to be disguised ; while truth is with-
out disguise, and therefore has been entrusted to children.
And if any one of their auditors do indeed demand explana-
tions, or start objections to them, they affirm that he is one
not capable of receiving the truth, and not having from
above the seed [derived] from their Mother ; and thus really
give him no reply, but simply declare that he is of the inter-
mediate regions, that is, belongs to animal natures. But if
any one do yield himself up to them like a little sheep, and
follows out their practice, and their '' redemption," such an
one is puffed up to such an extent, that he thinks he is
neither in heaven nor on earth, but that he has passed within
the Pleroma ; and having already embraced his angel, he
walks with a strutting gait and a supercilious countenance,
possessing all the pompous air of a cock. There are those
among them who assert that that man who comes from above
ought to follow a good course of conduct ; wdierefore they
do also pretend a gravity [of demeanour] with a certain
superciliousness. The majority, however, having become
scoffers also, as if already perfect, and living without regard
^ We here follow the text of Harvey, who prints, without remark,
quxruntur, instead of qiieruntur, as in Migne's edition.
2 Such is the sense educed by Harvey from the old Latin version,
which thus runs : " Decipiuntur autem omnes, qui quod est in verbis
verisimile, se putant posse discere a veritate." For " omnes" he would
read " omnino," and he discards the emendation proposed by the former
editors, viz. " discernere" for " discere."
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 323
'to appearances], yea, in contempt [of that which is good],
:all themselves " the spiritual," and allege that they have
ilready become acquainted with that place of refreshing
kvhich is within their Pleroma.
3. But let us revert to the same line of argument [hitherto
Dursued]. For when it has been manifestly declared, that
:hey who were the preachers of the truth and the apostles of
iberty termed no one else God, or named him Lord, except
die only true God the Father, and His Word, who has the
Dre-eminence in all things ; it shall then be clearly proved,
;hat they (the apostles) confessed as the Lord God Him
^ho was the Creator of heaven and earth, who also spoke
vitli Moses, gave to him the dispensation of the law, and who
called the fathers ; and that they knew no other. The
)pinion of the apostles, therefore, and of those (Mark and
Luke) who learned from their words, concerning God, has
Deen made manifest.
CllAP. XVI. — Proofs from the apostolic writings^ that Jesus
Clirist teas one and the same, the only begotten Son of
God J perfect God and perfect man.
1. But^ there are some who say that Jesus was merely a
ceceptacle of Christ, upon wdiom the Christ, as a dove, de-
scended from above, and that when He had declared the
Linnameable Father He entered into the Pleroma in an incom-
prehensible and invisible manner: for that He was not compre-
lended, not only by men, but not even by those powders and
nrtues which are in heaven, and that Jesus w^as the Son, but
hat '" Christ was the Father, and the Father of Christ, God ;
vhile others say that He merely suffered in outward appear-
nce, being naturally impassible. The Valentinians, again,
aaintain that the dispensational Jesus was the same who
assed through Mary, upon whom that Saviour from the more
^ We here omit sincc\ and insert therefore afterwards, to avoid the
streme length of the sentence as it stands in the Latin version. The
Dodosis does not occur till the words, " I judge it necessary," are
iached.
« See book i. 12, 4.
324 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
exalted [region] descended, who was also termed Pan^ because
He possessed the names (vocahida) of all those who had pro-
duced riim ; but that [this latter] shared with Him, the
dispensational one. His power and His name ; so that by His
means death was abolished, but the Father was made known
by that Saviour who had descended from above, whom they
do also allege to be Himself the receptacle of Christ and
of the entire Pleroma ; confessing, indeed, in tongue one
Christ Jesus, but being divided in [actual] opinion : for, as I
have already observed, it is the practice of these men to say
that there was one Christ, who was produced by Monogenes,
for the confirmation of the Pleroma ; but that another, the
Saviour, was sent [forth] for the glorification of the Father ;
and yet another, the dispensational one, and whom they re-
present as having suffered, who also bore [in himself] Christ,
that Saviour who returned into the Pleroma. I judge it
necessary therefore to take into account the entire mind of
the apostles regarding our Lord Jesus Christ, and to show
that not only did they never hold any such opinions regarding
Him ; but, still furtlier, that they announced through the
Holy Spirit, that those who should teach such doctrines were
agents of Satan, sent forth for the purpose of overturning the
faith of some, and drawing them away from life.
2. That John knew the one and the same Word of God,
and that He was the only begotten, and that He became
incarnate for our salvation, Jesus Christ our Lord, I have
sufficiently proved from the word of John himself. And
Matthew, too, recognising one and the same Jesus Christ,
exhibiting his generation as a man from the Virgin,^ even as
God did promise David that He would raise up from the
fruit of his body an eternal King, having made tlie same
promise to Abraham a long time previously, says : " The book
of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son^|
of Abraham."^ Then, that he might free our mind from
suspicion regarding Joseph, he says: "But the birth of
^ The Latin text has "Christum," which is supposed to be an erroneoi
reading. See also book ii. c. xii. s. 6.
* Ps. cxxxii. 11. 3 Matt. i. 1.
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 325
Christ ^ was on this wise. When His mother was espoused
to Josepli, before they came together, she was found with
cliild of the Holy Ghost." Then, when Joseph had it in
contemplation to put Mary away, since she proved with child,
[Matthew tells us of] the angel of God standing by him, and
saying : '' Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife : for that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she
shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus ;
for He shall save His people from their sins. Now this was
done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord
by the prophet : Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bring
forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which
is, God with us ; " clearly signifying that both the promise
made to tlie fathers had been accomplished, that the Son of
God was born of a virgin, and that He Himself was Christ
the Saviour whom the prophets had foretold ; not, as these
men assert, that Jesus was He who was born of Mary, but
that Christ was He who descended from above. Matthew
might certainly have said, " Now the birth of Jesus was on
this wise ; " but the Holy Ghost, foreseeing the corrupters
[of the truth], and guarding by anticipation against their
deceit, says by Matthew, "But the birth of Christ was on this
wise ;" and that He is Emmanuel, lest perchance we might
consider Him as a mere man : for " not by the will of the
flesh, nor by the will of man, but by the will of God, was
the AVord made flesh ;"^ and that we should not imairine that
Jesus was one, and Christ another, but should know them to
be one and the same.
3. Paul, when writing to the Eomans, has explained this
very point : " Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, predestinated
unto the gospel of God, which He had promised by His pro-
^ ;Matt. i. 18. It is to be observed that Ircnseus here reads Christ in-
stead of Jesus Christ, as in text, rec, thus agreeing with the reading of
the Vulgate in the passage.
- John i. 13, 14. From this, and also a quotation of the same passage
in chap. xix. of this book, it appears that Irenaeus must have read
iyevvridri hero, and not o/ iysvur.^ritjxv. Tertullian quotes the verse to the
simie effect (^Lib. de Came Christl, cap. 19 and 2i).
1
320 IRENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
phets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was
made to Him of the seed of Da\dd according to the flesh,
who was predestinated the Son of God with power through
the Spirit of hoKness, by the resurrection from the dead of
our Lord Jesus Christ." ^ And again, writing to the Romans
about Israel, he says : " Whose are the fathers, and from
whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all,
blessed for ever." ^ And again, in his Epistl6 to the Gala-
tians, he says : " But when the fulness of time had come,
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might
receive the adoption;"^ plainly indicating one God, who did
by the prophets make promise of the Son, and one Jesus
Christ our Lord, who was of the seed of David accordinir to
His birth from Mary ; and that Jesus Christ was appointed
the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holi-
ness, by the resurrection from the dead, as being the first
becrotten in all the creation ; ^ the Son of God beins: made
the Son of man, that through Him we may receive the adop-
tion,— humanity^ sustaining, and receiving, and embracing
the Son of God. Wherefore Mark also says : " The begin-
ning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God ; as it is
written in the prophets." ^ Knowing one and the same Son
of God, Jesus Christ, who was announced by the prophets,
who from the fruit of David's body was Emmanuel, " the
messenger of great counsel of the Father ;" ^ through whom
God caused the day-spring and the Just One to arise to the
house of David, and raised up for him an horn of salvation,
" and established a testimony in Jacob ;"^ as David says when
discoursing on the causes of His birth : "And He appointed
a law in Israel, that another generation might know [Him],
the children which should be born from these, and they
arising shall themselves declare to their children, so that
they might set their hope in God, and seek after His com-
mandments." ^ And again, the angel said, when bringing
* Rom. i. 1-4. ^ Rom. ix. 5. = Gal. iv. 4, 5.
* Col. i. 14, 15. ^ " Homine." ^ Mark i. 1.
' Isa. ix. 6 (LXX.). ' Luke i. 60. * Ps. Ixxviii. 5.
Book hi.] IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 327
good tidings to Mary: "He shall be great, and shall he
called the Son of the Highest ; and the Lord shall give unto
Him the throne of His father David;" ^ acknowledging that
He who is the Son of the Highest, the same is Himself also
the Son of David. And David, knowing by the Spirit the
dispensation of the advent of this Person, by which He is
supreme over all the living and dead, confessed Him as Lord,
sittin<T on the riMit hand of the Most Hio;h Father.^
4. But Simeon also — he who had received an intimation
from the Holy Ghost that he should not see death, until first
he had beheld Christ Jesus — taking Him, the first-begotten
of the Virgin, into his hands, blessed God, and said, " Lord,
now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to
Thy word : because mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which
Thou hast prepared before the face of all people ; a light to
lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel;"'^
confessing thus, that the infant whom he was holding in his
hands, Jesus, born of Mary, w^as Christ Himself, the Son of
God, the light of all, the glory of Israel itself, and the peace
and refreshing of those who had fallen asleep. For He was
already despoiling men, by removing their ignorance, confer-
ring upon them His own knowledge, and scattering abroad
those who recognised Him, as Esaias says : " Call His name,
Quickly spoil, Kapidly divide." ^ Now these are the works
of Christ. He therefore was Himself Christ, whom Simeon
carrying [in his arms] blessed the Most High ; on beholding
whom the shepherds glorified God ; whom John, while yet in
his mother's womb, and He (Christ) in that of INIary, recog-
nising as the Lord, saluted with leaping ; whom the Magi,
when they had seen, adored, and offered their gifts [to Him],
as I have already stated, and prostrated themselves to the
eternal King, departed by another way, not now returning
by the way of the Assyrians. " For before the child shall
have knowledge to cry, Father or mother, He shall receive
the power of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria, against
the king of the Assyrians;"^ declaring, in a mysterious
» Luke i. 32. - Ts. ex. 1. » Luke ii. 29.
* Isa. viii. 3. » Isa. viii. 4.
328 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book hi.
manner indeed, but emphatically, that the Lord did fight
with a hidden hand against Amalek.^ For this cause, too,
He suddenly removed those children belonging to the house
of David, whose happy lot it was to have been born at that
time, that He might send them on before into His kingdom ;
Pie, since He was Plimself an infant, so arranging it that
human infants should be martyrs, slain, according to the
Scriptures, for the sake of Christ, who was born in Beth-
lehem of Judah, in the city of David.^
5. Therefore did the Lord also say to His disciples after the
resurrection, " O thoughtless ones, and slow of heart to be-
lieve all that the prophets have spoken ! Ought not Christ
to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory ? " ^
And again does Pie say to them : " These are the words
which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all
things must be fulfilled which w^ere written in the law of
Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning
me. Then opened He their understanding, that they should
understand the Scriptures, and said unto them. Thus it is
written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again
from the dead, and that repentance for the remission of sins
be preached in His name among all nations.""^ Now this is
He who was born of Mary ; for He says : " The Son of
man must suffer many things, and be rejected, and crucified,
and on the third day rise again." ^ The Gospel, therefore,
knew no other son of man but Him who was of Mary, who
also suffered ; and no Christ who flew away from Jesus
before the passion ; but Him who was born it knew as Jesus
Christ the Son of God, and that this same suffered and rose
again, as John, the disciple of the Lord, verifies, saying ;
*' But these are Avritten, that ye might believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have
eternal life in His name,"^ — foreseeing these blasphemous
systems which divide the Lord, as far as lies in their power,
saying that He was formed of two different substances. For
» Ex. xvii. 16 (LXX.). ' Matt. ii. 16.
3 Luke xxiv. 25. * Lnke xxiv. 44, etc.
^Mark viii. 31 and Luke ix. 22. ^ John xx. 31.
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 329
this reason also he has thus testified to us in his epistle :
'^ Little children, it is the last time ; and as ye have heard that
Antichrist doth come, now have many antichrists appeared ;
whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out
from us, but they were not of us ; for if they had been of us,
they would have continued with us : but [they departed],
that they might be made manifest that they are not of us.
Know ye therefore, that every lie is from without, and is not
of the truth. Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus
is the Christ ? This is Antichrist." ^
6. But inasmuch as all those before mentioned, although
they certainly do with their tongue confess one Jesus Christ,
make fools of themselves, thinking one thing and saying
another ;''^ for their hypotheses vary, as I have already shown,
alleging, [as they do,] that one Being suffered and was born,
and that this was Jesus; but that there was another who
descended upon Ilim, and that this was Christ, who also
ascended again ; and they argue, that he who proceeded
from the Demiurge, or he who was dispensational, or he
who sprang from Joseph, was the Being subject to suffering ;
but upon the latter there descended from the invisible and
ineffable [places] the former, whom they assert to be incom-
prehensible, invisible, and impassible : they thus wander from
the truth, because their doctrine departs from Plim who is
truly God, being ignorant that His only-begotten Word,
who is always present with the human race, united to and
mingled with His own creation, according to the Father's
pleasure, and who became flesh, is Himself Jesus Christ our
Lord, who did also suffer for us, and rose again on our
behalf, and who will come again in the glory of His Father,
to raise up all flesh, and for the manifestation of salvation,
and to apply the rule of just judgment to all who were made
by Him. There is therefore, as I have pointed out, one God
1 1 John ii. 18, etc., loosely quoted.
2 The text here followed is that of two Syriac mss., which prove the
loss of several consecutive words in the old Latin version, and clear up
the meaning of a confused sentence, showing that the word *' auteni" is
here, as it probably is elsewhere, merely a contraction for " aut eum."
330
IRENJE US A GAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
the Fatlicr, and one Christ Jesus, who came by means of the
whole dispensation al arrangements [connected with Him],
and irathered too;ether all thino;s in Himself.^ But in every
respect, too. He is man, the formation of God ; and thus He
took up man into Himself, the invisible becoming visible, the
incomprehensible being made comprehensible, the impassible
becoming capable of suffering, and the Word being made
man, thus summing up all things in Himself : so that as in
super-celestial, spiritual, and invisible things, the Word of
God is supreme, so also in things visible and corporeal He
might possess the supremacy, and, taking to Himself the
pre-eminence, as well as constituting Himself Head of the
church, Pie might draw all things to Himself at the proper
time.
7. With Him is nothing incomplete or out of due season,
just as with the Father there is nothing incongruous. For
all these things were foreknown by the Father ; but the Son
works them out at the proper time in perfect order and
sequence. This was the reason why, when Mary was urging
[Him] on to [perform] the wonderful miracle of the wine,
and was desirous before the time to partake^ of the cup of
emblematic significance, the Lord, checking her untimely
haste, said, " Woman, what have I to do with thee ? mine
hour is not yet come"^ — waiting for that hour which was
foreknown by the Father. This is also the reason why, when
men were often desirous to take Him, it is said, " No man
laid hands upon Him, for the hour of His being taken was
not yet come;"^ nor the time of His passion, which had
been foreknown by the Father ; as also says the prophet
Habakkuk, " By this Thou shalt be known when the years
have drawn nigh ; Thou shalt be set forth when the time
comes ; because my soul is disturbed by anger, Thou shalt
' Eph. i. 10.
2 " Participare compendii poculo," i.e. the cup wliich recapitulates the
suffering of Christ, and which, as Harvey thinks, refers to the s.ym-
bohcal character of the cup of the Eucharist, as setting forth the passion
of Christ.
3 John ii. 4. * John vii. 30.
Book hi.] IREN^TJS AGAINST HERESIES. 331
remember Thy mercy." ^ Paul also says : " But when the
fulness of time came, God sent forth His Son."'^ By wliich
is made manifest, that all things which had been foreknown
of the Father, our Lord did accomplish in their order, season,
and hour, foreknown and fitting, being indeed one and the
same, but rich and great. For He fulfils the bountiful and
comprehensive will of His Father, inasmuch as He is Him-
self the Saviour of those who are saved, and the Lord of
those who are under authority, and the God of all those things
which have been formed, the only-begotten of the Father,
Christ who was announced, and the Word of God, who became
incarnate when the fulness of time had come, at which the
Son of God had to become the Son of man.
8. All, therefore, are outside of the [Christian] dispensa-
tion, who, under pretext of knowledge, understand that
Jesus was one, and Christ another, and the Only-begotten
another, from whom again is the Word, and that the Saviour
is another, whom these disciples of error allege to be a pro-
duction of those who were made -ZEons in a state of de£]rene-
racy. Such men are to outward appearance sheep ; for they
appear to be like us, by what they say in public, repeating
the same words as we do ; but inwardly they are wolves.
Their doctrine is homicidal, conjuring up, as it does, a number
of gods, and simulating many Fathers, but lowering and
dividing the Son of God in many ways. These are they
against whom the Lord has cautioned us beforehand ; and
His disciple, in his epistle already mentioned, commands us to
avoid them, when he says : " For many deceivers are entered
into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Take heed
to them, that ye lose not what ye have wrought."'"^ And
again does ho say in the epistle : " Many false prophets are
gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of
God : Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is of God ; and every spirit which separates Jesus
1 Hab. iii. 2. = G;il. iv. 4.
3 2 John 7, 8. Irenseus seems to have read aurov? instead of iecvrou;^
as in the received text.
332
IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, [Book hi.
Christ is not of God, but is of antichrist."^ These words
agree with what was said in the Gospel, that " the Word,
was made flesh, and dwelt among us." AVherefore he again
exclaims in his epistle, " Every one that believeth that Jesus
is the Christ, has been born of God;"^ knowing Jesus Christ
to be one and the same, to whom the gates of heaven were
opened, because of Ilis taking upon Him flesh : who shall
also come in the same flesh in which He suffered, revealing
the glory of the Father.
9. Concurring with these statements, Paul, speaking to the
Romans, declares : " Much more they who receive abundance
of grace and righteousness for [eternal] life, shall reign by
one, Christ Jesus." ^ It follows from this, that he knew
nothing of that Christ who flew away from Jesus ; nor did
he of the Saviour above, whom they hold to be impassible.
For if, in truth, the one suffered, and the other remained,
incapable of suffering, and the one was born, but the other
descended upon him who was born, and left him again, it is
not one, but two, that are shown forth. But that the apostle
did know Him as one, both who was born and who suffered,
namely Christ Jesus, he again says in the same epistle :
"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized in Christ
Jesus were baptized in His death ? that like as Christ rose
from the dead, so should we also walk in newness of life." ^
But again, showing that Christ did suffer, and was Himself
the Son of God, who died for us, and redeemed us with His
1 1 John iv. 1, 2. This is a material difference from the received text
of the passage: " Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh." The Vulgate translation and Origen agree with
Irenseus, and Tertullian seems to recognise both readings (Adv. Marc.
V. 16). Socrates tells us (vii. 32, p. 381) that the passage had been
corrupted by those who wished to separate the humanity of Christ from
His divinity, and that the old copies read, ■r«y Trvivy.oc o avu rou 'Iriaouu
ccTTo Tov Qeov ovK suTi., whlcli exactly agrees with Origen's quotation,
and very nearly with that of Irenaeus, now before us. Polycarp (Ep.
c. vii.) seems to allude to the passage as we have it now, and so does
Ignatius (Ep. Smyr. c. v.). See the question discussed by Burton, in
his Ante-Nicene Testimonies.
2 1 John V. 1. 3 Rom, V. 17. 4 Rom. vi. 3, 4.
Book hi.] IUENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 333
blood at the time appointed beforehand, he says : " For how
is it, that Christ, when we were yet without strength, in due
time died for the ungodly ? But God commendeth His love
towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Much more, then, being now justified by His blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when
we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son ; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved
by His life."^ He declares in the plainest manner, that the
same Being who was laid hold of, and underwent suffering,
and shed His blood for us, was both Christ and the Son of
God, who did also rise again, and was taken up into heaven,
as he himself [Paul] says : " But at the same time, [it is]
Christ [that] died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the riMit hand of God." ^ And as^ain, " Kuowincr that
Christ, rising from the dead, dietb no more :" ^ for, as him-
self foreseeing, throngli the Spirit, the subdivisions of evil
teachers [with regard to the Lord's person], and being de-
sirous of cutting away from them all occasion of cavil, he
says what has been already stated, [and also declares :]
" But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the
dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead
shall also quicken your mortal bodies." ^ This he does not
utter to those alone who wish to hear : Do not err, [he
says to all:] Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is one and the
same, who did by suffering reconcile us to God, and rose
from the dead ; who is at the right hand of the Father, and
perfect in all things ; ^' who, when He was buffeted, struck
not in return; who, when He suffered, threatened not;"^
and when He underwent tyranny. He prayed His Father
that He would forgive those who had crucified Him. For
He did Himself truly bring in salvation : since He is Him-
self the Word of God, Himself the Onlv-bcirotten of the
Father, Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 Rom. V. G-10. Irenccus appears to have read, as does the Vulgate,
il; t/ 7«p, for iTi yap in text. rcc.
2 Eom. viii. 34. 3 Rom. vi. 9.
4 Horn. viii. 11. 6 j pg^. ii. 23.
334
IRENJEUS AG Am ST HERESIES. [Book hi.
CnAr. XYii. — The apostles teach that it was oieither Christ
nor the Saviour , hut the Holy Spirit, ivho did descend
upon Jesus. The reason for this descent,
1. It certainly was in the power of the apostles to declare
that Christ descended upon Jesus, or that the so-called supe-
rior Saviour [came down] upon the dispensational one, or he
who is from the invisible places upon him from the Demi-
urge ; but they neither knew nor said anything of the kind :
for, had they known it, they would have also certainly stated
it. But what really was the case, that did they record,
[namely,] that the Spirit of God as a dove descended upon
Him ; this Spirit^ of whom it was declared by Isaiah, " And
the Spirit of God shall rest upon Him,"^ as I have already
said. And again : " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because He hath anointed me."^ That is the Spirit of whom
the Lord declares, " For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit
of your Father which speaketh in you."^ And again, giving
to the disciples the power of regeneration into God,* He
said to them, " Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost.'''' For [God] promised, that in the last times He
would pour Him [the Spirit] upon [His] servants and hand-
maids, that they might prophesy ; wherefore He did also
descend upon the Son of God, made the Son of man, becom-
ing accustomed in fellowship with Him to dwell in the human
race, to rest with human beings, and to dwell in the work-
manship of God, working the will of the Father in them,
and renewing them from their old habits into the newness of
Christ.
2. This Spirit did David ask for the human race, saying,
"And stablish me with Thine all-governing Spirit;'"^ who
also, as Luke says, descended at the day of Pentecost upon
the disciples after the Lord's ascension, having power to admit
1 Isa. xi. 2. 2 isa. ixi. 1. s jyiatt. x. 20.
* Harvey remarks on this : " The sacrament of baptism is therefore ij
oi>uuf/^i; Tijj clt/w/iuu'/jaea; s'lg ©so'i/." Comp. p. 81.
5 Matt, xxviii. 19. « pg. H. 12.
Book hi.] IRENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 335
all nations to the entrance of life, and to the opening of the
new covenant; from whence also, with one accord in all
languages, they uttered praise to God, the Spirit bringing
distant tribes to unity, and offering to the Father the first-
fruits of all nations. Wherefore also the Lord promised to
send the Comforter,^ who should join us to God. For as a
compacted lump of dough cannot be formed of dry wheat
without fluid matter, nor can a loaf possess unity, so, in like
manner, neither could we, being many, be made one in Christ
Jesus without the water from heaven. And as dry earth
does not bring forth unless it receive moisture, in like manner
we also, being originally a dry tree, could never have brought
forth fruit unto life without the voluntary rain from above.
For our bodies have received unity among themselves by
means of that laver which leads to incorruption ; but our souls,
by means of the Spirit. Wherefore both are necessary, since
both contribute towards the life of God, our Lord compas-
sionating^ that errinfT Samaritan woman ^ — who did not remain
with one husband, but committed fornication by [contract-
ing] many marriages — by pointing out, and promising to her
living water, so that she should thirst no more, nor occupy
herself in acquiring the refreshing water obtained by labour,
having in herself water springing up to eternal life. The
Lord, receiving this as a gift from His Father, does Himself
also confer it upon those who are partakers of Himself, send-
ing the Holy Spirit upon all the earth.
3. Gideon,^ that Israelite whom God chose, that he might
save the people of Israel from the power of foreigners, fore-
seeing this gracious gift, changed his request, and prophesied
that there would be dryness upon the fleece of wool (a type of
the people), on which alone at first there had been dew ; thus
indicating that they should no longer have the Holy Spirit
from God, as saitli Esaias, " I will also command the cloud?,
that they rain no rain upon it,"^ but that the dew, which
^ John xvi. 7.
2 Irenrens refers to this woman as a type of the heathen world : for,
among the Jews, Samaritan and Idolater were convertible terms.
^ Judg. vi. 37, etc. •• Isa. v. 6.
i}36 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book iii.
is the Spirit of God, wlio descended upon the Lord, should
be diffused throughout all the earth, "the spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit
of knowledge and piety, the spirit of the fear of God."^
This Spirit, again. He did confer upon the church, sending
throughout all the world the Comforter from heaven, from
whence also the Lord tells us that the devil, like liirhtninor,
was cast down.^ Wherefore we have need of the dew^ of God,
that we be not consumed by fire, nor be rendered unfruitful,
and that where we have an accuser there we may have also
an Advocate,^ the Lord commending to the Holy Spirit His
own man,* who had fallen among thieves,^ whom He Himself
compassionated, and bound up his wounds, giving two royal
denaria; so that we, receiving by the Spirit the image and
superscription of the Father and the Son, might cause the
denarium entrusted to us to be fruitful, counting out the in-
crease [thereof] to the Lord.^
4. The Spirit, therefore, descending under the predestined
dispensation, and the Son of God, the only-begotten, w^ho is
also the Word of the Father, coming in the fulness of time,
having become incarnate in man for the sake of man, and
fulfilling all the conditions of human nature, our Lord Jesus
Christ being one and the same, as He Himself the Lord doth
testify, as the apostles confess, and as the prophets announce,
— all the doctrines of these men who have invented putative
Ogdoads and Tetrads, and imagined subdivisions [of the
Lord's person], have been proved falsehoods. These^ men
do, in fact, set the Spirit aside altogether ; they understand
that Christ was one and Jesus another ; and they teach that
there was not one Christ, but many. And if they speak of
them as united, they do again separate them: for they show
that one did indeed undergo sufferings, but that the other
1 Isa. xi. 2. 2 Luke x. 18.
^ 1 John ii. 1. ** " Suum hominem," i.e. the human race.
^ Luke X. 35. ^ Matt. xxv. 14.
'' The following period is translated from a Syriac fragment (see
Harvey's Irenxus^ vol. ii. p. 439), as it supplies some words incon-
veniently omitted in the old Latin version.
Book iil] IREN^US AGAINST IIEnESIES. '337
remained impassible ; that the one truly did ascend to the
Pleroma, but the other remained in the intermediate place ;
that the one does truly feast and revel in places invisible and
above all name, but that the other is seated with the Demi-
urge, emptying him of power. It will therefore be incum-
bent upon thee, and all others who give their attention to this
writing, and are anxious about their own salvation, not readily
to express acquiescence when they hear abroad the speeches
of these men : for, speaking things resembling the [doctrine
of the] faithful, as I have already observed, not only do they
hold opinions which are different, but absolutely contrary, and
in all points full of blasphemies, by which they destroy those
persons who, by reason of the resemblance of the words,
imbibe a poison which disagrees with their constitution, just
as if one, giving lime mixed with water for milk, should
mislead by the similitude of the colour; as a man^ superior
to me has said, concerning all that in any way corrupt the
things of God and adulterate the truth, " Lime is wickedly
mixed with the milk of God."
Chap, 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 dis-
tinctheings; neither can it be alleged that the Son of God
became man merely in appearance^ but that He did so
truly and actually,
\} As it has been clearly demonstrated that the Word,
who existed in the beginning with God, by whom all things
were made, who was also always present with mankind, was
in these last days, according to the time appointed by the
Father, united to His own workmanship, inasmuch as He
became a man liable to suffering, [it follows] that every
objection is set aside of those who say, "If our Lord was
born at that time, Christ had therefore no previous cxist-
^ Comp. i. pref. 2.
2 Again a Syriac fragment supplies some important words. See
Harvey, vol. ii. p. 4-iO.
Y
338 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
ence." For I have shown tliat tlic Son of God did not then
beghi to exist, being with the Father from the beginning ;
but when He became incarnate, and was made man. He
commenced afresh^ the long line of human beings, and fur-
nished us, in a brief, comprehensive manner, with salvation ;
so that what we had lost in Adam — namely, to be according
to the imafTe and likeness of God — that we mic^ht recover in
Christ Jesus.
2. For as it was not possible that the man who had once
for all been conquered, and who had been destroyed through
disobedience, could re-form himself, and obtain the prize of
victory ; and as it was also impossible that he could attain to
salvation who had fallen under the power of sin, — the Son
effected both these things, being the Word of God, descend-
ing from the Father, becoming incarnate, stooping low, even
to death, and consummating the arranged plan of our sal-
vation, upon whom [Paul], exhorting us unhesitatingly to
believe, again says, " Who shall ascend into heaven ? that is,
to bring down Christ ; or who shall descend into the deep ?
that is, to liberate Christ again from the dead."^ Then he
continues, " If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised
Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." ^ And he renders
the reason why the Son of God did these things, saying, " For
to this end Christ both lived, and died, and revived, that He^
might rule over the living and the dead."^ And again, writing
to the Corinthians, he declares, " But we preach Christ Jesus
crucified;"^ and adds, "The cup of blessing which we bless,
is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ? " ^
3. But who is it that has had fellowship with us in the
matter of food ? Whether is it he who is conceived of by
them as the Christ above, who extended himself through
Horos, and imparted a form to their mother ; or is it He who
is from the Virgin, Emmanuel, who did eat butter and honey,^
^ So the Syriac. The Latin has, "in seipso recapitulavit," He summed
up in Himself.
2 Rom. X. 6, 7. ^ Rom. x. 9. ^ Rom. xiv. 9.
^ 1 Cor. i. 23. ^ 1 Cor. x. 16. ^ Isa. viii. 14.
Book hi.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 339
of whom the proplict declared, " He is also a man, and who
diall know him?"^ He was likewise preached by Paul:
" For I delivered," he says, " unto you first of all, that Christ
died far our sins, according to the Scriptures ; and that He
was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the
Scriptures."^ It is plain, then, that Paul knew no other
Christ besides Him alone, w^io both suffered, and was buried,
and rose again, who was also born, and whom he speaks of as
man. For after remarking, " But if Christ be preached, that
He rose from the dead,"^ he continues, rendering the reason
of His incarnation, " For since by man came death, by man
[came] also the resurrection of the dead." And ever^^where,
when [referring to] the passion of our Lord, and to His
human nature, and His subjection to death, he employs the
name of Christ, as in that passage: ^'Destroy not him with
thy meat for whom Christ died."* And again : " But now, in
Christ, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ." ^ And again : '' Christ has redeemed us
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us : for it
is written. Cursed is every one that hangeth upon a tree." ^
And again : " And through thy knowledge shall the weak
brother perish, for whom Christ died ; " ^ indicating that the
impassible Christ did not descend upon Jesus, but that He
Himself, because He was Jesus Christ, suffered for us ; He,
who lay in the tomb, and rose again, who descended and
ascended, — the Son of God having been made the Son of
man, as the very name itself doth declare. For in the name
of Christ is implied, He that anoints, He that is anointed,
and the unction itself with which He is anointed. And it is
the Father who anoints, but the Son who is anointed by the
Spirit, who is the unction, as the AYord declares by Isaiah,
^' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath
anointed mc,"^ — pointing out both the anointing Father, the
anointed Son, and the unction, which is tlic Spirit.
4. The Lord Himself, too, makes it evident who it was
1 Jor. xvii. 9. - 1 Cor. xv. 3, 4. ^ 1 Cor. xv. 12.
* Kom. xiv. 15. ^ ]^^]^^ ij^ 13^ c q^\^ [\i 13 . j)cut. xxi. 23.
7 1 Cor. viii. 11. « Isa. L\i. 1.
340 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
that suffered ; for when He asked the disciples, " Whom do
men say that I, the Son of man, am?"^ and when Peter had
repHed, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God;"
and when he had been commended by Him [in these words],
" That flesh and blood had not revealed it to him, but the
Father who is in heaven," He made it clear that He, the
Son of man, is Christ the Son of the living God. " For
from that time forth," it is said, " He began to show to His
disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer
many things of the priests, and be rejected, and crucified,
and rise again the third day." ^ He who was acknowledged
by Peter as Christ, who pronounced him blessed because the
Father had revealed the Son of the living God to him, said
that He must Himself suffer many things, and be crucified ;
and then He rebuked Peter, who imagined that He was the
Christ as the generality of men supposed ^ [that the Christ
should be], and was averse to the idea of Plis suffering,
[and] said to the disciples, " If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it ; and whosoever
will lose it for my sake shall save it." * For these things
Christ spoke openly. He being Himself the Saviour of those
"who should be delivered over to death for their confession of
Him, and lose their lives.
5. If, however. He was Himself not to suffer, but should
fly away from Jesus, why did He exhort His disciples to
take up the cross and follow Him, — that cross which these
men represent Him as not having taken up, but [speak of
Him] as having relinquished the dispensation of suffering?
For that He did not say this with reference to the acknow-
ledging of the Stauros (cross) above, as some among them
venture to expound, but with respect to the suffering which
He should Himself undergo, and that His disciples should
endure, He implies when He says, " For whosoever will save
1 Matt. xvi. 13. 2 Matt. xvi. 21.
" Literally, " supposing Him to be Christ accordiDg to the idea of
men."
4 Matt. xvi. 24, 25.
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 341
his life, shall lose it ; and whosoever will lose, shall find it."
And that His disciples must suffer for His sake, Pie [implied
when He] said to the Jews, " Behold, I send you prophets,
and wise men, and scribes : and some of them ye shall kill
and crucify." ^ And to the disciples He was wont to say,
"And ye shall stand before governors and kings for my sake ;
and they shall scourge some of you, and slay you, and per-
secute you from city to city." ^ He knew, therefore, both
those who should suffer persecution, and He knew those who
should have to be scourged and slain because of Him ; and He
did not speak of any other cross, but of the suffering which
He should Himself undergo first, and His disciples after-
wards. For this purpose did He give them this exhortation :
" Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill
the soul ; but rather fear Him wdio is able to send both soul
and body into hell ;" " [thus exhorting them] to hold fast
those professions of faith which they had made in reference to
Him. For He promised to confess before His Father those
w^ho should confess His name before men ; but declared that
He would deny those wdio should deny Him, and would
be ashamed of those who should be ashamed to confess
Him. And although these things are so, some of these men
have proceeded to such a degree of temerity, that they even
pour contempt upon the martyrs, and vituperate those who
are slain on account of the confession of the Lord, and who
suffer all things predicted by the Lord, and who in this
respect strive to follow the footprints of the Lord's passion,
having become martyrs of the suffering One ; these we do
also enrol with the martyrs themselves. For, when inquisi-
tion shall be made for their blood,* and they shall attain to
glory, then all shall be confounded by Christ, who have cast
a slur upon their martyrdom. And from this fact, that He
exclaimed upon the cross, " Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do," ^ the long-suffering, patience, com-
passion, and goodness of Christ are exhibited, since He both
suffered, and did Himself exculpate those who had maltreated
1 Matt, xxiii. 24 2 ^^tt. x. 17, 18. s 2,fatt x. 28.
* Ps. ix. 12. ^ Luke xxiii. 34.
342 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book hi.
Him. For the Word of God, who said to us, " Love your
enemies, and pray for those that hate you,"^ Himself did this
very thing upon the cross ; loving the human race to such a
degree, tliat He even prayed for those putting Him to death.
If, however, any one, going upon the supposition that there are
two[Christs], forms a judgment in regard to them, that [Christ]
shall be found much the better one, and more patient, and the
truly good one, who, in the midst of His own wounds and
stripes, and the other [cruelties] inflicted upon Him, was bene-
ficent, and unmindful of the wrongs perpetrated upon Him,
than he who flew away, and sustained neither injury nor insult.
C. This also does likewise meet [the case] of those who
maintain that He suffered only in appearance. For if He
did not truly suffer, no thanks to Him, since there was no
suffering at all ; and when we shall actually begin to suffer,
He will seem as leading us astray, exhorting us to endure
buffeting, and to turn the other ^ cheek, if He did not Him-
self before us in reality suffer the same ; and as Pie misled
them by seeming to them what He was not, so does He also
mislead us, by exhorting us to endure what He did not
endure Himself. [In that case] we shall be even above the
Master, because we suffer and sustain what our Master never
bore or endured. But as our Lord is alone truly Master, so
the Son of God is truly good and patient, the Word of God
the Father havinfij been made the Son of man. For He
fought and conquered ; for He was man contending for the
fathers,^ and through obedience doing away with disobe-
dience completely : for He bound the strong man,'^ and set
free the weak, and endowed His own handiwork with salva-
tion, by destroying sin. For He is a most holy and merciful
Lord, and loves the human race.
7. Therefore, as I have already said. He caused man
(human nature) to cleave to and to become one with God.
1 Matt. V. 44. ■■ Matt. v. 39.
^ '■'■Pro patrihus, duri rZu ■TrxrpZv. The reader will here observe the
clear statement of the doctrine of the atonement, -whereby alone sin is
done away." — Harvey.
* Matt. xii. 29.
Book hi.] IUENJEUS AGAINST IIEPcESIES. 343
For unless man had overcome the enemy of man, the enemy
would not have been legitimately vanquished. And again :
unless it had been God who had freely given salvation, we
could never have possessed it securely. And unless man had
been joined to God, he could never have become a partaker of
incorruptibility. For it was incumbent upon the Mediator be-
tween God and men, by His relationship to both, to bring both
to friendship and concord, and present man to God, while
He revealed God to man.^ For, in what way could we be
partakers of the adoption of sons, unless we had received
from Plim through the Son that fellowship which refers to
Himself, unless His Word, having been made flesh, had
entered into communion with us ? Wherefore also He passed
through every stage of life, restoring to all communion with
God. Those, therefore, who assert that He appeared puta-
tively, and was neither born in the flesh nor truly made man,
are as yet under the old condemnation, holding out patronage
to sin ; for, by their showing, death has not been vanquished,
which "reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had
not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transm'ession."' But
the law coming, which was given by Moses, and testifying
of sin that it is a sinner, did truly take away his (death's)
kingdom, showing that he was no king, but a robber ; and it
revealed him as a murderer. It laid, however, a weighty
burden upon man, who had sin in himself, showing that he
was liable to death. For as the law was spiritual, it merely
made sin to stand out in relief, but did not destroy it. For
sin had no dominion over the spirit, but over man. For it
behoved Him who was to destroy sin, and redeem man under
the power of death, that He should Himself be made that
very same thing which he was, that is, man ; who had been
drawn by sin into bondage, but was held by death, so that sin
should be destroyed by man, and man should go forth from
death. For as by the disobedience of the one man who was
^ The Latin text, " et faccre, ut et Dciis assiimcrct hominem, et homo
sc dcderet Deo/' here differs -widely from the Greek preserved by Theo-
doret. "We have followed the latter, which is preferred by all the editors.
- Horn. V. 14.
344 IRENJEUS AGAINST HEUESIES. [Book hi.
originally moulded from virgin soil, the many were made
sinners/ and forfeited life ; so was it necessary that, by the
obedience of one man, who was originally born from a virgin,
many should be justified and receive salvation. Thus, then,
was the Word of God made man, as also Moses says : " God,
true are His works." ^ But if, not having been made flesh,
He did appear as if flesh. His work was not a true one. But
what He did appear, that He also was : God recapitulated in
Himself the ancient formation of man, that He mirrht kill
sin, deprive death of its power, and vivify man ; and there-
fore His works are true.
Chap. xix. — Jesus Christ icas not a mere man, begotten from
Joseph in the ordinary course of nature, hut was very
God, begotten of the Father Most High, and very man,
horn of the Virgin,
1. But again, those who assert that He was simply a mere
man, begotten by Joseph, remaining in the bondage of the
old disobedience, are in a state of death ; having been not as
yet joined to the Word of God the Father, nor receiving
liberty through the Son, as He does Himself declare : " If
the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." ^ But,
beinfij iornorant of Him Avho from the Yirnrin is Emmanuel,
they are deprived of His gift, which is eternal life ;* and not
receiving the incorruptible Word, they remain in mortal flesh,
and are debtors to death, not obtaining the antidote of life.
To whom the Word says, mentioning His own gift of grace :
" I said, Ye are all the sons of the Highest, and gods ; but ye
shall die like men." " He speaks undoubtedly these words to
those who have not received the gift of adoption, but who
despise the incarnation of the pure generation of the Word
of God,^ defraud human nature of promotion into God,
^ Eom. V. 19. 2 Deut. xxxii. 4. ^ John viii. 36.
* Rom. vi. 23. * Ps. Ixxxii. 6, 7.
* The original Greek is preserved here by Theodoret, differing in some
respects from the old Latin version : Kot,] clTroaTipovyrx; rov oiudpuTrov tyis
us Qiov duohov ku,\ oi-jCccpKiTov'jrocg ra v-^rip uvruv Gccp>co)$iprt ?^0'/o} tou
I
Book hi.] IRENJEVS AGAINST HERESIES, 345.
and prove themselves ungrateful to the Word of God, who
became flesh for tliem. For it was for this end that the
Word of God was made man, and He Avho was the Son of
God became the Son of man, that man, having been taken
into the Word, and receiving the adoption, might become the
son of God. For by no other means could we have attained to
incorruptibility and immortality, unless we had been united to
incorruptibility and immortality. But how could we be joined
to incorruptibility and immortality, unless, first, incorrupti-
bility and immortality had become that which we also are, so
that the corruptible might be swallowed up by incorruptibility,
and the mortal by immortality, that we might receive the adop-
tion of sons ?
2. For this reason [it is said], " Who shall declare His
generation ? " ^ since '' He is a man, and who shall recognise
Him?"'"^ But he to whom the Father which is in heaven
has revealed Him,^ knows Him, so that he understands that
Pie who " was not born either by the will of the flesh, or by
the will of man," ^ is the Son of man, this is Christ, the Son
of the living God. For I have shown from the Scripture?,'
that no one of the sons of Adam is as to everything, and
absolutely, called God, or named Lord. But that He is Him-
self in His own right, beyond all men who ever lived, God,
and Lord, and King Eternal, and the Incaraate Word, pro-
claimed by all the prophets, the apostles, and by the Spirit
Himself, may be seen by all who have attained to even a
small portion of the truth. Now, the Scriptures would not
have testified these things of Him, if, like all others, He had
been a mere man. But that He had, beyond all others, in
Himself that pre-eminent birth which is from the Most
High Father, and also experienced that pre-eminent genera-
Ssou. EiV royro yoip 6 Ao'yo? oi'j^cuTro; . . . luce 6 oiv&qciTog rov y.oyov
y^upvicrotg^ kccI T7iu vicSialccv T^cciSuu, viog yiuy-oci Qiov. The old T.atin runs
thus : '' fraudaiites homincni ab ea ascensionc quae est ad Dominum, et
ingrate exsistcntes Verbo Dei, qui incaruatus est propter ipsos. Propter
hoc cniin Yerbum Dei homo, et qui Filius Dei est, Filius Homiuis factus
est . . . comuiixtus Verbo Dei, et adoptionem percipiens fiat filius Dei."
1 Isa. liii. 8. -' Jer. xvii. 9. s ;^^^tfc^ ^^ 16^
* John i. 13. ^ See above, iii. 6.
346 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
tion which is from the Virgin/ the divine Scriptures do in
both respects testify of Him : also, that He was a man
without comeHness, and liable to suffering ;'^ that He sat
upon the foal of an ass;'^ that He received for drink, vinegar _
and gall ; ^ that He was despised among the people, and
humbled Himself even to death ; and that He is the holy
Lord, the AYonderful, the Counsellor, the Beautiful in ap-
pearance, and the Mighty God,^ coming on the clouds as the
Judge of all men ; ^ — all these things did the Scriptures pro-
phesy of Him.
3. For as He became man in order to undergo temptation,
so also was He the Word that He might be glorified ; the
Word remaining quiescent, that He might be capable of
being tempted, dishonoured, crucified, and of suffering death,
but the human nature being swallowed up in it (the divine),
when it conquered, and endured [without yielding], and per-
formed acts of kindness, and rose again, and was received up
[into heaven]. He therefore, the Son of God, our Lord,
being the Word of the Father, and the Son of man, since
He had a generation as to His human nature from Mary —
who was descended from mankind, and who was herself a
human beinfT — was made the Son of man." Wherefore also
the Lord Himself gave us a sign, in the depth below^, and in
the height above, which man did not ask for, because he
never expected that a virgin could conceive, or that it was
possible that one remaining a virgin could bring forth a son,
and that what was thus born should be " God ivith us,^^ and
descend to those things which are of the earth beneath,
seeking the sheep which had perished, which was indeed
His own peculiar handiwork, and ascend to the height above,
offerin^c and commendin^r to His Father that human nature
(Jiojninem) which had been found, making in His own
person the first-fruits of the resurrection of man ; that, as
the Head rose from the dead, so also the remaining part of
the body — [namely, the body] of every man who is found in
life — when the time is fulfilled of that condemnation which
^ Isa. vii. 14. - Isa. liii. 2. ^ Zgch. ix. 9. ^ Ps. Ixix. 21.
* Isa. ix. 6. 6 Pan. vii. 13. ^ Isa. vii. 13.
Book hi.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 347
existed by reason of disobedience, may arise, blended together
and strengthened through means of joints and bands ^ by the
increase of God, each of the members having its own proper
and fit position in the body. For there are many mansions
in the Father's house," inasmuch as there are also many
members in the body.
Chap. xx. — God sJiowed Himself, hy the fall of man, as
2:>atienty benign, mercifid, mighty to save. Man is there-
fore most iingratefid, if, unmindful of Ids own lot, and
of the benefits held out to him, he do not acknowledge
divine grace,
1. Lono:-sufferino: therefore was God, when man became a
defaulter, as foreseeing that victory which should be granted
to him through the Word. For, when strength was made
perfect in weakness,^ it showed the kindness and transcendent
power of God. For as He patiently suffered Jonah to be
swallowed by the whale, not that he should be swallowed up
and perish altogether, but that, having been cast out again,
he might be the more subject to God, and might glorify
Plim the more who had conferred upon him such an unhoped-
for deliverance, and miiiht brino; the Ninevites to a lastino;
repentance, so that they should be converted to the Lord,
who would deliver them from death, having been struck
with awe by that portent which had been wrought in Jonah's
case, as the Scripture says of them, " And they returned
each from his evil way, and the unrighteousness which was in
their hands, saying. Who knoweth if God will repent, and
turn away His anger from us, and we shall not perish?""* — so
also, from the beginning, did God permit man to be swallowed
up by the great whale, who was the author of transgression,
not that he should perish altogether when so engulphed ; but,
arranging and preparing the plan of salvation, which was
accomplished by the Word, through the sign of Jonah, for
those who held the same opinion as Jonah regarding the
Lord, and who confessed, and said, " I am a servant of the
1 Epb. iv. IG. 2 joi^ xiv. 2. ^ o Cor. xii. 9. •• Jonah iii. 8, 9.
348 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, [Book hi.
Lord, and I worship the Lord God of heaven, who hath
made the sea and the dry land." ^ [This was done] that man,
receiving an unhoped-for salvation from God, might rise
from the dead, and glorify God, and repeat that word which
was uttered in prophecy by Jonah : " I cried by reason of
mine affliction to the Lord my God, and He heard me out of
the belly of hell;"^ and that he might always continue glo-
rifying God, and giving thanks without ceasing, for that
salvation w^hich he has derived from Him, " that no flesh
should glory in the Lord's presence;"^ and that man should
never adopt an opposite opinion wdth regard to God, suppos-
ing that the incorruptibility which belongs to him is his own
naturally, and by thus not holding the truth, should boast
with empty superciliousness, as if he w^ere naturally like to
God. For he (Satan) thus rendered him (man) more un-
grateful tow^ards his Creator, obscured the love which God
had towards man, and blinded his mind not to perceive what
is worthy of God, comparing himself with, and judging
himself equal to, God.
2. This, therefore, was the [object of the] long-suffering of
God, that man, passing through all things, and acquiring the
knowledo:e of moral discinline, then attainincy to the resurrec-
tion from the dead, and learning by experience what is the
source of his deliverance, may always live in a state of grati-
tude to the Lord, having obtained from Him the gift of
incorruptibility, that he might love Him the more ; for " he
to w^hom more is formven, loveth more :"* and that he mav
know himself, how mortal and weak he is ; while he also
understands respecting God, that He is immortal and power-
ful to such a degree as to confer immortality upon what is
mortal, and eternity upon w^hat is temporal ; and may under-
stand also the other attributes of God displayed towards
himself, by means of which being instructed he may think of
God in accordance with the divine greatness. For the glory
of man [is] God, but [His] works [are the glory] of God;
and the receptacle of all His wisdom and power [is] man.
Just as the physician is proved by his patients, so is God also
^ Jonah i. 9. ^ jo^ali ii. 2. ^l Cor. i. 29. ^ Luke vii. 43.
Book hi.] IRENJEVS A GAINST HERESIES. 349
revealed tliroufrh men. And therefore Paul declares, " For
God hath concluded all in unbelief, that He may have mercy
upon all;"^ not saying this in reference to spiritual -^ons,
but to man, who had been disobedient to God, and being
cast off from immortality, then obtained mercy, receiving
through the Son of God that adoption which is [accomplished]
by Himself. For he who holds, without pride, and boasting,
the true glory (opinion) regarding created things and the
Creator, who is the Almighty God of all, and who has granted
existence to all; [such an one,] continuing in His love^ and
subjection, and giving of thanks, shall also receive from Him
the greater glory of promotion,^ looking forward to the time
when he shall become like Him who died for him, for He, too,
" was made in the likeness of sinful flesh," ^ to condemn sin,
and to cast it, as now a condemned thing, away beyond the
flesh, but that He might call man forth into His own like-
ness, assigning him as [His own] imitator to God, and impos-
ing on him His Father's law, in order that he may see God,
and granting him power to receive the Father; [being] '^ the
Word of God who dwelt in man, and became the Son of man,
that He might accustom man to receive God, and God to
dwell in man, according to the good pleasure of the Father.
3. On this account, therefore, the Lord Plimself,^ who is
Emmanuel from the Virgin,^ is the sign of our salvation,
since it was the Lord Himself who saved them, because they
could not be saved by their own instrumentality ; and, there-
fore, when Paul sets forth human infirmity, he says : " For I
know that there dwelleth in my flesh no good thing," ^ show-
1 Rom. xi. 32. - John xv. 9.
3 " Provectus." This word has not a little perplexed the editors. Grabe
regards it as bciiig the participle., !Massuet the accusative plural of the
noiiu, and Harvey tlie genitive singular. We have doubtfully followed
the latter.
* Rom. viii. 3.
^ The punctuation and exact meaning arc very uncertain.
^' The construction and sense of this passage are disputed. Grabe,
Massuet, and Harvey, all take different views of it. "We have followed
the rendering proposed by Massuet.
' Isa. vii. 4. s i^om, y[i ig.
350 lEENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES, [Book iir.
ing that the " good thing" of our salvation is not from us,
but from God. And ao:ain : " Wretched man that I am,
who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? " ^ Then
he introduces tlie Deliverer, [saying,] " The grace of Jesus
Christ our Lord." And Isaiah declares this also, [when he
says :] " Be ye strengthened, ye hands that hang down, and
ye feeble knees ; be ye encouraged, ye feeble-minded ; be
comforted, fear not : behold, our God has given judgment
with retribution, and shall recompense : He will come Him-
self, and will save us."^ Here we see, that not by ourselves,
but by the help of God, we must be saved.
4. Again, that it should not be a mere man who should
save us, nor [one] without flesh — for the angels are without
flesh — [the same prophet] announced, saying : " Neither an
elder,^ nor angel, but the Lord Himself will save them,
because He loves them, and will spare them : He will Him-
self set them free."^ And that He should Himself become
very man, visible, when He should be the Word giving sal-
vation, Isaiah again says : " Behold, city of Zion : thine
eyes shall see our salvation." ^ And that it was not a mere
man who died for us, Isaiah says : " And the holy Lord
remembered His dead Israel, who had slept in the land of
sepulture ; and He came down to preach His salvation to
them, that He might save them."^ And Amos (Micah) the
prophet declares the same : " He will turn again, and will
have compassion upon us : He will destroy our iniquities,
and will cast our sins into the depths of the sea."^ And
^ Rom. vii. 24. " Isa. xxv. 3.
2 Grabe remarks that the word "^psa/ivs^ here translated " senior," seems
rather to denote a mediator or messenger.
* Isa. Ixiii. 9. ^ Isa. xxxiii. 20.
^ Irenseus quotes this as from Isaiah on the present occasion ; but in
book iv. 22, 1, we find him referring the same passage to Jeremiah. It
is somewhat remarkable that it is to be found in neither prophet, although
Justin Martyr, in his dialogue with Trypho (see vol. ii. of this series, p.
189), brings it forward as an argument against him, and directly accuses
the Jews of having fraudulently removed it from the sacred text. It is,
however, to be found in no ancient version or Jewish Targum, which
fact may be regarded as a decisive proof of its spuriousness.
'' Mic. vii. 9.
Book III.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES, 351
again, specifying the place of His advent, he says : " The
Lord hath spoken from Zion, and He has uttered His voice
from Jerusalem." ^ And that it is from that region which is
towards the south of the inheritance of Judah that the Son
of God shall come, who is God, and who was from Beth-
lehem, where the Lord was born, [and] will send out His
praise through all the earth, thus^ says the prophet Habakkuk:
" God shall come from the south, and the Holy One from
Mount Effrem. His power covered the heavens over, and
the earth is full of His praise. Before His face shall go
forth the Word, and His feet shall advance in the plains."^
Thus he indicates in clear terms that He is God, and that His
advent was [to take place] in Bethlehem, and from Mount
Effrem, which is towards the south of the inheritance, and
that [He is] man. For he says, ^'His feet shall advance in
the plains :" and this is an indication proper to man.*
Chap. xxi. — A vindication of the propliecy in Isaiah (vii. 14)
against the misinterpretations of Theodotion^ Aquila, the
Ehlonites, and the Jews, Authority of the Septuagint ver-
sion. Arguments in proof that Christ ivas horn of a virgin,
1. God, then, was made man, and the Lord did Himself
save us, giving us the token of the Virgin. But not as some
allege, among those now presuming to expound the Scrip-
ture, [thus :] " Behold, a young woman shall conceive, and
bring forth a son,"^ as Theodotion the Ephesian has inter-
nreted, and Aquila of Pontus," both JcNvish proselytes. The
^ Joel iii. IG ; Amos i. 2.
2 As Massuct observes, -we must either expunge " sicut" coltogether, or
read " sic" as above.
3 Hab. iii. 3, 5.
* This quotation from Habakkuk, hero commented on by Ircnseus,
difTcrs both from the Hebrew and the LXX., and comes nearest to the
old Italic version of the passage.
^ Isa. vii. 14.
^ Epiphanius, in his Dc Mensuris^ gives an account of these two men.
The foriuor published his version of the Old Testament in the year 181.
The latter put forth his translation half a century earlier, about 129 a.d
352 IUENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book hi.
EbioniteSj following these, assert that He was begotten by
Joseph ; thus destroying, as far as in them lies, such a mar-
vellous dispensation of God, and setting aside the testimony
of the prophets which proceeded from God. For truly this
prediction was uttered before the removal of the people to
Babylon ; that is, anterior to the supremacy acquired by the
Medes and Persians. But it was interpreted into Greek by
the Jews themselves, much before the period of our Lord's
advent, that there might remain no suspicion that perchance
the Jews, complying with our humour, did put this interpre-
tation upon these words. They indeed, had they been cog-
nizant of our future existence, and that we should use these
proofs from the Scriptures, w^ould themselves never have
hesitated to burn their own Scriptures, which do declare that
all other nations partake of [eternal] life, and show that they
who boast themselves as being the house of Jacob and the
people of Israel, are disinherited from the grace of God.
2. For before the Romans possessed their kingdom,^ while
as yet the Macedonians held Asia, Ptolemy the son of Lagus,
being anxious to adorn the library which he had founded in
Alexandria with a collection of the writings of all men, which
were [works] of merit, made request to the people of Jeru-
salem, that they should have their Scriptures translated into
the Greek language. And they — for at that time they were
still subject to the Macedonians — sent to Ptolemy seventy of
their elders, who were thoroughly skilled in the Scriptures
and in both the languages, to carry out what he had desired.^
But he, wishing to test them individually, and fearing lest
This reference to the version of Theodotion furnishes a note of date as to
the time when Irenaeus published his work : it must have been subse-
quently to A.D. 181.
^ The Greek text here is, Kourvvxi rr,i> dp-^cyiv uvtuv, translated into
Latin by " possiderent regnum suum," — words which are somewhat
ambiguous in both languages. Massuet remarks, that "regnum eorum'''
would have been a better rendering, referring the words to the Jews.
- The Greek text of this narrative has been preserved by Eusebius
{Hist. Eccl. V. 8). Grabe considers it to be faulty in this passage ; so
the Latin translation has been adopted here. Eusebius has 'TrotviactuTog
Toy 0£oy oVgjo ifiov'hSTO — God having accomplished what He intended.
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 353
they might perchance, by taking counsel together, conceal
the truth in the Scriptures, by their interpretation, separated
them from each other, and commanded them all to write the
same translation. He did this with respect to all the books.
But when they came together in the same place before Ptolemy,
and each of them compared his own interpretation with that
of every other, God was indeed glorified, and the Scriptures
were acknowledged as truly divine. For all of them read
out the common translation [which they had prepared] in the
very same words and the very same names, from beginning
to end, so that even the Gentiles present perceived that the
Scriptures had been interpreted b}^ the inspiration of God.
And there was nothino; astonishino; in God haviu^j done this,
— He who, when, during the captivity of the people under
Nebuchadnezzar, the Scriptures had been corrupted, and
when, after seventy years, the Jews had returned to their
own land, then, in the times of Artaxerxes king of the
Persians, inspired Esdras the priest, of the tribe of Levi, to
recast^ all the words of the former prophets, and to re-establish
with the people the Mosaic legislation.
3. Since, therefore, the Scriptures have been interpreted
with such fidelity, and by the grace of God, and since from
these God has prepared and formed again our faith towards
His Son, and has preserved to us the unadulterated Scriptures
in Egypt, where the house of Jacob flourished, fleeing from
the famine in Canaan ; where also our Lord was preserved
when He fled from the persecution set on foot by Herod; and
[since] this interpretation of these Scriptures was made prior
to our Lord's descent [to earth], and came into being before
the Christians appeared — for our Lord was born about the
forty-first year of the reign of Augustus ; but Ptolemy was
much earlier, under whom the Scriptures were interpreted ;
—[since these things are so, I say,] truly these men arc
proved to be impudent and presumptuous, who would now
show a desire to make different translations, when we refute
them out of these Scriptures, and shut them up to a belief
^ The Greek tenn is duxrcc^xa&xi, which the Latiu renders " rememo-
rare," but Massuet prefers " digerere."
Z
351 IRENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book in.
in the advent of the Son of God. But our faith is stedfast,
unfeigned, and the only true one, having clear proof from
these Scriptures, which were interpreted in the way I have
related ; and the preaching of the church is without inter-
polation. For the apostles, since they are of more ancient
date than all these [heretics], agree with this aforesaid trans-
lation ; and the translation harmonizes with the tradition of
the apostles. For Peter, and John, and Matthew, and Paul,
and the rest successively, as well as their followers, did set
forth all prophetical [announcements], just as^ the interpreta-
tion of the elders contains them.
4. For the one and the same Spirit of God, who pro-
claimed by the prophets what and of what sort the advent of
the Lord should be, did by these elders give a just interpreta-
tion of what had been truly prophesied ; and He did Himself,
by the apostles, announce that the fulness of the times of the
adoption had arrived, that the kingdom of heaven had drawn
nigh, and that He was dwelling within those that believe on
Him who was born Emmanuel of the Virgin. To this effect
they testify, [saying,] that before Joseph had come together
with Mary, while she therefore remained in virginity, " she was
found with child of the Holy Ghost ;"^ and that the angel
Gabriel said unto her, " The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee ;
therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God ;"^ and that the angel said to
Joseph in a dream, " Now this was done, that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, Behold, a
virgin shall be with child." ^ But the elders have thus
interpreted what Esaias said : " And the Lord, moreover,
said unto Ahaz, Ask for thyself a sign from the Lord thy
God out of the depth below, or from the height above.
^ This is a very interesting passage, as bearing on the question, From
what source are the quotations made by the writers of the New Testa-
ment derived ? Massuet, indeed, argues that it is of little or no weight
in the controversy ; but the passage speaks for itself. Comp. Dr. Roberts*
Discussions on the Gospels, part i. ch. iv. and vii.
2 Matt. i. 18. 3 Luke i. 35. * Matt. i. 23.
Book til] IEENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 355
And Aliaz said, I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord.
And lie said, It is not a small thing ^ for you to weary men ;
and how does the Lord weary them ? Therefore the Lord
Himself shall give you a sign ; Behold, a virgin shall conceive,
and bear a son ; and ye shall call His name Emmanuel.
Butter and honey shall He eat : before He knows or chooses
out things that are evil, He shall exchange them for what is
good ; for before the child knows good or evil, He shall not
consent to evil, that He may choose that which is good."^
Carefully, then, has the Holy Ghost pointed out, by what has
been said. His birth from a virgin, and His essence, that He
is God (for the name Emmanuel indicates this). And He
shows that He is a man, when He says, '' Butter and honey
shall He eat;" and in that He- terms Him a child also, [in
saying,] " before He knows good and evil ;" for these are all
the tokens of a human infant. But that He " will not con-
sent to evil, that He may choose that which is good," — this is
proper to God ; that by the fact, that He shall eat butter and
honey, we should not understand that He is a mere man
only, nor, on the other hand, from the name Emmanuel,
should suspect Him to be God without flesh.
5. And when He says, " Plear, O house of David," ^ He
performed the part of one indicating that He whom God
promised David that He would raise up from the fruit of
his belly (ventris) an eternal King, is the same who was born
of the Viro;in, herself of the lineao;e of David. For on this
account also. He promised that the King should be " of the
fruit of his belli/" which was the appropriate [term to use
with respect] to a virgin conceiving, and not " of the fruit of
his loins" nor '^ of the fruit of his reins" which expression is
appropriate to a generating man, and a woman conceiving by
a man. In this promise, therefore, the Scripture excluded
all virile influence ; yet it certainly is not mentioned that He
who was bom was not from the will of man. But it has
i fixed and established " the fruit of the belly" that it might
^ We here read "non pusillum" for "num pusillum," as in some texts.
Cyprian and Tertullian confirm the former reading.
2 Isa. vii. 10-17. s Isa. vii. 13.
356 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
declare the generation of Him who should be [born] from
the Virgin, as Elisabeth testified when filled Avith the Holy
Ghost, saying to Mary, " Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy belly ;" ^ the Holy Ghost
pointing out to those willing to hear, that the promise which
God had made, of raising up a King from the fruit of
[David's] belly, was fulfilled in the birth from the Virgin,
that is, from Mary. Let those, therefore, who alter the
passage of Isaiah thus, " Behold, a young w'oman shall con-
ceive," and who will have Him to be Joseph's son, also alter
the form of the promise which was given to David, when
God promised him to raise up, from the fruit of his belly,
the horn of Christ the King. But they did not understand,
otherwise they would have presumed to alter even this pas-
sasje also.
6. But what Isaiah said, " From the height above, or from
the depth beneath," - w^as meant to indicate, that " He who
descended was the same also who ascended." ^ But in this
that he said, " The Lord Himself shall give you a sign," he
declared an unlooked-for thing with regard to His generation,
which could have been accomplished in no other way than
by God the Lord of all, God Himself giving a sign in the
house of David. For what 2;reat thins; or what sio-n should
have been in this, that a young woman conceiving by a man
should bring forth, — a thing which happens to all women that
produce offspring? But since an unlooked-for salvation
was to be provided for men through the help of God, so also
w^as the unlooked-for birth from a virgin accomplished ; God
ijfivincp this sii^n, but man not workino^ it out.
7. On this account also, Daniel,* foreseeing His advent,
said that a stone, cut out without hands, came into this
world. For this is what " w^ithout hands " means, that His
coming into this world was not by the operation of human
liands, that is, of those men who are accustomed to stone-
cutting ; that is, Joseph taking no part with regard to it, but
Mary alone co-operating with the pre-arranged plan. For
this stone from the earth derives existence from both the
1 Luke i. 42. ' Isa. vii. 11. ^ Eph. iv. 10. ^ Dan. ii. 34.
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. Z'ol
power and the wisdom of God. Wherefore also Isaiah says:
" Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I deposit in the foundations
of Zion a stone, precious, elect, the chief, the corner-one, to
he had in honour."^ So, then, we understand that His
advent in human nature was not by the will of a man, but
by the will of God.
8. Wherefore also Moses giving a type, cast his rod upon
the carth,^ in order that it, by becoming flesh, might expose
and swallow up all the opposition of the Egyptians, which
was lifting itself up against the pre-arranged plan of God f
that the Egyptians themselves might testify that it is the
finger of God which works salvation for the people, and not
the son of Joseph. For if He were the son of Joseph, how
could He be greater than Solomon, or greater than Jonah,*
or greater than David,^ when He was generated from the
same seed, and was a descendant of these men ? And how
was it that He also pronounced Peter blessed, because he
acknowledtred Him to be the Son of the livin<T God ? ^
9. But besides, if indeed He had been the son of Joseph,
He could not, according to Jeremiah, be either king or heir.
For Joseph is shown to be the son of Joachim and Jechoniah,
as also Matthew sets forth in his pedigree.^ But Jechoniah,
and all his posterity, were disinherited from the kingdom ;
Jeremiah thus declaring, " As I live, saith the Lord, if
Jechoniah the son of Joachim king of Judah had been made
the signet on my right hand, I would pluck him thence,
and deliver him into the hand of those seeking thy life." "^
And again : " Jechoniah is dishonoured as a useless vessel,
for he has been cast into a land which he knew not. Earth,
hear the word of the Lord: AVrite this man a disinherited
person ; for none of his seed, sitting on the throne of David,
shall prosper, or be a prince in Judah." ^ And again, God
speaks of Joachim his father : " Therefore thus saith the
Lord concerning Joachim his father, king of Judea, There
shall be from him none sitting upon the throne of David :
1 Isa. xxviii. IG. " Ex. vii. 9. ^ Ex. viii. 19.
^ Matt. xii. 41, 42. « iMatt. xxii. 43. e Matt. xvi. 17.
y Matt. i. 12-lG. ^- Jer. xxii. 24, 25. » Jer. xxii. 28, etc.
358 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
and his dead body shall be cast out in the heat of day, and in
the frost of night. And I will look upon him, and upon his
sons, and will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, upon the land of Judah, all the evils that I
have pronounced against them." -^ Those, therefore, who say-
that He was begotten of Joseph, and that they have hope in
Him, do cause themselves to be disinherited from the king-
dom, falliniT under the curse and rebuke directed af^ainst
Jechoniah and his seed. Because for this reason have these
things been spoken concerning Jechoniah, the [Holy] Spirit
foreknowing the doctrines of the evil teachers ; that they
may learn that from his seed — that is, from Joseph — He was
not to be born, but that, according to the promise of God,
from David's belly the King eternal is raised up, who sums
up all things in Himself, and has gathered into Himself the
ancient formation [of man].^
10. For as by one man's disobedience sin entered, and
death obtained [a place] through sin ; so also by the obedience
of one man, righteousness having been introduced, shall cause
life to fructify in those persons who in times past were
dead.^ And as the protoplast himself, Adam, had his sub-
stance from untilled and as vet virgin soil (" for God had
not yet sent rain, and man had not tilled the ground" ^), and
was formed by the hand of God, that is, by the Word of God,
for " all things were made by Him," ^ and the Lord took
dust from the earth and formed man ; so did He who is the
Word, recapitulating Adam in Himself, rightly receive a
birth, enabling Him to gather up Adam [into Himself], from
Mary, who was as yet a virgin. If, then, the first Adam had
a man for his father, and was born of human seed, it were
reasonable to say that the second Adam was begotten of
Joseph. But if the former was taken from the dust, and
God was his maker, it was incumbent that the latter also,
making a recapitulation in Himself, should be formed as
man by God, to have an analogy with the former as respects
1 Jer. xxxvi. 30, 31.
2 Harvey prefixes this last clause to tlie following section.
3 Eom. v. 19. * Gen. ii. 5. ^ John i. 3.
Book hi.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 359
His origin. Why, then, did not God again take dust, but
wrought so that the formation should be made of Mary ?
It was that tliere might not be another formation called into
being, nor any other which should [require to] be saved, but
that the very same formation should be summed up [in
Christ as had existed in Adam], the analogy having been
preserved.
CllAP. XXII. — Christ assumed actual fleslij conceived and horn
of the Virgin,
1. Those, therefore, wdio allege that He took nothing from
the Virgin do greatly err, [since,] in order that they may cast
away the inheritance of the flesh, they also reject the analogy
[between Him and Adam]. For if the one [who sprang]
from the earth had indeed formation and substance from both
the hand and workmanship of God, but the other not from
the hand and workmanship of God, then He who "was made
after the image and likeness of the former did not, in that
case, preserve the analogy of man, and He must seem an
inconsistent piece of Avork, not having wherewith He may
show His wisdom. But this is to say, that He also appeared
putatively as man when He was not man, and that He was
made man while taking nothing from man. For if He did
not receive the substance of flesh from a human being. He
neither w^as made man nor the Son of man ; and if He was
not made what we were. He did no great thing in what He
suffered and endured. But every one will allow that we are
[composed of] a body taken from the earth, and a soul receiv-
ing spirit from God. This, therefore, the Word of God was
made, recapitulating in Himself His owti handiwork; and
on this account does He confess Himself the Son of man, and
blesses " the meek, because they shall inherit the earth." ^
The Apostle Paul, moreover, in the Epistle to the Galatians,
declares plainly, "God sent His Son, made of a woman.""
And again, in that to the Eomans, he says, "Concerning His
Son, who was made of the seed of David according to the
1 Matt. V. 5. 2 Gal. iv. 4.
360 IIlENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
flesli, who was predestinated as the Son of God with power,
according to the spirit of hoHness, by the resurrection from
the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord."^
2.^ Superfluous, too, in that case is His descent into Mary ;
for why did He come down into her if He were to take
nothing of her ? Still further, if He had taken nothing of
Mary, He would never have availed Himself of those kinds
of food which are derived from the earth, by which that body
which has been taken from the earth is nourished ; nor
would He have hungered, fasting those forty days, like Moses
and Elias, unless His body was craving after its own proper
nourishment ; nor, again, would John His disciple have said,
w^hen writing of Him, " But Jesus, being wearied with the
journey, was sitting [to rest] ;"^ nor would David have pro-
claimed of Him beforehand, " They have added to the grief
of my w^ounds ; " ^ nor would He have wept over Lazarus,
nor have sweated great drops of blood ; nor have declared,
"My soul is exceeding sorrowful;"^ nor, when His side was
pierced, would there have come forth blood and water. For
all these are tokens of the flesh which had been derived
from the earth, which He had recapitulated in Himself,
bearing salvation to His own handiwork.
3. Wherefore Luke points out that the pedigree which
traces the generation of our Lord back to Adam contains
seventy-two generations, connecting the end with the begin-
ning, and implying that it is He who has summed up in
Himself all nations dispersed from Adam downwards, and
all languages and generations of men, together with Adam
himself. Hence also was Adam himself termed by Paul "the
figure of Him that was to come,'"^ because the Word, the
Maker of all things, had formed beforehand for Himself the
1 Eom. i. 3, 4.
2 In addition to the Greek text preserved by Theodoret in this place,
"\ve have for some way a Syriac translation, differing slightly from both
Greek and Latin. It seems, however, to run smoother than either, and
has therefore been followed by us.
3 John iv. 6. ^ Ps. Ixix. 27.
« Matt. xxvi. 38 ^ Rom. v. 14.
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 3G1
future dispensation of the human race, connected with the
Son of God ; God having predestined that the first man
should be of an animal nature, with this view, that he might
be saved by the spiritual One. For inasmuch as He had a
pre-existence as a saving Being, it was necessary that what
might be saved should also be called into existence, in order
that the Being who saves should not exist in vain.
4. In accordance with this design, Mary the Virgin is
found obedient, saying, " Behold the handmaid of the Lord ;
be it unto me according to thy word."^ But Eve was dis-
obedient ; for she did not obey when as yet she was a virgin.
And even as she, having indeed a husband, Adam, but being
nevertheless as yet a virgin (for in Paradise " they were both
naked, and were not ashamed,"^ inasmuch as they, having
been created a short time previously, had no understanding
of the procreation of children : for it was necessary that
they should first come to adult age,^ and then multiply from
that time onward), having become disobedient, was made the
cause of death, both to herself and to' the entire human race;
so also did Mary, having a man betrothed [to her], and being
nevertheless a virgin, by yielding obedience, become the cause
of salvation, both to herself and the whole human race. And
on this account does the law term a woman betrothed to a
man, the wife of him who had betrothed her, although she
was as yet a virgin ; thus indicating the back-reference from
^lary to Eve, because what is joined together could not other-
wise be put asunder than by an inversion of the process by
which these bonds of union had arisen ; "* so that the former
ties be cancelled by the latter, that the latter may set the
former again at liberty. And it has, in fact, happened that
the first compact looses from the second tie, but that the
second tie takes the position of the first which has been can-
celled.^ For this reason did the Lord declare that the first
1 Luke i. 38. 2 g..^ jj^ 05.
^ This seems quite a peculiar opinion of Trenjeus, that our lirst parents*
when created, were not of the age of maturity.
* Literally, " unless these bonds of union be turned backwarv^ls."
* It is very difficult to follow the reasoning of Irenaeus in this passage.
362 IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
should in truth be last, and the last first.^ And the prophet,
too, indicates the same, sayino-^ " Instead of fathers, children
have been born unto thee."^ For the Lord, having been
born "the first-begotten of the dead,"^ and receiving into
His bosom the ancient fathers, has regenerated them into the
life of God, He having been made Himself the beginning of
those that live, as Adam became the beginning of those who
die.* Wherefore also Luke, commencing the genealogy
with the Lord, carried it back to Adam, indicating that it was
He who regenerated them into the gospel of life, and not
they Him. And thus also it was that the knot of Eve's dis-
obedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what
the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the
virgin Mary set free through faith.
Chap, xxiii. — Arguments in opposition to Tatian, allowing
that it icas consonant to divine justice ayid mercy that the
first Adam should, first partahe in that salvation offered
to all hy Christ.
1. It was necessary, therefore, that the Lord, coming to
the lost sheep, and making recapitulation of so comprehen-
sive a dispensation, and seeking after His own handiwork,
should save that very man who had been created after His
image and likeness, that is, Adam, filling up the times of His
condemnation, which had been incurred through disobe-
dience,— [times] " which the Father had placed in His own
power." ^ [This was necessary,] too, inasmuch as the whole
economy of salvation regarding man came to pass according
to the good pleasure of the Father, in order that God might
not be conquered, nor His wisdom lessened, [in the estima-
tion of His creatures.] For if man, who had been created
Massuet has a long note upon it, in which he sets forth the various
points of comparison and contrast here indicated between Eve and
Mary; but he ends with the remark, " hsec certe at quae sequuntur,
paulo subtihora."
1 Matt. xix. 30, xx. 16. ^ pg^ ^Iv. 17. ^ Rev. i. 5.
* Comp. 1 Cor. XV. 20-22. ^ Acts i. 7.
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 363
by God that he might live, after losing life, through being
injured by the serpent that had corrupted him, should not
any more return to life, but should be utterly [and for ever]
abandoned to death, God would [in that case] have been
conquered, and the wickedness of the serpent would have
prevailed over the will of God. But inasmuch as God is
invincible and long-suffering. He did indeed show Himself
to be lonff-sufferino; in the matter of the correction of man
and the probation of all, as I have already observed ; and by
means of the second man did He bind the stroncj man, and
spoiled his goods,^ and abolished death, vivifying that man
who had been in a state of death. For at the first Adam be-
came a vessel in his (Satan's) possession, whom he did also hold
under his power, that is, by bringing sin on him iniquitously,
and under colour of immortality entailing death upon him.
For, while promising that they should be as gods, which was
in no way possible for him to be, he wrought death in them :
wherefore he who had led man captive, was justly captured
in his turn b}^ God ; but man, who had been led captive, was
loosed from the bonds of condemnation.
2. But this is Adam, if the truth should be told, the first
formed man, of whom the Scripture says that the Lord
spake, ^' Let us make man after our own image and like-
ness ; " ^ and we are all from him : and as we are from him,
therefore have we all inherited his title. But inasmuch as
man is saved, it is fitting that he who was created the original
man should be saved. For it is too absurd to maintain, that
he who was so deeply injured by the enemy, and was the
first to suffer captivity, was not rescued by Him who con-
quered the enemy, but that his children were, — those whom
lie had begotten in the same captivity. Neither would the
enemy appear to be as yet conquered, if the old spoils re-
mained with him. To give an illustration : If a hostile
force had overcome certain [enemies], had bound them, and
led them away captive, and held them for a long time in
servitude, so that they begat children among them ; and
somebody, compassionating those who had been made slaves,
\ Matt. xii. 29. 2 Qq^^ i 26.
3G4 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book iil
should overcome this same hostile force ; he certainly would
not act equitably, were he to liberate the children of those
who had been led captive, from the sway of those who had
enslaved their fathers, but should leave these latter, who
had suffered the act of capture, subject to their enemies,
— those, too, on whose very account he had proceeded to
this retaliation, — the children succeeding to liberty through
the avenging of their fathers' cause, but not^ so that their
fathers, who suffered the act of capture itself, should be
left [in bondage]. For God is neither devoid of power nor
of justice, who has afforded help to man, and restored him to
His own liberty.
3. It was for this reason, too, that immediately after Adam
had transgressed, as the Scripture relates, He pronounced no
curse against Adam personally, but against the ground, in
reference to his works, as a certain person among the ancients
has observed : " God did indeed transfer the curse to the
earth, that it might not remain in man." ^ But man received,
as the punishment of his transgression, the toilsome task of
tilling the earth, and to eat bread in the sweat of his face,
and to return to the dust from whence he was taken. Simi-
larly also did the woman [receive] toil, and labour, and
groans, and the pangs of parturition, and a state of subjec-
tion, that is, that she should serve her husband ; so that
they should neither perish altogether when cursed by God,
nor, by remaining unreprimanded, should be led to despise
God. But the curse in all its fulness fell upon the serpent,
which had beguiled them. " And God," -it is declared,
" said to the serpent : Because thou hast done this, cursed
art thou above all cattle, and above all the beasts of the
earth." ^ And this same thing does the Lord also say in the
Gospel, to those who are found upon the left hand : " Depart
"^ The old Latin translation is : " Sed non relictis ipsis patribus."
Grabe would cancel non^ while Massuet pleads for retaining it. Harvey
conjectures that the translator perhaps mistook qvk dvitT^nf^.uivav for
ovK duoiKihiifjcivav. "We have followed Massuet, though, we should prefer
deleting non, were it not found in all the MSS.
2 Gen. iii. 16, etc. ^ Gen. iii. 14.
Book hi.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 365
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, wliicli my Fatlier
hath prepared for the devil and his angels ;"^ indicating that
eternal fire was not originally prepared for man, but for him
who beguiled man, and caused him to offend — for him, I say,
who is chief of the apostasy, and for those angels who be-
came apostates along with him ; which [fire], indeed, they
too shall justly feel, who, like him, persevere in works of
wickedness, without repentance, and without retracing their
steps.
4. [These act] ^ as Cain [did, who], when he was coun-
selled by God to keep quiet, because he had not made an
equitable division of that share to which his brother was
entitled, but ■with envy and malice thought that he could
domineer over him, not only did not acquiesce, but even added
sin to sin, indicating his state of mind by his action. For
what he had planned, that did he also put in practice : he
tyrannized over and slew him ; God subjecting the just to
the unjust, that the former might be proved as the just one
by the things which he suffered, and the latter detected as
the unjust by those wdiich he perpetrated. And he w^as not
softened even by this, nor did he stop short with that evil
deed ; but being asked where his brother was, he said, " I
know not ; am I my brother's keeper ? " extending and
aggravating [his] wickedness by his ans^ver. For if it is
wicked to slay a brother, much worse is it thus insolently and
irreverently to reply to the omniscient God as if he could
bafile Him. And for this he did himself bear a curse about
with him, because he gratuitously brought an offering of sin,
having had no reverence for God, nor being put to confusion
by the act of fratricide.'^
5. The case of Adam, how-ever, had no analogy with this,
^ ^\AXi. XXV. 41. This reading of Ironseus agrees with that of the
Coclex Bczix) at Cambridge.
- Gen. iv. 7, after LXX. version.
^ The old Latin reads " parricidio." The crime of paiTicide was alone
known to the Koman law ; but it was a fjcncric term, including the
murder of all near relations. All the editoi-s have supposed that the
original word was uh'K(poK-Qvix^ which has here been adopted.
ZGG lEENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
but was altogetlier different. For, having been beguiled by
another under the pretext of immortahtj, he is immediately
seized with terror, and hides himself ; not as if he were able
to escape from God ; but, in a state of confusion at having
transgressed His command, he feels unworthy to appear
before and to hold converse with God. Now, "the fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;"^ the sense of sin
leads to repentance, and God bestows His compassion upon
those Avho are penitent. For [Adam] showed his repentance
by his conduct, through means of the girdle [which he used],
covering himself with fig-leaves, while there were many other
leaves, which would have irritated his body in a less degree.
He, however, adopted a dress conformable to his disobedience,
being awed by the fear of God ; and resisting the erring, the
lustful propensity of his flesh (since he had lost his natural
disposition and child-like mind, and had come to the know-
ledge of evil things), he girded a bridle of continence upon
himself and his wife, fearing God, and waiting for His
coming, and indicating, as it were, some such thing [as
follows] : — Inasmuch as, he says, I have by disobedience lost
that robe of sanctity which I had from the Spirit, I do now
also acknowledo;e that I am deservino; of a coverino; of this
nature, which affords no gratification, but which gnaws and
frets the body. And he would no doubt have retained this
clothing for ever, thus humbling himself, if God, who is
merciful, had not clothed them with tunics of skins instead
of fig-leaves. For this purpose, too. He interrogates them,
that the blame might light upon the woman ; and again, He
interrogates her, that she might convey the blame to the ser-
pent. For she related what had occurred. " The serpent,"
says she, "beguiled me, and I did eat.*'" But He put no
question to the serpent ; for He knew that he had been the
prime mover in the guilty deed; but He pronounced the
curse upon him in the first instance, that it might fall upon
man with a mitigated rebuke. For God detested him who
had led man astray, but by degrees, and little by little, He
showed compassion to him who had been beguiled.
> Prov. i. 7, ix. 10. ^ Gen. iii. 13.
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 367
6. Wherefore also He drove liim out of Paradise, and
removed him far from the tree of life, not because He envied
him the tree of life, as some venture to assert, but because
He pitied him, [and did not desire] that he should continue a
sinner for ever, nor that the sin which surrounded him should
be immortal, and evil interminable and irremediable. Bat He
set a bound to his [state of] sin, by interposing death, and
thus causing sin to cease,^ putting an end to it by the ■ dis-
solution of the flesh, which should take place in the earth,
so that man, ceasing at length to live to sin, and dying to it,
might begin to live to God.
7. For this end did Pie put enmity between the serpent and
the woman and her seed, they keeping it up mutually : He,
the sole of whose foot should be bitten, having power also to
tread upon the enemy's head ; but the other biting, killing,
and impeding the steps of man, until the seed did come
appointed to tread down his head, — which was born of Mary,
of whom the prophet speaks : " Thou shalt tread upon the
asp and the basilisk ; thou shalt trample down the lion and the
dragon ;"" — indicating that sin, which was set up and spread
out against man, and wdiich rendered him subject to death,
should be deprived of its power, along with death, which rules
[over men] ; and that the lion, that is, antichrist, rampant
against mankind in the latter days, should be trampled down
by Him ; and that He should bind " the dragon, that old
serpent," ' and subject him to the power of man, who had
been conquered,^ so that all his might should be trodden
down. Now Adam had been conquered, all life having been
taken away from him : wherefore, when the foe was con-
quered in his turn, Adam received new life ; and the last
enemy, death, is destroyed,^ which at the first had taken
possession of man. Therefore, when man has been liberated,
" what is written shall come to pass. Death is swallowed
up in victory.. O death, where is thy victory? O death,
where is thy sting ?" ^ This could not be said with justice,
if that man, over whom death did first obtain dominion, were
^ Rom. vi. 7. 2 pg xci. 13. ^ Rev. xx. 2.
* Luke X. li). 6 1 Cor. xv. 26. ^ 1 Cor. xv. 54, 55.
3G8 IRENjEVS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
not set free. For liis salvation is death's destruction. When
therefore the Lord vivifies man, that is, Adam, death is at
the same time destroyed.
8. All therefore speak falsely who disallow his (Adam's)
salvation, shutting themselves out from life for ever, in that
they do not believe that the sheep which had perished has
been found.^ For if it has not been found, the whole human
race is still held in a state of perdition. False, therefore, is
that man who first started this idea, or rather, this ignorance
and blindness — Tatian.^ As I have already indicated, this
man entangled himself with all the heretics.^ This dogma,
however, has been invented by himself, in order that, by
introducing something new, independently of the rest, and
by speaking vanity, he might acquire for himself hearers
void of faith, affecting to be esteemed a teacher, and en-
deavouring from time to time to employ sayings of this kind
often [made use of] by Paul : " In Adam we all die ;" ^ igno-
rant, however, that " where sin abounded, grace did much
more abound." "" Since this, then, has been clearly shown,
let all his disciples be put to shame, and let them wrangle ^
about Adam, as if some great gain were to accrue to them if
he be not saved ; when they profit nothing more [by that],
even as the serpent also did not profit when persuading man
[to sin], except to this effect, that he proved him a transgressor,
obtaining man as the first-fruits of his own apostasy.^ But
he did not know God's power .^ Thus also do those who
disallow Adam's salvation gain nothing, except this, that they
* Luke XV. 4.
2 For an account of Tatian, see the notice prefixed to his only extant
work in vol. iii.
^ His heresy being just a mixture of the opinions of the various
Gnostic sects.
4 1 Cor. XV. 22. 5 Rom. v. 20.
^ Though imnoticed by the editors, there seems a difficulty in the
different moods of the two verbs, eruhescant and concertant.
"^ " Initium et materiam apostasise suse habens hominem :" the meaning
is very obscure, and the editors throw no light upon it.
^ Literally, " but he did not see God." The translator is supposed to
have read oIBsv, knew, for sThsp, saw.
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 3G9
render themselves heretics and apostates from the truth, and
show themselves patrons of the serpent and of death.
CnAP. XXIV. — Recapitulation of the various arguments adduced
against Gnostic impiety under all its aspects. The heretics,
tossed about hy every Mast of doctrine, are opposed by the
uniform teaching of the church, which remains so always,
and is consistent ivith itself.
1. Thus, then, have all these men been exposed, who bring
in impious doctrines regarding our Maker and Framer, who
also formed this world, and above whom there is no other
God; and those have been overthrown by their own argu-
ments who teach falsehoods regarding the substance of our
Lord, and the dispensation which He fulfilled for the sake of
His own creature man. But [it has, on the other hand, been
shown], that the preaching of the church is everywhere con-
sistent, and continues in an even course, and receives testi-
mony from the prophets, the apostles, and all the disciples —
as I have proved — through [those in] the beginning, the
middle, and the end,^ and through the entire dispensation of
God, and that well-grounded system which tends^ to man's
salvation, namely, our faith ; which, having been received
from the church, we do preserve, and which always, by the
Spirit of God, renewing its youth, as if it were some precious
deposit in an excellent vessel, causes the vessel itself contain-
ing it to renew its youth also. For this gift of God has been
entrusted to the church, as breath was to the first created
man,^ for this purpose, that all the members receiving it may
be vivified ; and the [means of] communion with Christ has
been distributed throughout it, that is, the Holy Spirit, the
earnest of incorruption, the means of confirming our faith,
^ Literally, " through the beginnings, the means, and the end." These
three terms refer to the prophets, the apostles, an4 the church catholic.
2 The Latin is " solidam opcrationem,'' -which we kiiow not how to
translate, in accordance with the context, except as above.
^ This seems to be the meaning conveyed by the old Latin, " quemad-
modum aspiratio plasmationi."
2 A
370 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iit.
and the ladder of ascent to God. " For in the church," it is
said, "God hath set apostles, prophets, teachers,"^ and all the
other means through which the Spirit works ; of which all
those are not partakers who do not join themselves to the
church, but defraud themselves of life through their perverse
opinions and infamous behaviour. For where the church is,
there is the Spirit of God ; and where the Spirit of God is,
there is the church, and every kind of grace ; but the Spirit
is truth. Those, therefore, who do not partake of Him, are
neither nourished into life from the mother's breasts, nor do
they enjoy that most limpid fountain which issues from the body
of Christ ; but they dig for themselves broken cisterns'^ out
of earthly trenches, and drink putrid water out of the mire,
fleeing from the faith of the church lest they be convicted ;
and rejecting the Spirit, that they may not be instructed.
2. Alienated thus from the truth, they do deservedly
wallow in all error, tossed to and fro by it, thinking differ-
ently with regard to the same things at different times, and
never attaining to a well-grounded knowledge, being more
anxious to be sophists of words than disciples of the truth.
For they have not been founded upon the one rock, but upon
the sand, which has in itself a multitude of stones. Where-
fore they also imagine many gods, and they always have the
excuse of searching [after truth] (for they are blind), but
never succeed in finding it. For they blaspheme the Creator,
Him who is truly God, who also furnishes power to find [the
truth] ; imagining that they have discovered another God
beyond God, or another Pleroma, or another dispensation.
Wherefore also the light which is from God does not illumine
them, because they have dishonoured and despised God, hold-
ing Him of small account, because, through His love and
infinite benignity. He has come within reach of human know-
ledge (knowledge, however, not with regard to His great-
ness, or with regard to His essence — for that has no man
measured or handled — but after this sort: that we should
know that He who made, and formed, and breathed in them
the breath of life, and nourishes us by means of the creation,
1 1 Cor. xii. 28. ^ jer. ii. 13.
Book hi.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 371
establishing all things by His Word, and binding them to-
gether by His Wisdom^ — this is He who is the only true God);
but they dream of a non-existent being above Him, that they
may be regarded as having found out the great God, whom
nobody, [they hold,] can recognise as holding communication
with the human race, or as directing mundane matters : that
is to say, they find out the god of Epicurus, who does nothing
either for himself or others ; that is, he exercises no provi-
dence at all.
Chap. xxv. — This icorld is ruled hy the providence of one God,
ivho is both endoived with infinite justice to punish the
ivicked, and loith infinite goodness to bless the pious, and
impart to them salvation.
1. God does, however, exercise a providence overall things,
and therefore He also gives counsel ; and when giving coun-
sel. He is present with those who attend to moral discipline.^
It follows then of course, that the things which are watched
over and governed should be acquainted w'ith their ruler ;
which things are not irrational or vain, but they have under-
standing derived from the providence of God. And, for this
reason, certain of the Gentiles, who were less addicted to
[sensual] allurements and voluptuousness, and were not led
away to such a degree of superstition with regard to idols,
. being moved, though but slightly, by His providence, were
nevertheless convinced that they should call the Maker of
this universe the Father, who exercises a providence over all
things, and arranges the affairs of our world.
2. Again, that they might remove the rebuking and judi-
cial power from the Father, reckoning that as unworthy of
God, and thinking that they had found out a God both
without anger and [merely] good, they have alleged that one
[God] judges, but that another saves, unconsciously taking
away the intelligence and justice of both deities. For if the
1 i.e. the Spirit.
** Litoriilly, " who have a foresight of morals" — qui morum providen-
tiam Jiabait. The meaning is very obscure.
372 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book hi.
judicial one is not also good, to bestow favours upon the
deserving, and to direct reproofs against those requiring
them, he will appear neither a just nor a wise judge. On
the other hand, the good God, if he is merely good, and not
one who tests those upon whom he shall send his goodness,
will be out of the range of justice and goodness ; and his
goodness will seem imperfect, as not saving all ; [for it should
do so,] if it be not accompanied with judgment.
3. Marcion, therefore, himself, by dividing God into two,
maintaining one to be good and the other judicial, does in
fact, on both sides, put an end to deity. For he that is the
judicial one, if he be not good, is not God, because he from
whom goodness is absent is no God at all ; and again, he
who is good, if he has no judicial power, suffers the same
[loss] as the former, by being deprived of his character of
deity. And how can they call the Father of all wise, if they
do not assign to Him a judicial faculty ? For if He is wise.
He is also one who tests [others] ; but the judicial power
belongs to him who tests, and justice follows the judicial
faculty, that it may reach a just conclusion ; justice calls
forth judgment, and judgment, when it is executed with
justice, will pass on to wisdom. Therefore the Father will
excel in wisdom all human and angelic wisdom, because
He is Lord, and Judge, and the Just One, and Ruler over
all. For He is good, and merciful, and patient, and saves
whom He ought : nor does goodness desert Him in the exer-
cise of justice,-^ nor is His wisdom lessened ; for He sav^es
those whom He should save, and judges those worthy of judg-
ment. Neither does He show Himself unmercifully just; for
His goodness, no doubt, goes on before, and takes precedency.
4. The God, therefore, who does benevolently cause His
sun to rise upon all,^ and sends rain upon the just and unjust,
shall judge those who, enjoying His equally distributed kind-
ness, have led lives not corresponding to the dignity of His
bounty ; but who have spent their days in wantonness and
^ The text is here very uncertain, but the above seems the probable
meaning.
2 Matt. V. 45.
Book III.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 373
luxury, in opposition to His benevolence, and have, moreover,
even blasphemed Him who has conferred so great benefits
upon them.
5. Plato is proved to be more religious than these men,
for he allowed that the same God w^as both just and good,
having power over all things, and Himself executing judgment,
expressing himself thus, " And God indeed, as He is also the
ancient Word, possessing the beginning, the end, and the
mean of all existing things, does everything rightly, moving
round about them according to their nature ; but retributive
justice always follows Him against those who depart from
the divine law."^ Then, again, he points out that the Maker
and Framer of the universe is good. " And to the good,"
he says, " no envy ever springs up with regard to any-
thing ;" ^ thus establishing the goodness of God, as the be-
ginning and the cause of the creation of the world, but not
ignorance, nor an erring ^on, nor the consequence of a
defect, nor the Mother weeping and lamenting, nor another
God or Father.
6. Well may their Mother bew^ail them, as capable of con-
ceiving and inventing such things ; for they have worthily
uttered this falsehood against themselves, that their Mother
is beyond the Pleroma, that is, beyond the knowledge of
God, and that their entire multitude became^ a shapeless and
crude abortion : for it apprehends nothing of the truth ; it
falls into void and darkness : for their wisdom (^Sophia) was
void, and wrapped up in darkness ; and Horos did not permit
her to enter the Pleroma : for the Spirit (Achamoth) did not
receive them into the place of refreshment. For their father,
by begetting ignorance, wrought in them the sufferings of
death. We do not misrepresent [their opinions on] these
points ; but they do themselves confirm, they do themselves
teach, they do glory in them, they imagine a lofty [mystery]
^ Plato, dc Leg. iv. - In Timxo, iii. p. 29.
^ The Latin is " collectio eorum ;" but what colkctio here means, it is
not easy to determine. Grabe, with much probability, deems it the
representative of avaruatg. Harvey prefers vj&v}^n^a, ; but it is ditficult
to perceive the relevancy of his references to the rhetorical syllogism.
374 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book hi.
about their Mother, whom they represent as having been
begotten without a father, that is, without God, a female
from a female,^ that is, corruption from error.
7. We do indeed pray that these men may not remain in
the pit which they themselves have dug, but separate them-
selves from a Mother of this nature, and depart from Bythus,
and stand away from the void, and relinquish the shadow ;
and that they, being converted to the church of God, may be
lawfully begotten, and that Christ may be formed in them,
and that they may know the Framer and Maker of this
universe, the only true God and Lord of all. We pray for
these things on their behalf, loving them better than they
seem to love themselves. For our love, inasmuch as it is
true, is salutary to them, if they will but receive it. It may
be compared to a severe remedy, extirpating the proud and
sloughing flesh of a wound ; for it puts an end to their pride
and haughtiness. Wherefore it shall not weary us, to en-
deavour with all our miofht to stretch out the hand unto them.
Over and above what has been already stated, I have de-
ferred to the following book, to adduce the words of the
Lord ; if, by convincing some among them, through means
of the very instruction of Christ, I may succeed in per-
suading them to abandon such error, and to cease from blas-
pheming their Creator, who is both God alone, and the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
1 See p. 72, note 1.
IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES.
BOOK TV.
PREFACE.
]Y transmitting to thee, my very dear friend, this
fourth book of the work which is [entitled] Tlie
Detection and Refutation of False Knowledge, I
shall, as I have promised, add weight, by means
of the words of the Lord, to what I have already advanced ;
so that thou also, as thou hast requested, mayest obtain from
me the means of confuting all the heretics everywhere, and
not permit them, beaten back at all points, to launch out
further into the deep of error, nor to be drowned in the sea
of ignorance ; but that thou, turning them into the haven of
the truth, mayest cause them to attain their salvation.
2. The man, however, who would undertake their conver-
sion, must possess an accurate knowledge of their systems or
schemes of doctrine. For it is impossible for any one to heal
the sick, if he has no knowledge of the disease of the patients.
This was the reason that my predecessors — much superior
men to myself, too — were unable, notwithstanding, to refute
the Valentinians satisfactorily, because they were ignorant of
these men's system ; which I have with all care delivered to
thee in the first book, in which I have also shown that their
doctrine is a recapitulation of all the heretics. For which
reason also, in the second, we have had, as in a mirror, a sii^ht
of their entire discomfiture. For they who oppose these men
(the Valentinians) by the right method, do [thereby] oppose
376 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
all who are of an evil mind ; and they who overthrow them,
do in fact overthrow every kind of heresy.
3. For their system is blasphemous above all [others], since
they represent that the Maker and Framer, who is one God,
as 1 have shown, was produced from a defect or apostasy.
They utter blasphemy, also, against our Lord, by cutting
off and dividing Jesus from Christ, and Christ from the
Saviour, and again the Saviour from the Word, and the
Word from the Only-begotten. And since they allege that
the Creator originated from a defect or apostasy, so have they
also taught that Christ and the Holy Spirit were emitted on
account of this defect, and that the Saviour was a product of
those ^ons who were produced from a defect ; so that there
is nothing but blasphemy to be found among them. In the
preceding book, then, the ideas of the apostles as to all these
points have been set forth, [to the effect] that not only did
they, '' who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and
ministers of the word"^ of truth, hold no such opinions, but
that they did also preach to us to shun these doctrines,^ fore-
seeing by the Spirit those weak-minded persons who should
be led astray.
4. For as the serpent beguiled Eve, by promising her what
he had not himself, so also do these men, by pretending [to
possess] superior knowledge, and [to be acquainted with]
ineffable mysteries ; and, by promising that admittance which
they speak of as taking place within the Pleroma, plunge
those that believe them into death, rendering them apostates
from Him who made them. And at that time, indeed, the
apostate angel, having effected the disobedience of mankind
by means of the serpent, imagined that he escaped the notice
of the Lord ; wherefore God assigned him the form and
name [of a serpent]. But now, since the last times are [come
upon us], evil is spread abroad among men, which not only
renders them apostates, but by many machinations does [the
devil] raise up blasphemers against the Creator, namely,
by means of all the heretics already mentioned. For all
these, although they issue forth from diverse regions, and
1 Luke i. 2. 2 2 Tim. ii. 23.
Book iv.] IUENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. Zll
promulgate different [opinions], do nevertheless concur in
the same blasphemous design, wounding [men] unto death,
by teaching blasphemy against God our Maker and Sup-
porter, and derogating from the salvation of man. Now man
is a mixed organization of soul and flesh, who was formed
after the likeness of God, and moulded by His hands, that
is, by the Son and Holy Spirit, to whom also He said, " Let
us make in an." ^ This, then, is the aim of him who envies
our life, to render men disbelievers in their own salvation, and
blasphemous against God the Creator. For whatsoever all
the heretics may have advanced with the utmost solemnity,
they come to this at last, that they blaspheme the Creator,
and disallow the salvation of God's workmanship, which the
flesh truly is ; on behalf of which I have proved, in a variety
of ways, that the Son of God accomplished the whole dispen-
sation [of mercy], and have shown that there is none other
called God by the Scriptures except the Father of all, and the
Son, and those who possess the adoption.
Chap. t. — The Lord acknowledged but one God and Father.
1. Since, therefore, this is sure and stedfast, that no other
God or Lord was announced by the Spirit, except Him who,
as God, rules over all, together with His Word, and those
who receive the Spirit of adoption,' that is, those who believe
in the one and true God, and in Jesus Christ the Son of
God ; and likewise that the apostles did of themselves term
no one else as God, or name [no other] as Lord ; and, what
is much more important, [since it is true] that our Lord
[acted likewise], who did also command us to confess no one
as Father, except Him who is in the heavens, who is the one
God and the one Father ; — those things are clearly shown to
be false which these deceivers and most perverse sophists
advance, maintainincr that the beini' whom thev have them-
selves invented is by nature both God and Father ; but that
the Demiurge is naturally neither God nor Father, but is
so termed merely by courtesy {yerbo te)ius), because of his
^ Gen. i. 26. 2 g^.^ iii. 6, 1.
378 IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
ruling the creation, as these perverse mythologists state,
setting their thoughts against God ; and, putting aside the
doctrine of Christ, and of themselves divining falsehoods,
they dispute against the entire dispensation of God. For
they maintain that their ^ons, and gods, and fathers, and
lords, are also still further termed heavens, together with
their Mother, whom they do also call " the Earth," and
" Jerusalem," while they also style her many other names.
2. Now to whom is it not clear, that if the Lord had known
many fathers and gods, He would not have taught His dis-
ciples to know [only] one God, and to call Him alone Father?
But He did the rather distinguish those who by word merely
(verbo tenus) are termed gods, from Him who is truly God,
that they should not err as to His doctrine, nor understand
one [in mistake] for another. And if He did indeed teach
us to call one Being Father and God, while He does from
time to time Himself confess other fathers and gods in the
same sense, then He will appear to enjoin a different course
upon His disciples from what He follows Himself. Such
conduct, however, does not bespeak the good teacher, but a
misleading and invidious one. The apostles, too, according
to these men's showing, are proved to be transgressors of the
commandment, since they confess the Creator as God, and
Lord, and Father, as I have shown — if He is not alone God
and Father. Jesus, therefore, will be to them the author and
teacher of such transgression, inasmuch as He commanded
that one Being should be called Father,^ thus imposing upon
them the necessity of confessing the Creator as their father,
as has been pointed out.
Chap. ii. — Proofs from the plain testimony/ of Moses, and of
the other prophets, whose words are the words of Christ,
that there is hut one God, the Founder of the world,
whom our Lord preached, and whom He called His
Father.
1. Moses, therefore, making a recapitulation of the whole
1 Matt, xxiii. 9.
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 379
law, wliich he had received from the Creator (Demiurge),
thus speaks in Deuteronomy : " Give ear, O ye heavens, and
I will speak ; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth." ^
Again, David saying that his help came from the Lord,
asserts : " My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and
earth." '^ And Esaias confesses that words were uttered by
God, who made heaven and earth, and governs them. He
says : " Ilear, O heavens ; and give ear, O earth : for the
Lord hath spoken."'^ And again: "Thus saith the Lord
God, who made the heaven, and stretched it out ; w^ho
established the earth, and the things in it ; and who giveth
breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them who walk
therein."*
2. Again, our Lord Jesus Christ confesses this same Being
as His Father, where He says : " I confess to thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth."'' What Father will those men
have us to understand [by these words], those who are most
perverse sophists of Pandora? Whether shall it be Bythus,
whom they have fabled of themselves ; or their Mother ; or
the Only-begotten ? Or shall it be he whom the Marcionites
or the others have invented as God (whom I indeed have
amply demonstrated to be no God at all) ; or shall it be (what
is really the case) the Maker of heaven and earth, whom
also the prophets proclaimed, — whom Christ, too, confesses as
His Father, — whom also the law announces, saying : " Hear,
O Israel ; The Lord thy God is one God?"'
3. But since the writings (Uterai) of !Moses are the words
of Christ, He does Himself declare to the Jews, as John has
recorded in the Gospel : " If ye had believed Moses, ye
would have believed me : for he wrote of me. But if ye
believe not his writings, neither will ye believe my words." ^
He thus indicates in the clearest manner that the writings of
Moses are His words. If, then, [this be the case with regard]
to Moses, so also, beyond a doubt, the words of the other
prophets are His [words], as I have pointed out. And
^ Dent, xxxii. 1. - Ps. cxxiv. 8. ^ jg^. i. 2.
* Isa. xlii. 5. ^ Matt. xi. 25 ; Luke x. 21. « Deut. vi. 4.
' John V. 46, 47.
380 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
again, the Lord Himself exhibits Abraham as having said to
the rich man, with reference to all those who were still alive :
" If they do not obey Moses and the prophets, neither, if any
one were to rise from the dead and go to them, will they
believe him."^
4. Now, He has not merely related to ns a story respecting
a poor man and a rich one ; but He has taught us, in the
first place, that no one should lead a luxurious life, nor,
living in worldly pleasures and perpetual feastings, should
be the slave of his lusts, and forget God. " For there was,"
He says, " a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine
linen, and delighted himself with splendid feasts." ^
Of such persons, too, the Spirit has spoken by Esaias :
" They drink wine with [the accompaniment of] harps, and
tablets, and psalteries, and flutes ; but they regard not the
works of God, neither do they consider the work of His
hands." ^ Lest, therefore, we should incur the same punish-
ment as these men, the Lord reveals [to us] their end ; show-
ing at the same time, that if they obeyed Moses and the
prophets, they would believe in Him whom these had preached,
the Son of God, who rose from the dead, and bestows life
upon us ; and He shows that all are from one essence, that
is, Abraham, and Moses, and the prophets, and also the Lord
Himself, who rose from the dead, in whom many believe who
are of the circumcision, w^ho do also hear Moses and the pro-
phets announcing the coming of the Son of God. But those
who scoff [at the truth] assert that these men were from
another essence, and they do not know the first-begotten
from the dead ; understanding Christ as a distinct being, who
continued as if He were impassible, and Jesus, who suffered,
as being altogether separate [from Him].
5. For they do not receive from the Father the knowledge
of the Son ; neither do they learn who the Father is from the
Son, who teaches clearly and without parables Him who
truly is God. He says : " Swear not at all ; neither by
heaven, for it is God's throne ; nor by the earth, for it is His
footstool ; neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great
1 Luke xvi. 31. ^ l^q xvi. 19. ^ jga. v. 12.
Book iv.] IBENj^US AGAINST HERESIES. 381
King." ^ For these words are evidently spoken with reference
to the Creator, as also Esaias says : " Heaven is my throne,
the earth is my footstool."^ And besides this Being there is
no other God ; otherwise He would not be termed by the
Lord either " God" or " the great King ;" for a Being who
can be so described admits neither of any other being com-
pared with nor set above Him. For he who has any superior
over him, and is under the power of another, this being
never can be called either " God " or " the great King."
6. But neither will these men be able to maintain that
such words were uttered in an ironical manner, since it is
proved to them by the words themselves that they were in
earnest. For He who uttered them was Truth, and did truly
vindicate His own house, by driving out of it the changers of
money, who were buying and selling, saying unto them : " It
is written. My house shall be called the house of prayer ; but
ye have made it a den of thieves."^ And what reason had
He for thus doing and saying, and vindicating His house, if
He did preach another God ? But [He did so], that He
might point out the transgressors of His Father's law ; for
neither did He bring any accusation against the house, nor
did Pie blame the law, which He had come to fulfil ; but He
reproved those who were putting His house to an improper
use, and those who were transgressing the law. And there-
fore the scribes and Pharisees, too, who from the times of
the law had begun to despise God, did not receive His
Word, that is, they did not believe on Christ. Of these
Esaias says : " Thy princes are rebellious, companions of
thieves, loving gifts, following after rewards, not judging the
fatherless, and negligent of the cause of the widows."* And
Jeremiah, in like manner : " They," he says, " who rule my
people did not know me ; they are senseless and imprudent
children ; they are wise to do evil, but to do well they have
no knowledo;e.''''
7. But as many as feared God, and were anxious about
His law, these ran to Christ, and were all saved. For He
1 Matt. V. 34. 2 isa. ixvi. 1. « Matt. xxi. 13.
* Isa. i. 23. « Jor. iv. 22.
382 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book iv.
said to His disciples : " Go ye to the sheep of the house of
Israel/ which have perished." And many more Samaritans,
it is saidj when the Lord had tarried among them two days,
" believed because of His words, and said to the woman.
Now we believe, not because of thy saying, for we ourselves
have heard [Him], and know that this man is truly the
Saviour of the world." ^ And Paul likewise declares, " And
so all Israel shall be saved ;"^ but he has also said, that the
law was our pedagogue [to bring us] to Christ Jesus."* Let
them not therefore ascribe to the law the unbelief of certain
[among them]. For the law never hindered them from believ-
ing in the Son of God ; nay, but it even exhorted them^ so to
do, saying ^ that men can be saved in no other way from the
old wound of the serpent than by believing in Him who, in
the likeness of sinful flesh, is lifted up from the earth upon
the tree of martyrdom, and draws all things to Himself,^ and
vivifies the dead.
Chap. hi. — Answer to the cavils of the Gnostics. We are
not to suppose that the true God can he changed^ or come
to an endj because the heavens^ lohich are His tlirone, and
the earth, His footstool, shall pass away,
1. Again, as to their malignantly asserting that if heaven
is indeed the throne of God, and earth His footstool, and if
it is declared that the heaven and earth shall pass away, then
when these pass away the God who sitteth above must also
pass away, and therefore He cannot be the God who is over
all ; in the first place, they are ignorant what the expression
means, that heaven is [His] throne and earth [His] footstool.
For they do not know what God is, but they imagine that
He sits after the fashion of a man, and is contained within
bounds, but does not contain. And they are also unacquainted
1 Matt. X. 6. 2 John jy^ 4i_ 3 Rom. xi. 26.
* Gal. iii. 24. ^ Num. xxi. 8.
" This passage is quoted by Augustine, in his treatise on original sin,
TTiitten to oppose Pelagius (lib. i. c. ii.), about 400 A.D.
^ John xii. 32, iii. 14.
Book iv.] IRENJEVS AGAINST HERESIES. 383
with [the meaning of] the passing away of the heaven and
earth ; but Paul was not ignorant of it when he declared,
" For the figure of this world passeth away."^ In the next
place, David explains their question, for he says that when
the fashion of this world passes away, not only shall God
remain, but His servants also, expressing himself thus in the
101st Psalm: " In the beginning, Thou, O Lord, hast founded
the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands. They
shall perish, but Thou shalt endure, and all shall wax old as a
garment ; and as a vesture Thou shalt change them, and they
shall be changed : but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall
not fail. The children of Thy servants sliall continue, and
their seed shall be established for ever ; " ^ pointing out plainly
what things they are that pass away, and who it is that doth
endure for ever — God, together with His servants. And in
like manner Esaias says : " Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
and look upon the earth beneath ; for the heaven has been set
together as smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment,
and they who dwell therein shall die in like manner. But
my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall
not pass away."^
ClIAr. IV. — Answer to another objection , slioxuing that the de-
struction of Jerusalem J which luas the city of the great
King, diminished nothincj from the supreme majesty and
power of God, for that this destruction was p)ut in execu-
tion hy the most luise counsel of the same God.
1. Further, also, concerning Jerusalem and the Lord, they
venture to assert that, if it had been " the city of the great
King,"* it would not have been deserted. This is just as if
any one should say, that if straw were a creation of God, it
would never part company with the wheat ; and that the vine
1 1 Cor. vii. 31.
- Ps. cii. 25-28. The cause of the difference in the numbering: of tho
Psahns is that the Septuagint embraces in one psahu — the ninth — tho
two which form tlie ninth and tenth in the Hebrew text.
3 Isa. li. 6. ■* Matt. v. 55.
384 IBENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
twigs, if made by God, never would be lopped away and
deprived of the clusters. But as these [vine twigs] have not
been originally made for their own sake, but for that of the
fruit growing upon them, which being come to maturity and
taken away, they are left behind, and those which do not
conduce to fructification are lopped off altogether; so also
[was it with] Jerusalem, which had in herself borne the yoke
of bondage (under which man was reduced, who in former
times was not subject to God when death was reigning, and
being subdued, became a fit subject for liberty), wdien the
fruit of liberty had come, and reached maturity, and been
reaped and stored in the barn, and when those which had the
power to produce fruit had been carried away from her \i.e,
from Jerusalem], and scattered throughout all the world.
Even as Esaias saith, " The children of Jacob shall strike
root, and Israel shall flourish, and the w^hole world shall be
filled with his fruit." ^ The fruit, therefore, having been
sown throughout all the world, she (Jerusalem) was deservedly
forsaken, and those things which had formerly brought forth
fruit abundantly were taken away ; for from these, according
to the flesh, were Christ and the apostles enabled to bring
forth fruit. But now these are no longer useful for bringing
forth fruit. For all things which have a beginning in time
must of course have an end in time also.
2. Since, then, the law originated with Moses, it terminated
w^ith John as a necessary consequence. Christ had come to
fulfil it : w^herefore " the law and the prophets were" with
them "until John."^ And therefore Jerusalem, taking its
commencement from David,^ and fulfilling its ow^n times,
must have an end of legislation* when the new covenant was
revealed. For God does all things by measure and in order ;
nothing is unmeasured with Him, because nothing is out of
order. Well spake he, who said that the unmeasurable
^ Isa. xxvii. 6. - ^ Luke xvi. 16.
2 2 Sam. V, 7, where David is described as taking the stronghold of
Zion from the Jebusites.
^ The text fluctuates between " legis dationem" and "legis dationis."
"We have followed the latter.
Book iv.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES, 385
Father was Himself subjected to measure in the Son ; for
the Son is the measure of the Father, since He also compre-
hends Him. But that the administration of them (the Jews)
was temporary, Esaias says : " And the daughter of Zion shall
be left as a cottage in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden
of cucumbers." ^ And when shall these thinn;s be left be-
hind ? Is it not when the fruit shall be taken away, and the
leaves alone shall be left, which now have no power of pro-
ducing fruit ?
3. But why do we speak of Jerusalem, since, indeed, the
fashion of the whole world must also pass away, when the time
of its disappearance has come, in order that the fruit indeed
may be gathered into the garner, but the chaff, left behind,
may be consumed by fire ? " For the day of the Lord cometh
as a burning furnace, and all sinners shall be stubble, they
who do evil things, and the day shall burn them up."^ Now,
who this Lord is that brings such a day about, John the
Baptist points out, when he says of Christ, " He shall baptize
you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, having Plis fan in
His hand to cleanse His floor ; and He will gather His fruit
into the garner, but the chaff He will burn up with un-
quenchable fire."^ For He who makes the chaif and He
who makes the wheat are not different persons, but one and
the same, who judges them, that is, separates them. But the
wheat and the chaff, being inanimate and irrational, have
been made such by nature. But man, being endowed with
reason, and in this respect like to God, having been made
free in his will, and with power over himself, is himself the
cause to himself, that sometimes he becomes wheat, and
sometimes chaff. Wherefore also he shall be justly con-
demned, because, having been created a rntionnl being, he
lost the true rationality, and living irrationally, opposed the
rifjhteousness of God, ^ivincr himself over to everv earthlv
spirit, and serving all lusts ; as says the prophet, " Man, being
in honour, did not understand : ho was assimilated to sense-
less beasts, and made like to them.'"*
1 Isa. i. 8. « .Aral. iv. 1.
s :j,Iatt. iii. 11, etc. « Ps. xlix. 12.
2B
386 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
Chap. v. — The author returns to his former argument, and
shows that there luas but one God announced hy the law
and prophets, ichom Christ confesses as His Father, and
ivho, through His Word, one living God with Him, made
Himself known to men in both covenants.
1. Godj therefore, is one and the same, who rolls up the
heaven as a book, and renews the face of the earth ; Avho
made the things of time for man, so that coming to maturity
in them, he may produce the fruit of immortality ; and who,
through His kindness, also bestows [upon him] eternal things,
" that in the ages to come He may show the exceeding riches
of His grace ;" ^ who was announced by the law and the
prophets, whom Christ confessed as His Father. Now He
is the Creator, and He it is who is God over all, as Esaias
says, " I am witness, saith the Lord God, and my servant
whom I have chosen, that ye may know, and believe, and
understand that I AM. Before me there was no other God,
neither shall be after me. I am God, and besides me there
is no Saviour. I have proclaimed, and I have saved." "^ And
again : " I myself am the first God, and I am above things
to come."^ For neither in an ambiguous, nor arrogant, nor
boastful manner, does He say these things ; but since it was
impossible, without God, to come to a knowledge of God, He
teaches men, through His Word, to know God. To those,
therefore, who are ignorant of these matters, and on this
account imagine that they have discovered another Father,
justly does one say, " Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures,
nor the power of God." *
2. For our Lord and Master, in the answer which He gave
to the Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, and
who do therefore dishonour God, and lower the credit of the
law, did both indicate a resurrection, and reveal God, saying
to them, " Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the
power of God." " For, touching the resurrection of the
dead," He says, " have ye not read that which was spoken by
1 Eph. ii. 7. 2 isa. xliii. 10, etc.
2 Isa. xii. 4. * Matt. xxii. 29.
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 387
God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob ?"^ And He added, " He is not the
God of the dead, but of the living ; for all live to Him."
By these arguments He unquestionably made it clear, that
He Yi\\o spake to Moses out of the bush, and declared Him-
self to be the God of the fathers. He is the God of the living.
For who is the God of the living unless He who is God, and
above whom there is no other God ? Whom also Daniel
the prophet, when Cyrus king of the Persians said to him,
" Why dost thou not worship Bel?"^' did proclaim, saying,
^' Because I do not worship idols made with hands, but the
living God, who established the heaven and the earth, and
has dominion over all flesh." Again did he say, " I will
adore the Lord my God, because He is the living God." He,
then, who was adored by the prophets as the living God, He
is the God of the living ; and His Word is He who also spaki'
to Moses, who also put the Sadducees to silence, who also
bestowed the gift of resurrection, thus revealing [both] truths
to those who are blind, that is, the resurrection and God [iu
His true character]. For if He be not the God of the dead,
but of the living, yet was called the God of the fathers
who were sleeping, they do indubitably live to God, and
have not passed out of existence, since they are children of
the resurrection. But our Lord is Himself the resurrection,
as He does Himself declare, " I am the resurrection and tlie
ifc."^ But the fathers are His children; for it is said by
;he prophet : " Instead of thy fathers, thy children have been
made to thee." * Christ Himself, therefore, together with the
Father, is the God of the living, who spake to Moses, and
who was also manifested to the fathers.
3. And teaching this very thing. He said to the Jews :
" Your father Abraham rejoiced that he should see my day ;
1 Matt. xxii. 29, etc. ; Ex. iii. 6.
2 In the Septuagint and Vulgate versions, this story constitutes the
'ourtccnth chapter of the book of Daniel. It is not extant in liobrew,
ind has therefore been removed to the Apocrypha, in the Anglican canon
)f Scripture, under the title of " Bel and the Dragon."
8 John xi. 25. * Ps. xlv. 17.
388 IBEN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
and he saw it, and was glad."^ What is intended? "Abra-
ham beheved God, and it was imputed unto him for right-
eousness." ^ In the first place, [he believed] that He was the
maker of heaven and earth, the only God ; and in the next
place, that He would make his seed as the stars of heaven.
This is what is meant hj Paul, [when he says,] " as lights in
the world."^ Kighteously, therefore, having left his earthly
kindred, he followed the Word of God, walking as a pilgrim
with the Word, that he might [afterwards] have his abode
with the Word.
4. Righteously also the apostles, being of the race of Abra-
ham, left the ship and their father, and follow^ed the AYord.
Righteously also do we, possessing the same faith as Abra-
ham, and taking up the cross as Isaac did the wood,* follow
Him. For in Abraham man had learned beforehand, and
had been accustomed to follow the Word of God. For Abra-
ham, according to his faith, followed the command of the
Word of God, and with a ready mind delivered up, as a
sacrifice to God, his only-begotten and beloved son, in order
that God also might be pleased to offer up for all his seed
His own beloved and only-begotten Son, as a sacrifice for our
redemption.
5. Since, therefore, Abraham was a prophet, and saw in
the Spirit the day of the Lord's coming, and the dispensation
of His suffering, through whom both he himself and all who,
following the example of his faith, trust in God, should be
saved, he rejoiced exceedingly. The Lord, therefore, was
not unknown to Abraham, whose day he desired to see ;^ nor,
again, was the Lord's Father, for he had learned from the
Word of the Lord, and believed Him ; wherefore it was
accounted to him by the Lord for righteousness. For faith
towards God justifies a man ; and therefore he said, "I will
stretch forth my hand to the most high God, who made the
heaven and the earth." ^ All these truths, however, do those
holding perverse opinions endeavour to overthrow, because of
one passage, which they certainly do not understand correctly.
1 John viii. 56. 2 Rom. iv. 3. ^ Y\rA. ii. 15.
* Gen. xxii. 6. ^ John viii. 50. ^ Gen. xix. 22.
Book iv.] mENJETJS AGAINST IIEP.ESIES. 389
Chap. vi. — Explanation of the words of Chrisfj " A^o man
hioweth the Father , but the Son,^^ etc.; ichich words the
heretics misinterpret. Proof that, by the Father reveal-
ing the Soji, and by the Son being revealed, the Father luas
never unhiown.
1. For the Lord, revealing Himself to His disciples, that
He Himself is the Word, who imparts knowledge of the
Father, and reproving the Jews, who imagined that they had
[the knowledge of] God, wliile they nevertheless rejected His
Word, through whom God is made known, declared, "No man
knoweth the Son, but the Father ; neither knoweth any man
the Father, save the Son, and he to whom the Son has willed
to reveal [Him]." ^ Thus hath Matthew set it down, and
Luke in like manner, and Mark ^ the very same ; for John
omits this passage. They, however, who would be wiser
than the apostles, write [the verse] in the following manner :
" No man knew the Father, but the Son ; nor the Son, but
the Father, and he to whom the Son has willed to reveal
[Him] ;" and they explain it as if the true God were known
to none prior to our Lord's advent ; and that God who was
announced by the prophets, they allege not to be the Father
of Christ.
2. But if Christ did then [only] begin to have existence
when He came [into the world] as man, and [if] the Father
did remember [only] in the times of Tiberius CiEsar to provide
for [the wants of] men, and His Word was shown to have
not always coexisted with His creatures ; [it may be remarked
that] neither then was it necessary that another God should
be proclaimed, but [rather] that the reasons for so great care-
lessness and neglect on His part should be made the subject
of investigation. For it is fitting that no such question
should arise, and gather such strength, that it would indeed
both change God, and destroy our faith in that Creator who
supports us by means of His creation. For as we do direct
our faith towards the Son, so also should we possess a firm
1 ]\r<itt. xi. l>7 ; Luke x. 2-_\
- Not now to be found in Mark's Gospel.
390 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
and immoveable love towards the Father. In his book against
Marcion, Justin ^ does well say : " I would not have believed
tlie Lord Himself, if He had announced any other than He
who is our framer, maker, and nourisher. But because the
only-begotten Son came to us from the one God, who both
made this world and formed us, and contains and administers
all things, summing up His own handiwork in Himself, my
faith towards Him is stedfast, and my love to the Father im-
moveable, God bestowing both upon us."
3. For no one can know the Father, unless through the
Word of God, that is, unless by the Son revealing [Him] ;
neither can he have knowledge of the Son, unless through
the good pleasure of the Father. But the Son performs the
good pleasure of the Father ; for the Father sends, and the
Son is sent, and comes. And His Word knows that His
Father is, as far as regards us, invisible and infinite ; and
since He cannot be declared [by any one else], He does Him-
self declare Him to us ; and, on the other hand, it is the
Father alone who knows His own Word. And both these
truths has our Lord declared. Wherefore the Son reveals
the knowledge of the Father through His own manifestation.
For the manifestation of the Son is the knowledge of the
Father; for all thincps are manifested throuo;h the Word.
In order, therefore, that we might know that the Son who
came is He who imparts to those believing on Him a know-
ledge of the Father, He said to His disciples : " No man
knoweth the Son but the Father, nor the Father but the
Son, and those to whomsoever the Son shall reveal Him;"
thus setting Himself forth and the Father as He [really] is,
that we may not receive any other Father, except Him who
is revealed by the Son.
4. But this [Father] is the Maker of heaven and earth, as
is shown from His words ; and not he, the false father, who
has been invented by Marcion, or by Valentinus, or by
Basilides, or by Carpocrates, or by Simon, or by the rest of
^ Photius, 125, makes mention of Justin Martyr's work, T^oyoi kxtx
'MciOKtauos. See also Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History^ book iv. c. 17,
where this passage of Irenseus is quoted.
1
Book IV.] IBEN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 391
the " Gnostics," falsely so called. For none of these was
the Son of God ; but Christ Jesus our Lord [was], against
whom they set their teaching in opposition, and have the
daring to preach an unknown God. But they ought to hear
[this] against themselves : How is it that He is unknown,
who is known by them ? for, whatever is known even by a
few, is not unknown. But the Lord did not say that both
the Father and the Son could not be known at all (in totum),
for in that case His advent would have been superfluous.
For why did He come hither ? Was it that He should say
to us, " Never mind seeking after God ; for He is unknown,
and ye shall not find Him;" as also the disciples of Valen-
tinus falsely declare that Christ said to their ^ons ? But
this is indeed vain. For the Lord taught us that no man is
capable of knowing God, unless he be taught of God ; that
is, that God cannot be known without God : but that this is
the express will of the Father, that God should be known.
For they shall know^ Him to whomsoever the Son has revealed
Him.
5. And for this purpose did the Father reveal the Son,
that through His instrumentality He might be manifested
to all, and might receive those righteous ones who believe in
Him into incorruption and everlasting enjoyment (now, to
believe in Him is to do His will) ; but He shall righteously
shut out into the darkness which they have chosen for them-
selves, those who do not believe, and who do consequently
avoid His light. The Father therefore has revealed Himself
to all, by making His Word visible to all ; and, conversely,
the Word has declared to all the Father and the Son, since
He has become visible to all. And therefore the riijhteous
judgment of God [shall fall] upon all who, like others, have
seen, but have not, like others, believed.
6. For by means of the creation itself, the Word reveals
God the Creator ; and by means of the world [does He
declare] the Lord the Maker of the world ; and by means of
the formation [of man] the Artificer who formed him ; and
^ The ordinary text reads cognoscunt, i.e. do know ; but Harvey thinks
it should be the future — cognoscent.
392 lEEN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
by the Son tliat Father who begat the Son : and these things
do indeed address all men in the same manner, but all do
not in the same way believe them. But by the law and tho
prophets did the Word preach both Himself and the Father
alike [to all] ; and all the people heard Plim alike, but all
did not alike believe. And through the Word Himself who
had been made visible and palpable, was the Father shown
forth, although all did not equally believe in Him ; but all
saw the Father in the Son : for the Father is the invisible of
the Son, but the Son the visible of the Father. And for
this reason all spake with Christ when He was present [upon
earth], and they named Him God. Yea, even the demons
exclaimed, on beholding the Son : " We know thee who thou
art, the Holy One of God."^ And the devil looking at Him,
and tem.pting Him, said: "If thou art the Son of God;"^
— all thus indeed seeing and speaking of the Son and the
Father, but all not believing [in them].
7. For it was fitting that the truth should receive testi-
mony from all, and should become [a means of] judgment
for the salvation indeed of those wdio believe, but for the
condemnation of those who believe not ; that all should be
fairly judged, and that the faith in the Father and Son
should be approved by all, that is, that it should be estab-
lished by all [as the one means of salvatiori], receiving testi-
mony from all, both from those belonging to it, since they
are its friends, and by those having no connection with it,
though they are its enemies. For that evidence is true, and
cannot be gainsaid, wdiich elicits even from its adversaries
striking^ testimonies in its behalf ; they being convinced with
respect to the matter in hand by their own plain contempla-
tion of it, and bearing testimony to it, as well as declaring
it."^ But after a while they break forth into enmity, and
become accusers [of what they had approved], and are desirous
1 Mark i. 24. - Matt. iv. 3 ; Luke iv. 3.
2 Singula, which with Massuet we here understand in the sense of sin-
(jularia.
* Some, instead of significantibus^ read signantibus, " stamping it aa
true."
Book iv.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 393
that tlicir own testimony should not be [regarded as] true.
He, therefore, who was known, was not a different being from
Him who declared, " No man knowetli the Father," but
one and the same, the Father making all things subject to
Him; while He received testimony from all that He was very
man, and that He was very God, from the Father, from the
Spirit, from angels, from the creation itself, from men, from
apostate spirits and demons, from the enemy, and last of all,
from death itself. But the Son, administering all things for
the Father, works from the beginning even to the end, and
without Him no man can attain the knowledge of God. For
the Son is tlie knowledo;e of the Father ; but the knowledi^e
of the Son is in the Father, and has been revealed through the
Son ; and this was the reason w'hy the Lord declared : " No
man know^eth the Son, but the Father ; nor the Father, save
the Son, and those to whomsoever the Son shall reveal [Him]."^
For " shall reveal " was said not with reference to the future
alone, as if then [only] the Word had begun to manifest the
Father when He was born of Mary, but it applies indiffe-
rently throughout all time. For the Son, being present with
His own handiwork from the beginning, reveals the Father
to all ; to whom He wills, and when He wills, and as tlie
Father wills. Wherefore, then, in all things, and through all
things, there is one God, the Father, and one Word, and one
Son, and one Spirit, and one salvation to all who believe in
Him.
^ Matt. xi. 27 ; Luke x. 22. Harvey observes here, that " it is re-
markable that this text, having been correctly quoted a short time
previously in accordance with the received Greek text, L Ix-j ,3ov'hnrxt
6 v'lo; a,7:oKu'Kv\]/a,t^ the translator now not only uses the single verb
revelaverit, but says pointedly that it was so written by the venerable
author. It is probable, therefore, that the previous passage has been
made to harmonize with the received text by a later hand ; with which,
however, the Syriac form agrees."
394 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book iv.
Chap. vii. — Recapitulation of the foregoing argument^ sJioW'
ing that Abraham^ through the o^evelation of the Wordy
Jcnew the Father, and the coming of the Son of God. For
this cause, he rejoiced to see the day of Christ, when the
j)romises made to Mm should he fulfilled. The fruit of
this rejoicing has flowed to 2^osterity, viz. to those ivho are
partakers in the faith of Abraham, hut not to the Jews
ivho reject the Word of God,
1. Therefore Abraham also, knowing the Father through
the Word, who made heaven and earth, confessed Him to be
God ; and having learned, by an announcement [made to
him], that the Son of God would be a man among men, by
whose advent his seed should be as the stars of heaven, he
desired to see that day, so that he might himself also embrace
Christ ; and, seeing it through the spirit of prophecy, he re-
joiced.^ Wherefore Simeon also, one of his descendants,
carried fully out the rejoicing of the patriarch, and said :
" Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace. For
mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared
before the face of all people : a light for the revelation of the
Gentiles,^ and the glory of the people Israel." ^ And the
angels, in like manner, announced tidings of great joy to the
shepherds who were keeping watch by night.^ Moreover,
Mary said, " My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit
hath rejoiced in God my salvation ;" ^ — the rejoicing of
Abraham descending upon those who sprang from him, —
those, namely, who were watching, and who beheld Christ,
and believed in Him ; while, on the other hand, there was a
reciprocal rejoicing which passed backwards from the children
to Abraham, who did also desire to see the day of Christ's
coming. Rightly, then, did our Lord bear witness to him,
saying, " Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day ; and
he saw it, and was glad."
2. For not alone upon Abraham's account did He say,
^ Gen. xvii. 17.
^ The text has oculorum, probably by mistake for populorum.
3 Luke ii. 29, etc. ^ Luke 11. 8. ^ Luke 1. 46.
Book iv.] IBENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 395
these things, but also that He might point out how all who
have known God from the beginning, and have foretold the
advent of Christ, have received the revelation from the Son
Himself ; who also in the last times was made visible and
passible, and spake with the human race, that He might
from the stones raise up children unto Abraham, and fulfil
the promise which God had given him, and that He might
make his seed as the stars of heaven,^ as John the Baptist
says : " For God is able from these stones to raise up chil-
dren unto Abraham." ^ Now, this Jesus did by drawing us
off from the religion of stones, and bringing us over from
hard and fruitless cogitations, and establishing in us a faith
like to Abraham. As Paul does also testify, saying that we
are children of Abraham because of the similarity of our
faith, and the promise of inheritance.^
3. He is therefore one and the same God, who called
Abraham and gave him the promise. But He is the Creator,
who does also through Christ prepare lights in the world,
[namely] those who believe from among the Gentiles. And
Pie says, " Ye are the light of the world ;" * that is, as the
stars of heaven. Him, therefore, I have rightly shown to be
known by no man, unless by the Son, and to whomsoever
the Son shall reveal Him. But the Son reveals the Father
to all to whom He wills that He should be known ; and
neither without the goodwill of the Father, nor without the
agency of the Son, can any man know God. Wherefore did
the Lord say to His disciples, ^'I am the way, the truth, and
the life : and no man comcth unto the Father but by me.
If ye had known me, ye would have known my Father also :
and from henceforth ye have both known Him, and have seen
Him." ^ From these words it is evident, that He is known
by the Son, that is, by the Word.
4. Therefore have the Jews departed from God, in not
receiving His Word, but imagining that they could know the
Father [apart] by Himself, without the Word, that is, with-
out the Son ; they being ignorant of that God who spake in
1 Gen. XV. 5. 2 ^^jj^tt. iii. 9. » ^0^, i^, 12 j Qal. iv. 28.
4 Matt. V. 14. ^ John xiv. 0, 7.
39 G IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
liuman shape to Abraham,^ and again to Moses, saying, '' I
have surely seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I
have come down to deliver them." ^ For the Son, who is
the Word of God, arranged these things beforehand from
the beo^inninii:, the Father being in no want of aniiels, in
order that He might call the creation into being, and form
man, for whom also the creation was made; nor, again,
standing in need of any instrumentality for the framing of
created thino-s, or for the orderinsj of those thiniis which had
reference to man ; while, [at the same time,] He has a vast
and unspeakable number of servants. For His offspring and
His similitude ^ do minister to Him in every respect ; that is,
the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Word and Wisdom ; whom
all the angels serve, and to whom they are subject. Vain,
therefore, are those wdio, because of that declaration, " No
man knoweth the Father, but the Son/'^ do introduce another
unknown Father.
Chap. yiii. — Vain attempts of Marcion and Ids followers^ iclw
exclude Abraham from the salvation bestowed by Christy
who liberated not only Abraham, but the seed of Abraham,
hy fulfilling and not destroying the law when He healed on
the Sabbath-day,
1. Vain, too, is [the effort of] Marcion and his followers
when they [seek to] exclude Abraham from the inheritance,
to whom the Spirit through many men, and now by Paul,
bears witness, that "he believed God, and it was imputed
unto him for righteousness."^ And the Lord [also bears
witness to him], in the first place, indeed, by raising up chil-
dren to him from the stones, and making his seed as the stars
of heaven, saying, " They shall come from the east and
from the west, from the north and from the south, and shall
recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom
1 Gen. xviii. 1. ^ Ex. iii. 7, 8.
3 Massuet here observes, that tlie fathers called the Holy Spirit the
simihtude of the Son.
* Matt. xi. 27 ; Luke x. 22. ^ Rom. iv. 3.
Book iv.] IHENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 397
of heaven ;"^ and then again by saying to the Jews, ^^When
ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the pro-
phets in the kingdom of heaven, but you yourselves cast out."-
This, then, is a clear point, that those who disallow his salva-
tion, and frame the idea of another God besides Ilim who
made the promise to Abraham, are outside the kingdom of
God, and are disinherited from [the gift of] incorruption,
setting at naught and blaspheming God, who introduces,
through Jesus Christ, Abraham to the kingdom of heaven,
and his seed, that is, the church, upon which also is conferred
the adoption and the inheritance promised to Abraham.
2. For the Lord vindicated Abraham's posterity by loosing
them from bondage and calling them to salvation, as He did
in the case of the woman whom He healed, saying openly to
those who had not faith like Abraham, " Ye hypocrites,^ doth
not each one of you on the Sabbath-days loose his ox or his ass,
and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman,
being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound these
eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath-
days?"^ It is clear, therefore, that He loosed and vivified
those who believe in Him as Abraham did, doinsj nothin£C
contrary to the law when He healed upon the Sabbath-day.
For the law did not prohibit men from being healed upon
the Sabbaths; [on the contrary,] it even circumcised them
upon that day, and gave command that the offices should be
performed by the priests for the people ; yea, it did not dis-
allow the healinfT even of dumb animals. Both at Siloam
and on frequent subsequent ^ occasions, did He perform cures
upon the Sabbath ; and for this reason many used to resort
to Him on the Sabbath-days. ' For the law commanded
them to abstain from every servile work, that is, from all
grasping after wealth which is procured by trading and by
other worldly business ; but it exhorted them to attend to
the exercises of the soul, which consist in reflection, and to
1 Matt. viii. 11. 2 L^ke xiii. 28.
^ Ilarvey prefers the singular — " 7///;)()crj7c." ^ Luke xiii. 15, IG.
^ The text here is rather uncertaiu. Harvey's conjectural reading of
el jam for ctlam has been followed.
398 TEENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book iv.
addresses of a beneficial kind for their neighbours' benefits
And therefore the Lord reproved those who unjustly blamed
Him for having healed upon the Sabbath-days. For He did
not make void, but fulfilled the law, by performing the offices
of the high priest, propitiating God for men, and cleansing
the lepers, healing the sick, and Himself suffering death, that
exiled man might go forth from condemnation, and might
return Avithout fear to his own inheritance.
3. And again, the law did not forbid those who were
hungry on the Sabbath-days to take food lying ready at
hand : it did, however, forbid them to reap and to gather into
the barn. And therefore did the Lord say to those who
were blaming His disciples because they plucked and ate the
ears of corn, rubbing them in their hands, " Have ye not
read this, what David did, when himself was an hungered ;
how he went into the house of God, and ate the shew-bread,
and gave to those who were with him ; which it is not lawful
to eat, but for the priests alone? "^ justifying His disciples by
the words of the law, and pointing out that it was lawful for
the priests to act freely. For David had been appointed a
priest by God, although Saul persecuted him. For all the
righteous possess the sacerdotal rank.^ And all the apostles
of the Lord are priests, who do inherit here neither lands nor
houses, but serve God and the altar continually. Of whom
Moses also says in Deuteronomy, when blessing Levi, " Who
said unto his father and to his mother, I have not known thee;
neither did he acknowledge his brethren, and he disinherited
his own sons : he kept Thy commandments, and observed
Thy covenant."^ But who are they that have left father
and mother, and have said adieu to all their neighbours, on
account of the word of God and His covenant, unless the
disciples of the Lord ? Of whom again Moses says, " They
shall have no inheritance, for the Lord Himself is their
1 Luke Ti. 3, 4.
2 This clause is differently quoted by Antonius Melissa and John
Damascenus, thus : Ti6c,g (icx.ai'hivg lUoiios hpocriKViu tx^t roi^iu, i.e. Every
righteous king possesses a priestly order. Comp. 1 Pet. ii. 5, 9.
^ Deut. xxxiii. 9.
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 399
inheritance."^ And again, " The priests the Levites shall
have no part in the whole tribe of Levi, nor substance with
Israel ; their substance is the offerings (fructifications) of the
Lord : these shall they eat."^ Wherefore also Paul says,
" I do not seek after a gift, but I seek after fruit." ^ To His
disciples He said, who had a priesthood of the Lord,^ to whom
it was lawful when hungry to eat the ears of corn,^ " For the
workman is worthy of his meat." ^ And the priests in the
temple profaned the Sabbath, and were blameless. Where-
fore, then, were they blameless ? Because when in the temple
they were not engaged in secular affairs, but in the service of
the Lord, fulfilling the law, but not going beyond it, as that
man did, who of his own accord carried dry wood into the
camp of God, and was justly stoned to death. ^ " For every
tree that bringeth not forth cjood fruit shall be hew^n down,
and cast into the fire;" ^ and "whosoever shall defile the temple
of God, him shall God defile."^
Chap. ix. — There is but one author j and one end to both
covenants.
1. All things therefore are of one and the same substance,
that is, from one and the same God; as also the Lord says to
the disciples : " Therefore every scribe, which is instructed
unto the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a man that is an
householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things
new and old."^^ He did not teach that he who brought
forth the old -was one, and he that brought forth the new,
another; but that they were one and the same. For the
Lord is the good man of the house, who rules the entire
house of His Father ; and who delivers a law suited both for
slaves and those who are as yet undisciplined ; and gives
1 Num. xviii. 20. 2 Deut. xviii. 1. ^ Pbil. iv. 17.
^ Literally, '• the Lord's Levitical substance " — Domini Ltviticam suh~
ittantiani.
^ Literally, " to take food from seeds." ^ Matt. x. 10.
7 Num. XV. 32, etc. » :Matt. iii. 10. » 1 Cor. iii. 17.
^0 Matt. xiii. 52.
400 ir.ENyJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
fitting precepts to those that are free, and have been justi-
fied by faith J as well as tlirows His own inheritance open to
those that are sons. And He called His disciples "scribes"
and "teachers of the kingdom of heaven;" of whom also
He elsewhere says to the Jews : " Behold, I send unto
you wise men, and scribes, and teachers ; and some of them
ye shall kill, and persecute from city to city."^ Now,
without contradiction. He means by those things which
are brought forth from the treasure new and old, the two
covenants ; the old, that giving of the law which took place
formerly ; and He points out as the new, that manner of life
required by the gospel, of which David says, " Sing unto
the Lord a new song;"^ and Esaias, " Sing unto the Lord
a new hymn. His beginning (initiuin)^ His name is glori-
fied from the height of the earth : they declare His powers
in the isles." ^ And Jeremiah says: "Behold, I will make
a new covenant, not as I made with your fathers"* in
Mount Horeb. But one and the same householder produced
both covenants, the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ,
who spake with both Abraham and Moses, and who has
restored us anew to liberty, and has multiplied that grace
which is from Himself.
2. He declares: "For in this place is one greater than
the temple." ^ But [the words] greater and less are not applied
to those thino[s which have nothing in common between
themselves, and are of an opposite nature, and mutually re-
pugnant ; but are used in the case of those of the same sub-
stance, and which possess properties in common, but merely
differ in number and size ; such as water from water, and
light from light, and grace from grace. Greater, therefore,
is that legislation which has been given in order to liberty than
that given in order to bondage ; and therefore it has also been
diffused, not throughout one nation [only], but over the whole
world. For one and the same Lord, who is greater than the
temple, greater than Solomon, and greater than Jonah, con-
1 Matt, xxiii. 34. ^ pg, xcvi. 1.
2 Isa. xlii. 10, quoted from memory. ^ Jcr. xxxi. 31.
« Matt. xii. 6.
Book iv.] IRENu^US AGAINST HERESIES. 401
fers gifts upon men, that is, His own presence, and the resur-
rection from the dead ; but He does not change God, nor
proclaim another Father, but that very same one, who always
has more to measure out to those of His household. And as
their love towards God increases. He bestows more and
greater [gifts] ; as also the Lord said to His disciples : " Ye
shall see greater things than these." ^ And Paul declares :
" Not that I have already attained, or that I am justified, or
already have been made perfect. For we know in part, and
we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect has
come, the things which are in part shall be done away."^
As, therefore, when that which is perfect is come, we shall
not see another Father, but Him whom we now desire to
see (for " blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see
God"^) ; neither shall we look for another Christ and Son of
God, but Plim who [was born] of the Virgin Mary, who also
suffered, in whom too we trust, and whom we love ; as Esaias
says : " And they shall say in that day. Behold our Lord
God, in whom we have trusted, and we have rejoiced in our
salvation;"* and Peter says in his epistle: "Whom, not
seeing, ye love ; in whom, though now ye see Him not, ye
have believed, ye shall rejoice with joy unspeakable ;"^ neither
do we receive another Holy Spirit, besides Him who is with
us, and who cries, "Abba, Father;"^ and we shall make
increase in the very same things [as now], and shall make
progress, so that no longer through a glass, or by means of
enigmas, but face to face, we shall enjoy the gifts of God ; —
so also now, receiving more than the temple, and more than
Solomon, that is, the advent of the Son of God, w^e have not
been tauo-ht another God besides the Framer and the Maker
of all, who has been pointed out to us from the beginning;
^ John i. 50.
- These words of Scripture are quoted by memory from Phil. iii. 12,
1 Cor. iv. 4, and xiii. 9, 10. It is remarkable that the second is incor-
porated with the preceding in a similar way, in the ancient Italic version
known as the St. Gennain copy.
3 Matt. V. 8. * Isa. xxv. 9.
^ « 1 Pet. i. 8. G i^om. viii. 15.
20
402 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
nor another Christ, the Son of God, besides Him who was
foretold by the prophets.
3. For the new covenant having been known and preached
by the prophets. He who was to carry it out according to the
good pleasure of the Father was also preached, having been
revealed to men as God pleased ; that they might always make
progress through believing in Him, and by means of the
[successive] covenants, should gradually attain to perfect salva-
tion.^ For there is one salvation and one God; but the pre-
cepts which form the man are numerous, and the steps which
lead man to God are not a few. It is allowable for an earthly
and temporal king, though he is [but] a man, to grant to his
subjects greater advantages at times : shall not this then be
lawful for God, since He is [ever] the same, and is always
willing to confer a greater [degree of] grace upon the human
race, and to honour continually with many gifts those who
please Him ? But if this be to make progress, [namely,] to
find out another Father besides Him who was preached from
the be^innincp ; and ascain, besides him who is imamned to
have been discovered in the second place, to find out a third
other, — then the progress of this man will consist in his also
proceeding from a third to a fourth ; and from this, again,
to another and another : and thus he who thinks that he is
always making progress of such a kind, will never rest in one
God. For, being driven away from Him who truly is [God],
and being turned backwards, he shall be for ever seeking,
yet shall never find out God ;^ but shall continually swim in
an abyss without limits, unless, being converted by repent-
ance, he return to the place from which he had been cast out,
confessing one God, the Father, the Creator, and believing
[in Him] who was declared by the law and the prophets,
^ Tliis is in accordance with Harvey's text — " Maturescere profectum
salutis." Grabe, however, reads, "Maturescere perfectum salutis;"
making this equivalent to "ad perfectam salutem." In most Mss. " pro-
fectum" and "perfectum" would be written alike. The same word
("profectus") occiu-s again almost immediately, w^ith an evident refer-
ence to and comparison with this clause.
2 2 Tim. iii. 7."
Book iv.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 403
•who was borne witness to by Christ, as He did Himself declare
to those who were accusing His disciples of not observing
the tradition of the elders : " Why do ye make void the law
of God by reason of your tradition ? For God said, Honour
thy father and mother ; and, Whosoever curseth father or
mother, let him die the death." ^ And again, He says to
them a second time : " And ye have made void the word of
God^ by reason of your tradition;" Christ confessing in the
j^lainest manner Him to be Father and God, who said in the
law, " Honour thy father and mother ; that it may be well
with thee." '' For the true God did confess the commandment
of the law as the word of God, and called no one else God
besides His own Father.
Chap. x. — Tlie Old Testament Scriptures, and tlwse written hij
Moses in particular, do everywhere mahe mention of the
Son of God, and foretell His advent and j^assion. From
this fact it follows that they icere inspired by one and
tlie same God.
1. Wherefore also John docs appropriately relate that the
Lord said to the Jews : " Ye search the Scriptures, in which
ye think ye have eternal life ; these are they which testify of
me. And ye are not willing to come unto me, that ye may
have llfe.'"^ How therefore did the Scriptures testify of
Him, unless they were from one and the same Father, in-
structinfT men beforehand as to the advent of His Son, and
foretelling the salvation brought in by Him ? " For if ye
had believed Moses, ye would also have believed me ; for he
wrote of me ;"^ [saying this.] no doubt, because the Son of
God is implanted everywhere throughout his writings : at
one time, indeed, speaking with Abraham, when about to eat
with him ; at another time with Noah, giving to him the
dimensions [of the ark] ; at another, inquiring after Adam ;
^ .Alatt. XV. 3, 4.
- Another variation from the tcxtus receptus borne out by the Codes.
Bezae, and some ancient vei^sious.
3 Ex. XX. 12, LXX. * John v. 39, 40. ^ John v. 46,
404 lUEN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
at another, bringing down judgment upon the Sodomites ;
and again, when He becomes visible,^ and directs Jacob on
his journey, and speaks with Moses from the bush.^ And it
would be endless to recount [the occasions] upon which the
Son of God is shown forth by Moses. Of the day of His
passion, too, he was not ignorant ; but foretold Him, after a
figurative manner, by the name given to the passover;^ and
at that very festival, which had been proclaimed such a long
time previously by Moses, did our Lord suffer, thus fulfilling
the passover. And he did not describe the day only, but the
place also, and the time of day at which the sufferings ceased,*
and the sign of the setting of the sun, saying : " Thou may-
est not sacrifice the passover within any other of thy cities
which the Lord God gives thee ; but in the place which the
Lord thy God shall choose that His name be called on there,
thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, towards the setting
of the sun."^
2. And already he had also declared His advent, saying,
" There shall not fail a chief in Judah, nor a leader" from
his loins, until He come for whom it is laid up, and He is
the hope of the nations ; binding His foal to the vine, and His
ass's colt to the creeping ivy. He shall wash His stole in
wine, and His upper garment in the blood of the grape ;
His eyes shall be more joyous than wine,^ and His teeth
whiter than milk." ^ For, let those who have the reputation
of investigating everything, inquire at what time a prince
and leader failed out of Judah, and who is the hope of the
^ See Gen. xviii. 13 and xxxi. 11, etc. There is an allusion here to a
favourite notion among the fathers, derived from Philo the Jew, that the
name Israel was compounded from the three Hebrew words pi5 flK"! t^''K,
i.e. " the man seeing God."
2 Ex. iii. 4, etc.
^ Feuardent infers with great probability from this passage, that
Irenseus, like TertuUian and others of the fathers, connected the word
Pascha with Trxax^iv, to suffer.
* Latin, " et extremitatem temporum." ^ Deut. xvi. 5, 6.
^ The Latin is, " Isetifici oculi ejus a vino," the Hebrew method of
indicating comparison being evidently imitated.
7 Gen. xlix. 10-12, LXX.
I
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 405
nations, who also is the vine, what was the ass's colt [referred
to as] His, what the clothing, and what the eyes, what the
teeth, and what the wine, and thus let them investigate every
one of the points mentioned ; and they shall find that there
was none other announced than our Lord, Christ Jesus.
Wherefore Moses, when chiding the ingratitude of the
people, said, " Ye infatuated people, and unwise, do ye thus
requite the Lord ? " ^ And again, he indicates that He w^ho
from the beginning founded and created them, the Word,
who also redeems and vivifies us in the last times, is shown
as hanging on the tree, and they will not believe on Him.
For he says, " And thy life shall be hanging before thine
eyes, and thou wilt not believe thy life." ^ And again, " Has
not this same one thy Father owned thee, and made thee, and
created thee? "^
CiiAP. XI. — The old prophets and righteous men knew before-
hand of the advent of Christ, and earnestly/ desired to see
and hear Ilim, He revealing Himself in the Scriptures
hy the Holy Ghost, and without any change in Himself
enricliing men day hy day loith benefits, but conferring
them in greater abundance on later than on former
generations.
1. But that it was not only the prophets and many righteous
men, who, foreseeing through the Holy Spirit His advent,
prayed that they might attain to that period in which they
should see their Lord face to face, and hear His words, the
Lord has made manifest, when He says to His disciples,
" Many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those
things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those
things which ye hear, and have not heard them." "^ In what
^ Dcut xxxii. 6.
- Deut. xxviii. C6. Tertullian, Cyprian, and other early fathers, agree
with Irenajus in his exposition of this text.
^ Deut. xxxii. C. " Owned thee," i.e. following the meaning of the
Hebrew, " owned thee by generation."
* Matt. xiii. 17.
406 IRENJSUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
way, tlien, did tliey desire botli to hear and to see, unless they
had foreknowledge of His future advent ? But how could
they have foreknown it, unless they had previously received
foreknowledge from Himself? And how do the Scriptures
testify of Him, unless all things had ever been revealed and
shown to believers by one and the same God through the
Word ; He at one time conferring with His creature, and at
another propounding His law ; at one time, again, reprov-
ing, at another exhorting, and then setting free His servant,
and adopting him as a son (in filiitm) ; and, at the proper
time, bestowing an incorruptible inheritance, for the purpose
of bringing man to perfection ? For He formed him for
growth and increase, as the Scripture says : '' Increase and
multiply." ^
2. And in this respect God differs from man, that God
indeed makes, but man is made ; and truly. He who makes
is always the same ; but that which is made must receive
both beginning, and middle, and addition, and increase.
And God does indeed create after a skilful manner, while, [as
regards] man, he is created skilfully. God also is truly per-
fect in all things. Himself equid and similar to Him.self, as
He is all light, and all mind, and all substance, and the fount
of all good ; but man receives advancement and increase
towards God. For as God is always the same, so also man,
when found in God, shall always go on towards God. For
neither does God at any time cease to confer benefits upon,
or to enrich man ; nor does man ever cease from receiving
the benefits, and being enriched by God. For the receptacle
of His goodness, and the instrument of His glorification, is
the man who is grateful to Him that made him ; and again,
the receptacle of His just judgment is the ungrateful man,
who both despises his ^laker and is not subject to His Word ;
who has promised that He will give very much to those
always bringing forth fruit, and more [and more] to those
who have the Lord's money. " Well done," He says, " good
and faithful servant : because thou hast been faithful in
little, I will appoint thee over many things ; enter thou into
1 Gen. i. 28.
Book iv.] IEENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 407
the joy of thy Lord." ^ The Lord Himself thus promises
very much.
3. As, therefore, He has promised to give very much to
those who do now bring forth fruit, according to the gift of
His grace, but not according to the cliangeableness of '' know-
ledge ; " for the Lord remains the same, and the same Father
is revealed ; thus, therefore, has the one and the same Lord
granted, by means of His advent, a greater gift of grace to
those of a later period, than what He had granted to those
under the Old Testament dispensation. For they indeed used
to hear, by means of [His] servants, that the King would
come, and tliey rejoiced to a certain extent, inasmuch as they
hoped for His coming ; but those who have belield Him actu-
ally present, and have obtained liberty, and been made par-
takers of His gifts, do possess a greater amount of grace, and
a higher degree of exultation, rejoicing because of the King's
arrival : as also David says, *' My soul shall rej(jice in the
Lord ; it shall be glad in His salvation." '" And for this cause,
upon His entrance into Jerusalem, all those who were in the
way ^ recognised David their king in His sorrow of soul, and
spread their garments for Him, and ornamented the way
with green boughs, crying out with great joy and gladness,
" Hosanna to the Son of David ; blessed is He that cometh
in the name of the Lord: hosanna in the highest."^ But to
the envious wicked stewards, who circumvented those under
them, and ruled over those that had no great intelligence,'^
and for this reason were unwilling that the king should come,
and who said to Him, " Hearest thou what these say?" did
the Lord reply, " Have ye never read. Out of the mouths of
babes and sucklings hast Thou perfected praise?"^* — thus
pointing out that what had been declared by David concern-
1 Matt. XXV. 21, etc. - Ts.'xxxv. 9.
^ Or, " all those who were in the icmj of DavhV — omnes qui erant in
via David^ in dolore animx cognoverunt siium regem.
* Matt. xxi. 8.
^ The Latin text is ambignous : " dominabantur eorum, quibus ratio
nou constabat." The rendering may be, " and ruled over those things
•witb respect to which it was not right that they should do so."
6 Matt. xxi. 10 ; Ps. viii. o.
408 lEEN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
ing the Son of God, was accomplished in His own person ; and
indicating that they were indeed ignorant of the meaning of
the Scripture and the dispensation of God ; but declaring that
it was Himself who was announced by the prophets as Christ,
whose name is praised in all the earth, and who perfects
praise to His Father from the mouth of babes and sucklings ;
wherefore also His glory has been raised above the heavens.
4. If, therefore, the self-same person is present who was
announced by the prophets, our Lord Jesus Christ, and if
His advent has brought in a fuller [measure of] grace and
greater gifts to those who have received Him, it is plain that
the Father also is Himself the same who was proclaimed
by the prophets, and that the Son, on His coming, did not
spread the knowledge of another Father, but of the same who
was preached from the beginning ; from whom also He has
brought down liberty to those who, in a lawful manner, and
with a willing mind, and with all the heart, do Him service ;
whereas to scoffers, and to those not subject to God, but who
follow outward purifications for the praise of men (which
observances had been given as a type of future things, — the
law typifying, as it were, certain things in a shadow, and
delineating eternal things by temporal, celestial by terrestrial),
and to those who pretend that they do themselves observe
more than what has been prescribed, as if preferring their
own zeal to God Himself, while within they are full of
hypocrisy, and covetousness, and all wickedness, — [to such]
has He assigned everlasting perdition by cutting them off
from life.
Chap. xii. — It clearly appears that there was hut one author
of both the old and the new laiv, from the fact that Christ
condemned traditions and customs repugnant to the former,
while He confirmed its most important precepts, and
taught that He ivas Himself the end of the Mosaic law,
1. For the tradition of the elders themselves, which they
pretended to observe from the law, was contrary to the law
given by Moses. Wherefore also Esaias declares ; " Thy
Book iv.J IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 409
dealers mix the wine with water," ^ showing that the elders
were in the habit of mingling a watered tradition with the
simple command of God ; that is, they set up a spurious law,
and one contrary to the [true] law; as also the Lord made plain,
when He said to them, " Why do ye transgress the command-
ment of God, for the sake of your tradition?"^ For not
only by actual transgression did they set the law of God at
naught, mingling the wine with water ; but they also set up
their own law in opposition to it, which is termed, even to
the present day, the pharisaical. In this [law] they suppress
certain things, add others, and interpret others, again, as
they think proper, which their teachers use, each one in parti-
cular ; and desiring to uphold these traditions, they were un-
willing to be subject to the law of God, which prepares them
for the coming of Christ. But they did even blame the Lord
for healing on the Sabbath-days, which, as I have already
observed, the law did not prohibit. For they did themselves,
in one sense, perform acts of healing upon the Sabbath-day,
when they circumcised a man [on that day] ; but they did
not blame themselves for transgressing the command of God
through tradition and the aforesaid pharisaical law, and for
not keeping the commandment of the law, which is the love
of God.
2. But that this is the first and greatest commandment,
and that the next [has respect to love] towards our neigh-
bour, the Lord has taught, when He says that the entire law
and the prophets hang upon these two commandments. More-
over, He did not Himself bring down [from heaven] any
other commandment greater than this one, but renewed this
very same one to His disciples, when He enjoined them to
love God with all their heart, and others as themselves. But
if He had descended from another Father, He never would
have made use of the first and greatest commandment of the
law ; but He would undoubtedly have endeavoured by all
means to bring down a greater one than this from the perfect
Father, so as not to make use of that which had been given
by the God of the law. And Paul in like manner dechires,
1 Isa. i. 22. 2 ^i^tt. XV. 3.
410 IJIENjEUS against heresies, [Book iv.
*^ Love is the fulfilling of the law :"^ and [he declares] that
when all other things have been destroyed, there shall
remain " faith, hope, and love ; but the greatest of all is
love;"' and that apart from the love of God, neither know-
ledge avails anything,^ nor the understanding of mysteries,
nor faith, nor prophecy, but that without love all are hollow
and vain; moreover, that love makes man perfect; and that
he who loves God is perfect, both in this world and in that
which is to come. For we do never cease from loving God,
but in proportion as we continue to contemplate Him, so
much the more do we love Him.
3. As in the law, therefore, and in the gospel [likewise],
the first and greatest commandment is, to love the Lord God
with the whole heart, and then there follows a commandment
like to it, to love one's neighbour as one's self ; the author of
the law and the gospel is shown to be one and the same.
For the precepts of an absolutely perfect life, since they are
the same in each Testament, have pointed out [to us] the
same God, who certainly has promulgated particular laws
adapted for each ; but the more prominent and the greatest
[commandments], without which salvation cannot [be attained].
He has exhorted [us to observe] the same in both.
4. The Lord, too, does not do away with this [God], when
He shows that the law was not derived from another God,
expressing Himself as follows to those who were being in-
structed by Him, to the multitude and to His disciples : "The
scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. All, therefore,
whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do ; but
do not ye after their works : for they say, and do not. For
they bind heavy burdens, and lay them upon men's shoulders;
but they themselves will not so much as move them wdth a
finger."^ He therefore did not throw blame upon that law
which was given by Moses, wdien He exhorted it to be observed,
Jerusalem being as yet in safety ; but He did throw blame
upon those persons, because they repeated indeed the words
of the law, yet were without love. And for this reason were
1 Rom. xiii. 10. 2 i Qq^^ xiii. 13.
8 1 Cor. xiii. 2. * Matt. xxui. 2-4.
»
Book iv.] IRENJETJS AGAINST IIEllESIES. 411
they lield as being unrlgliteous as respects God, and as
respects their neighbours. As also Isaiah says : " This people
honoiireth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me :
howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching the doctrines
and the commandments of men/'^ lie does not call the law
given by Moses commandments of men, but the traditions of
the elders themselves which they had invented, and in up-
holding which they made the law of God of none effect, and
were on this account also not subject to His Word. For this
is what Paul says concerning these men : " For they, being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to
the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to every one that believeth." ^ And how is
Christ the end of the law, if He be not also the final cause of
it ? For He who has brought in the end has Himself also
wrought the beginning ; and it is He who does Himself say
to ]\Ioses, " I have surely seen the affliction of my people
^Yhich is in Egypt, and I have come down to deliver them ;"^
it being customary from the beginning with the Word of
God to ascend and descend for the purpose of saving those
who were in affliction.
5. Now, that the law did beforehand teach mankind the
necessity of following Christ, He does Himself make mani-
fest, when He replied as follows to him who asked Him
what he should do that he mioht inherit eternal life : " If
thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."^ But
upon the other asking " Which ? " again the Lord replies :
" Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not
bear false witness, honour father and mother, and thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself," — setting as an ascending
series {yehit gradus) before those who wished to follow Him,
the precepts of the law, as the entrance into life ; and what He
then said to one He said to all. But when the former said,
" All these have I done " (and most likely he had not kept
them, for in that case the Lord would not have said to him,
1 Isa. xxix. 13. 2 Koni. x. 3, 1.
8 Ex. iii. 7, 8. ** Matt. xix. 17, IS, etc.
412 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
'' Keep the commandments "), the Lord, exposing his covet-
ousness, said to him, "If thou wih be perfect, go, sell all that
thou hast, and distribute to the poor ; and come, follow me ; "
promising to those who would act thus, the portion belonging
to the apostles (cipostolorum partem). And He did not preach
to His followers another God the Father, besides Him who was
proclaimed by the law from the beginning ; nor another Son;
nor the Mother, the enthymesis of the -iEon, who existed in
suffering and apostasy ; nor the Pleroma of the thirty ^ons,
which has been proved vain, and incapable of being believed
in ; nor that fable invented by the other heretics. But He
taught that they should obey the commandments which God
enjoined from the beginning, and do away with their former
covetousness by good works,-^ and follow after Christ. But
that possessions distributed to the poor do annul former covet-
ousness, Zaccheus made evident, when he said, " Behold, the
half of my goods I give to the poor ; and if I have defrauded
any one, I restore fourfold."^
Chap. xiii. — Christ did not abrogate the natural precepts of
the laiOy but rather fulfilled and extended them. He re-
moved the yohe and bondage of the old law, so that man-
hind, being now set free, might serve God ivith that trustful
'piety luhich becometh sons,
1. And that the Lord did not abrogate the natural [pre-
cepts] of the law, by which man^ is justified, which also those
who were justified by faith, and who pleased God, did ob-
serve previous to the giving of the law, but that He extended
and fulfilled them, is shown from His words. " For," He re-
marks, " it has been said to them of old time, Do not commit
^ Harvey here remarks : " In a theological point of view, it should be
observed, that no saving merit is ascribed to almsgiving : it is spoken of
here as the negation of the vice of covetousness, which is whoUy incon-
sistent with the state of salvation to which we are called."
^ Luke xix. 8.
^ That is, as Harvey observes, the natural man^ as described in Rom.
ii. 27.
[
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 413
adultery. But I say unto you, That every one who hath
looked upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart." ^ And again : " It
has been said. Thou shalt not kill. But I say unto you.
Every one who is angry with his brother without a cause,
shall be in danger of the judgment." ^ And, " It hath been
said. Thou shalt not forswear thyself. But I say unto you.
Swear not at all ; but let your conversation be, Yea, yea, and
Nay, nay." ^ And other statements of a like nature. For all
these do not contain or imply an opposition to and an over-
turning of the [precepts] of the past, as Marcion's followers
do strenuously maintain ; but [they exhibit] a fulfilling and
an extension of them, as He does Himself declare : " Unless
your righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes and
Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." *
For what meant the excess referred to % In the first place,
[we must] believe not only in the Father, but also in His
Son now revealed ; for He it is who leads man into fellow-
ship and unity with God. In the next place, [we must] not
only say, but we must do ; for they said, but did not. And
[we must] not only abstain from evil deeds, but even from the
desires after them. Now He did not teach us these things
as being opposed to the law, but as fulfilling the law, and
implanting in us the varied righteousness of the law. That
would have been contrary to the law, if He had commanded
His disciples to do anything which the law had prohibited.
But this which He did command — namely, not only to abstain
from things forbidden by the law, but even from longing
after them — is not contrary to [the law], as I have remarked,
neither is it the utterance of one destroying the law, but of
one fulfilling, extending, and affording greater scope to it.
2. For the law, since it was laid down for those in bond-
age, used to instruct the soul by means of those corporeal
objects which were of an external nature, drawing it, as by a
bond, to obey its commandments, that man might learn to
serve God. But the Word set free the soul, and taught
1 >ratt. V. 27, 28. 2 ^att. v. 21, 22.
8 Matt. V. 33, etc. * Matt. v. 20.
414 IUENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book w.
that through it the body should be willingly purified.
Which having been accomplished, it followed as of course,
that the bonds of slavery should be removed, to which man
had now become accustomed, and that he should follow God
without fetters : moreover, that the laws of liberty should be
extended, and subjection to the king increased, so that no one
who is converted should appear unworthy to Him who set
him free, but that the piety and obedience due to the Master
of the household should be equally rendered both by servants
and children ; while the children possess greater confidence
[than the servants], inasmuch as the working of liberty is
greater and more glorious than that obedience which is ren-
dered in [a state of] slavery.
3. And for this reason did the Lord, instead of that Fcom-
/ i_
inandment], " Thou shalt not commit adultery," forbid even
concupiscence ; and instead of that which runs thus, " Thou
shalt not kill," He prohibited anger ; and instead of the law
enjoining the giving of tithes, [He told us] to share ^ all our
possessions with the poor ; and not to love our neighbours
only, but even our enemies ; and not merely to be liberal
givers and bestowers, but even that we should present a gra-
tuitous gift to those who take away our goods. For ^' to him
that taketh away thy coat," He says, " give to him thy cloak
also ; and from him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not
again ; and as ye w^ould that men should do unto you, do ye
unto them:"^ so that we may not grieve as those wdio are
unwilling to be defrauded, but may rejoice as those who have
given wdllingly, and as rather conferring a favour upon our
neighbours than yielding to necessity. " And if any one,"
He says, "shall compel thee [to go] a mile, go with him
twain ;"^ so that thou mayest not follow him as a slave, but
may as a free man go before him, showing thyself in all
things kindly disposed and useful to thy neighbour, not
reo;ardino^ their evil intentions, but Derforminoj thv kind
offices, assimilating thyself to the Father, " who maketh His
sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and sendeth rain upon
the just and unjust." ^ Now all these [precepts], as I have
1 Matt. xix. 21. 2 Luke vi. 29-31. ^ j^x^tt. v. 41. - Matt. v. 45.
Book iv.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 415
already observed, were not [the injunctions] of one doing
away with the law, but of one fulfilling, extending, and
widening it among us ; just as if one should say, that the
more extensive operation of liberty implies that a more com-
plete subjection and affection towards our Liberator had been
implanted within us. For He did not set us free for this
purpose, that we should depart from Him (no one, indeed,
while placed out of reach of the Lord's benefits, has power to
procure for himself the means of salvation), but that the more
we receive His grace, the more we should love Him. Now
the more we have loved Him, the more glory shall we receive
from Him, when we are continually in the presence of the
Father.
4. Inasmuch, then, as all natural precepts are common to
us and to them (the Jews), they had in them indeed the
beginning and origin ; but in us they have received growth
and completion. For to yield assent to God, and to follow
His Word, and to love Plim above all, and one's neighbour as
one's self (now man is neighbour to man), and to abstain
from every evil deed, and all other things of a like nature
which are common to both [covenants], do reveal one and the
same God. But this is our Lord, the Word of God, who in
the first instance certainly drew slaves to God, but afterwards
He set those free who were subject to Him, as Pie does Him-
self declare to His disciples: "I will not now call you servants,
for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth ; but I have
called you friends, for all things which I have heard from
my Father I have made known." ^ For in that which He
says, " I will not now call you servants," He indicates in the
most marked manner that it was Himself who did originally
appoint for men that bondage with respect to God through
the law, and then afterwards conferred upon them freedom.
And in that He says, "For the servant knoweth not what his
lord doeth," He points out, by means of His own advent,
the ignorance of a people in a servile condition. But when
He terms His disciples "'the friends of God," Pie plainly
declares Himself to be the Word of God, whom Abraham
^ John XV. 15.
416 inENJEJJS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
also followed voluntarily and under no compulsion {sine vin-
culis)j because of the noble nature of his faith, and so became
" the friend of God." ^ But the Word of God did not accept
of the friendship of Abraham, as though He stood in need of
it, for He was perfect from the beginning ("Before Abra-
ham was," He says, " I am"^), but that He in His goodness
might bestow" eternal life upon Abraham himself, inasmuch
as the friendship of God imparts immortality to those who
embrace it.
Chap. xiv. — If God demands obedience from man, if He
formed man, called him and placed him under laws, it
was merely for maiis welfare; not that God stood in
need of man, hut that He graciously conferred uj)on man
His favours in every 'possible manner,
1. In the beginning, therefore, did God form Adam, not
as if He stood in need of man, but that He might have
[some one] upon whom to confer His benefits. For not
alone antecedently to Adam, but also before all creation, the
Word glorified His Father, remaining in Him ; and was
Himself glorified by the Father, as He did Himself declare,
" Father, glorify Thou me with the glory which I had with
Thee before the w^orld was."^ Nor did He stand in need of our
service when He ordered us to follow Him ; but He thus be-
stowed salvation upon ourselves. For to follow the Saviour is
to be a partaker of salvation, and to follow light is to receive
light. But those who are in light do not themselves illumine
the light, but are illumined and revealed by it : they do
certainly contribute nothing to it, but, receiving the benefit,
they are illumined by the light. Thus, also, service [rendered]
to God does indeed profit God nothing, nor has God need of
human obedience; but He grants to those who follow^ and
serve Him life and incorruption and eternal glory, bestowing
benefit upon those wdio serve [Him], because they do serve
Him, and on His followers, because they do follow Him;
but does not receive any benefit from them : for He is rich,
^ Jas. ii. 23. ^ John viii. 58. ^ John xvii. 5.
Book iv.] IUENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 417
perfect, and in need of nothing. But for this reason does
God demand service from men, in order that, since He is
good and merciful. He may benefit those who continue in
His service. For, as much as God is in want of nothing, so
much does man stand in need of fellowship with God. For
this is the glory of man, to continue and remain permanently
in God's service. Wherefore also did the Lord say to His
disciples, " Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you ;"^
indicating that they did not glorify Him when they followed
Him ; but that, in following the Son of God, they were glori-
fied by Him. And again, " I will, that where I am, there they
also may be, that they may behold my glory ;"^ not vainly
boasting because of this, but desiring that His disciples
should share in His glory : of whom Esaias also says, " I
will bring thy seed from the east, and will gather thee from
the west ; and I will say to the north, Give up ; and to the
south. Keep not back : bring my sons from far, and my
daughters from the ends of the earth ; all, as many as have
been called in my name : for in my glory I have prepared,
and formed, and made him."^ Inasmuch as, then, "where-
soever the carcase is, there shall also the eagles be gathered
together,"* we do participate in the glory of the Lord, who
has both formed us, and prepared us for this, that, when we
are with Him, we may partake of His glory.
2. Thus it was, too, that God formed man at the first,
because of His munificence ; but chose the patriarchs for the
sake of their salvation ; and prepared a people beforehand,
teaching the headstrong to follow God ; and raised up
prophets upon earth, accustoming man to bear His Spirit
[within him], and to hold communion with God : He Himself,
indeed, having need of nothing, but granting communion
with Himself to those who stood in need of it, and sketching
out, like an architect, the plan of salvation to those that
pleased Him. And lie did Himself furnish guidance to
those who beheld Him not in Egypt, while to those who
became unruly in the desert He promulgated a law very
' John XV. 16. 2 John xvii. 24.
» Isa. xliii. 5. * Matt. xxiv. 28.
2 D
418 lEENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
suitable [to their condition]. Then, on the people who en-
tered into the good land He bestowed a noble inheritance ;
and He killed the fatted calf for those converted to the
Father, and presented them with the finest robe.^ Thus, in
a variety of ways, He adjusted the human race to an agree-
ment with salvation. On this account also does John declare
in the Apocalypse, " And His voice as the sound of many
waters."^ For the Spirit [of God] is truly [like] many
waters, since the Father is both rich and great. And the
Word, passing through all those [men], did liberally confer
benefits upon His subjects, by drawing up in writing a law
adapted and applicable to every class [among them].
3. Thus, too. He imposed upon the [Jewish] people the
construction of the tabernacle, the building of the temple,
the election of the Levites, sacrifices also, and oblations, legal
monitions, and all the other service of the law. He does
Himself truly want none of these things, for He is always
full of all good, and had in Himself all the odour of kind-
ness, and every perfume of sweet-smelling savours, even
before Moses existed. Moreover, He instructed the people,
who were prone to turn to idols, instructing them by repeated
appeals to persevere and to serve God, calling them to the
things of primary importance by means of those which were
secondary ; that is, to things that are real, by means of those
that are typical ; and by things temporal, to eternal ; and by
the carnal to the spiritual; and by the earthly to the heavenly;
as was also said to Moses, " Thou shalt make all things after
the pattern of those things which thou sawest in the mount." ^
For during forty days He was learning to keep [in his
memory] the words of God, and the celestial patterns, and
the spiritual images, and the types of things to come ; as also
Paul says : " For they drank of the rock which followed
them : and the rock was Christ." * And again, having first
mentioned what are contained in the law, he goes on to say :
" Now all these things happened to them in a figure ; but they
were written for our admonition, upon whom the end of the
. 1 Luke XV. 22, 23. ' Rev. i. 15.
•^ Ex. XXV. 40. * 1 Cor. x. 11.
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 419
ages is come." For by means of types they learned to fear
God, and to continue devoted to His service.
Chap. xv. — At first God deemed it sitfiicient to inscribe the
natural law, or the Decalogue^ upon the hearts of men ;
hut afterwards He found it necessary to hndle, with the
yoke of the Mosaic law, the desires of the Jews, who ivere
abusing their liberty ; and even to add some special
commands, because of the hardness of their hearts.
1. They (the Jews) had therefore a law, a course of dis-
cipline, and a prophecy of future things. For God at the
first, indeed, warning them by means of natural precepts,
which from the beginning He had implanted in mankind,
that is, by means of the Decalogue (which, if any one does
not observe, he has no salvation), did then demand nothing
more of them. As Moses says in Deuteronomy, " These are
all the words which the Lord spake to the whole assembly of
the sons of Israel on the mount, and He added no more ; and
He wrote them on two tables of stone, and gave them to
me."^ For this reason [He did so], that they who are willing
to follow Him might keep these commandments. But when
they turned themselves to make a calf, and had gone back
in their minds to Egypt, desiring to be slaves instead of free-
men, they were placed for the future in a state of servitude
suited to their wish, — [a slavery] which did not indeed cut
them off from God, but subjected them to the yoke of
bondage ; as Ezekiel the prophet, when stating the reasons
for the giving of such a law, declares : " And their eyes were
after the desire of their heart ; and I gave them statutes that
were not good, and judgments in which they shall not live.""
Luke also has recorded that Stephen, "who was the first
elected into the diaconate by the apostles, and who was the
first slain for the testimony of Christ, spoke regarding Closes
as follows : " This man did indeed receive the command-
ments of the living God to give to us, whom your fathers
would not obey, but thrust [Him from them], and in their
1 Dent. V. 22. 2 Ezek, ^x. 24.
420 IRENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
hearts turned back again into Egypt, saying unto Aaron,
Make us gods to go before us ; for we do not know what has
happened to [this] Moses, who led us from the land of Egypt.
And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifices
to the idol, and were rejoicing in the works of their own
hands. But God turned, and gave them up to worship the
hosts of heaven ; as it is written in the book of the prophets : ^
O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me sacrifices and
oblations for forty years in the wilderness ? And ye took up
the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of the god Kemphan,"^
figures which ye made to worship them ; " ^ pointing out
plainly, that the law being such, was not given to them by
another God, but that, adapted to their condition of servi-
tude, [it originated] from the very same [God as we w^orship].
Wherefore also He says to Moses in Exodus : " I will send
forth my angel before thee ; for I will not go up with thee,
because thou art a stiff-necked people." ^
2. And not only so, but the Lord also showed that certain
precepts were enacted for them by Moses, on account of their
hardness [of heart], and because of their unwillingness to be
obedient, when, on their saying to Him, " Why then did
Moses command to give a writing of divorcement, and to
send away a wife?" He said to them, "Because of the hard-
ness of your hearts he permitted these things to you ; but
from the beginning it was not so ;" ^ thus exculpating Moses
as a faithful servant, but acknowledging one God, who from
the beginning made male and female, and reproving them as
hard-hearted and disobedient. And therefore it was that
they received from Moses this law of divorcement, adapted
to their hard nature. But why say I these things concerning
the Old Testament ? For in the New also are the apostles
found doing this very thing, on the ground which has been
mentioned, Paul plainly declaring, " But these things I say,
not the Lord."^ And again : " But this I speak by permission,
not by commandment." ^ And again : " Now, as concerning
^ Amos V. 25, 26. ^ In accordance with the Codex Bezse.
^ Acts vii. 38, etc. "* Ex. xxxiii. 2, 3. ^ Matt. xix. 7, 8.
6 1 Cor. vii. 12. ^ 1 Cor. vii. G.
Book IV.] IBENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 421
virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord ; yet I give
my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord
to be faithful." ^ But further, in another place he says :
" That Satan tempt you not for your incontinence." ^ If,
therefore, even in the New Testament, the apostles are found
granting certain precepts in consideration of human infir-
mity, because of the incontinence of some, lest such persons,
having grown obdurate, and despairing altogether of their
salvation, should become apostates from God, — it ought not
to be wondered at, if also in the Old Testament the same God
permitted similar indulgences for the benefit of ITis people,
drawing them on by means of the ordinances already men-
tioned, so that they might obtain the gift of salvation through
them, while they obeyed the Decalogue, and being restrained
by Ilim, should not revert to idolatry, nor apostatize from
God, but learn to love Him with the whole heart. And if
certain persons, because of the disobedient and ruined Israel-
ites, do assert that the giver (doctor) of the law was limited
in power, they will find in our dispensation, that " many are
called, but few chosen;"^ and that there are those who
inwardly are wolves, yet wear sheep's clothing in the eyes of
the world (^foris) ; and that God has always preserved free-
dom, and the power of self-government in man, while at the
same time He issued His own exhortations, in order that those
who do not obey Him should be righteously judged (con-
demned) because they have not obeyed Him ; and that those
who have obeyed and believed on Him should be honoured
with immortality.
CiIAr. XVI. — Perfect righteousness icas conferred neither hy
circumcision nor hy any other legal ceremonies. The
Decalogue^ however, ivas not cancelled by Christ, but is
always hi force : men icere never released from its com-
mandments.
1. Moreover, we learn from the Scripture itself, that God
gave circumcision, not as the completer of righteousness, but
1 1 Cor. vii. 25. - 1 Cor. vii. 5. ^ ^fatt. xx. 16.
422 ' IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
as a sign, that the race of Abraham might continue recog-
nisable. For it declares : " God said unto Abraham, Every
male among you shall be circumcised ; and ye shall circumcise
the flesh of your foreskins, as a token of the covenant between
me and you."^ This same does Ezekiel the prophet say with
regard to the Sabbaths : " Also I gave them my Sabbaths, to
be a sign between me and them, that they might know that
I am the Lord, that sanctify them." ^ And in Exodus, God
says to Moses : " And ye shall observe my Sabbaths ; for it
shall be a sign between me and you for your generations."^
These things, then, were given for a sign ; but the signs were
not unsymbolical, that is, neither unmeaning nor to no pur-
pose, inasmuch as they were given by a wise Artist ; but the
circumcision after the flesh typified that after the Spirit. For
" we," says the apostle, " have been circumcised with the
circumcision made without hands." * And the prophet de-
clares, " Circumcise the hardness of your heart." ^ But the
Sabbaths taught that we should continue day by day in God's
service.*^ " For we have been counted," says the Apostle Paul,
" all the day long as sheep for the slaughter;"^ that is, con-
secrated [to God], and ministering continually to our faith,
and persevering in it, and abstaining from all avarice, and
not acquiring or possessing treasures upon earth .^ Moreover,
the Sabbath of God (requietio Dei), that is, the kingdom, was,
as it were, indicated by created things ; in which [kingdom],
the man who shall have persevered in serving God (Deo
assistere) shall, in a state of rest, partake of God's table.
2. And that man was not justified by these things, but
that they were given as a sign to the people, this fact shows,
— that Abraham himself, without circumcision and without
observance of Sabbaths, " believed God, and it was imputed
1 Gen. xvii. 9-11. ^ Ezek. xx. 12. ^ Ex. xxi. 13.
* Col. ii. 11. ^ Deut. x. 16, LXX. version.
^ The Latin text here is : " Sabbata autem perseverantiam totius diei
erga Deum deservitionis edocebaut ;" -whicli might be rendered, " The
Sabbaths taught that we should continue the whole day in the service of
God ;" but Harvey conceives the original Greek to have been, ttju Koch-
f4.spiuviu Ziocf^ouvju ryjs T^ipl tou Qiou y.ccTpiia,;.
"' Rom. \m\. 36. s Matt. vi. 19.
Book iv.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 423
unto him for rlcfhteousness ; and he was called the friend of
God." ^ Then, again, Lot, without circumcision, was brought
out from Sodom, receiving salvation from God. So also did
Noah, pleasing God, although he was uncircumcised, receive
the dimensions [of the ark], of the world of the second race
[of men]. Enoch, too, pleasing God, without circumcision,
discharged the office of God's legate to the angels although
he was a man, and was translated, and is preserved until now
as a witness of the just judgment of God, because the angels
when they had transgressed fell to the earth for judgment,
but the man who pleased [God] was translated for salvation.^
Moreover, all the rest of the multitude of those righteous
men who lived before Abraham, and of those patriarchs who
preceded Moses, were justified independently of the things
above mentioned, and without the law of Moses. As also
Moses himself says to the people in Deuteronomy : " The
Lord thy God formed a covenant in Horeb. The Lord
formed not this covenant with your fathers, but for you." ^
3. Why, then, did the Lord not form the covenant for the
fathers ? Because " the law was not established for rif^hteous
men."* But the rio;hteous fathers had the meaning of the
Decalogue written in their hearts and souls, that is, they loved
the God who made them, and did no injury to their neigh-
bour. There was therefore no occasion that they should be
cautioned by prohibitory mandates {correptoriis literis^)^ be-
cause they had the righteousness of the law in themselves.
But when this righteousness and love to God had passed into
oblivion, and became extinct in Egypt, God did necessarily,
because of His great goodwill to men, reveal Himself by a
1 Jas. ii. 23.
2 Massuet remarks here that Irenaeus makes a reference to the apocry-
phal book of Enoch, in which this history is contained. It was the behof
of the later Jews, followed by the Christian fathers, that "the sons of
God" (Gen. vi. 2) who took wives of the daughters of men, were the
apostate angels. The LXX. translation of that passage accords with
this view. See the articles " Enoch," " Enoch, Book of," in Smith's
Dictionary of the Bible.
3 Deut. V. 2. 4 1 Tim. i. 9.
^ i.e. the letters of the Decalogue on the two tables of stone.
421 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
voice, and led the people with power out of Egypt, in order
that man might again become the disciple and follower of
God ; and He afflicted those who were disobedient, that they
should not contemn their Creator ; and He fed them with
manna, that they might receive food for their souls {iiti
rationalem acciperent escam) ; as also Moses says in Deutero-
nomy: "And fed thee with manna, which thy fathers did not
know, that thou mightest know that man doth not live by
bread alone ; but by every word of God proceeding out of His
mouth doth man live." ^ And it enjoined love to God, and
taught just dealing towards our neighbour, that we should
neither be unjust nor unworthy of God, who prepares man
for His friendship through the medium of the Decalogue,
and likewise for agreement with his neighbour, — matters
which did certainly profit man himself ; God, however, stand-
ing in no need of anything from man.
4. And therefore does the Scripture say, " These words
the Lord spake to all the assembly of the children of Israel in
the mount, and He added no more ; " ^ for, as I have already
observed, He stood in need of nothing from them. And
again Moses says : " And now Israel, what doth the Lord thy
God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk
in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul ? " ^ Now
these things did indeed make man glorious, by supplying
what was wanting to him, namely, the friendship of God ;
but they profited God nothing, for God did not at all stand
in need of man's love. For the glory of God was wanting
to man, which he could obtain in no other way than by serv-
ing God. And therefore Moses says to them again: "Choose
life, that thou mayest live, and thy seed, to love the Lord thy
God, to hear His voice, to cleave unto Him ; for this is thy
life, and the length of thy days." * Preparing man for this
life, the Lord Himself did speak in His own person to all
alike the words of the Decalogue ; and therefore, in like
manner, do they remain permanently with us, receiving, by
1 Deut. viii. 3. 2 De^t. v. 22.
3 Deut. X. 12. ■* Deut. xxx. 19, 20.
Book iv.] IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 425
means of His advent in the flesh, extension and increase, but
not abrogation.
5. The laws of bondage, however, were one by one pro-
mulgated to the people by Moses, suited for their instruction
or for their punishment, as Moses himself declared : "And the
Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and
judgments." ^ These things, therefore, which w^ere given
for bondage, and for a sign to them, He cancelled by the
new covenant of liberty. But He has increased and widened
those laws which are natural, and noble, and common to all,
granting to men largely and without grudging, by means of
adoption, to know God the Father, and to love Him with the
whole heart, and to follow Plis w^ord unswervingly, while
they abstain not only from evil deeds, but even from the
desire after them. But He has also increased the feeling
of reverence ; for sons should have more veneration than
slaves, and greater love for their father. And therefore the
Lord says, " As to every idle word that men have spoken,
they shall render an account for it in the day of judgment." ^
And, " he who has looked upon a woman to lust after her,
hath committed adultery with her already in his heart ; " ^
and, " he that is angry with his brother without a cause, shall
be in danger of the judgment."* [All this is declared,] that
we may know that we shall give account to God not of deeds
only, as slaves, but even of words and thoughts, as those who
have truly received the power of liberty, in which [condition]
a man is more severely tested, whether he will reverence, and
fear, and love the Lord. And for this reason Peter says
" that w^e have not liberty as a cloak of maliciousness," '' but
as the means of testing and evidencing faith.
Chap. xvii. — Proof that God did not appoint the Levitical
dispensation for His oivii sal:e, or as reqidring such
service; for He does, in fact, need nothing from men.
1. ^loreover, the prophets indicate in the fullest manner
1 Dcut. iv. 14. - Matt. xii. ?>Q. « Matt. v. 2S.
* Matt. v. 22. 5 1 Pet. ii. IG.
42 G IRENuE US A GAINST HERESIES, [Book iv.
that God stood in no need of their slavish obedience, but that it
was upon their own account that He enjoined certain obser-
vances in the law. And again, that God needed not their
oblation, but [merely demanded it], on account of man him-
self who offers it, the Lord taught distinctly, as I have pointed
out. For when He perceived them neglecting righteousness,
and abstaining from the love of God, and imagining that
God was to be propitiated by sacrifices and the other typical
observances, Samuel did even thus speak to them : " God
does not desire whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices, but He
will have His voice to be hearkened to. Behold, a ready
obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the
fat of rams." "^ David also says : " Sacrifice and oblation
Thou didst not desire, but mine ears hast Thou perfected ; ^
burnt-offerings also for sin Thou hast not required."'^ He
thus teaches them that God desires obedience, which renders
them secure, rather than sacrifices and holocausts, which avail
them nothing towards righteousness ; and [by this declara-
tion] he prophesies the new covenant at the same time.
Still clearer, too, does he speak of these things in the fiftieth
, Psalm : " For if Thou hadst desired sacrifice, then would
I have given it : Thou "V7ilt not delight in burnt-offerings.
The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit ; a broken and contrite
heart the Lord will not despise."* Because, therefore, God
stands in need of nothing, He declares in the preceding psalm:
" I will take no calves out of thine house, nor he-goats out
of thy fold. For mine are all the beasts of the earth, the
herds and the oxen on the mountains : I know all the fowls
of heaven, and the various tribes^ of the field are mine. If
I were hungry, I would not tell thee : for the world is mine,
and the fulness thereof. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or
1 1 Sam. XV. 22.
2 Latin, " aures autem perfecisti mihi ; " a reading agreeable to neither
the Hebrew nor Septuagint version, as quoted by St. Paul in Heb. x. 9.
Harvey, however, is of opinion that the text of the old Latin transla-
tion was originally "perforasti ; " indicating thus an entire concurrence
with the Hebrew, as now read in this passage.
2 Ps. xl. 6. * Ps. li. 17. 5 Or, " the beauty," species.
I
I
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HEBESIES. 427
drink the blood of goats ? " ^ Then, lest it might be supposed
that He refused these things in His anger, He continues,
giving him (man) counsel : " Offer unto God the sacrifice of
praise, and pay thy vows to the Most High ; and call upon
me in the day of thy trouble, and I will deliver thee, and
thou shalt glorify me;"^ rejecting, indeed, those things by
which sinners imagined they could propitiate God, and show-
ing that He does Himself stand in need of nothing ; but He
exhorts and advises them to those things by which man is
justified and draws nigh to God. This same declaration
does Esaias make : " To what purpose is the multitude of
your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord? I am full."^ And
when He had repudiated holocausts, and sacrifices, and obla-
tions, as likewise the new moons, and the sabbaths, and the
festivals, and all the rest of the services accompanying these,
He continues, exhorting them to what pertained to salvation :
" Wash you, make you clean, take away wickedness from
your hearts from before mine eyes : cease from your evil ways,
learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge
the fatherless, plead for the widow ; and come, let us reason
together, saith the Lord."
2. For it was not because He was angry, like a man, as
many venture to say, that He rejected their sacrifices ; but
out of compassion to their blindness, and with the view of
suggesting to them the true sacrifice, by offering wliicli they
shall appease God, that tliey may receive life from Him.
As He elsewhere declares : " The sacrifice to God is an
afflicted heart : a sweet savour to God is a heart glorifying
Him who formed it."* For if, when angry, He had repu-
diated these sacrifices of theirs, as if they were persons
unworthy to obtain His compassion. He would not certainly
have urged these same things upon them as those by which
they might be saved. But inasmuch as God is merciful. He
» Ps. 1. 9. 2 ps_ 1, 14^ 15^ 3 isa. i. n.
■* This passage is not now found in holy Scripture. Harvey conjectures
that it may have been taken from the apocryphal Gospel according to
the Egyptians. It is remarkable that we find the same words quoted
also by Clement of Alexandria ; see vol. i. 336 of his works in this series.
428 IllENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
did not cut them off from £!;ood counsel. For after He had
said by Jeremiah, ^'To what purpose bring ye me incense
from Saba, and cinnamon from a far country ? Your whole
burnt-offerings and sacrifices are not acceptable to me;" ^ He
proceeds : " Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah. These '
things saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Make straight your
ways and your doings, and I wdll establish you in this place.
Put not your trust in lying words, for they will not at all
profit you, saying. The temple of the Lord, The temple of
the Lord, it is [here]."^
3. And again, when He points out that it was not for this
that He led them out of Egypt, that they might offer sacri-
fice to Him, but that, forgetting the idolatry of the Egyptians,
they should be able to hear the voice of the Lord, which
Avas to them salvation and glory. He declares by this same
Jeremiah : " Thus saith the Lord ; Collect toorether vour
burnt-offerings with your sacrifices, and eat flesh. For I
spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the
day that I brought them out of Egypt, concerning burnt-
offerings or sacrifices : but this word I commanded them,
saying. Hear my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall
be my people ; and walk in all my ways wdiatsoever I have
commanded you, that it may be well with you. But they
obeyed not, nor hearkened ; but walked in the imaginations
of their own evil heart, and went backwards, and not for-
wards."^ And again, when He declares by the same man,
" But let him that glorieth, glory in this, to understand and
know that I am the Lord, who doth exercise loving-kindness,
and righteousness, and judgment in the earth;"* He adds,
" For in these things I delight, says the Lord," but not in
sacrifices, nor in holocausts, nor in oblations. For the people
did not receive these precepts as of primary importance
(jjrincipaliter)^ but as secondary, and for the reason already
alleged, as Isaiah again says : " Thou hast not [brought to]
me the sheep of thy holocaust, nor in thy sacrifices hast thou
glorified me : thou hast not served me in sacrifices, nor in
[the matter of] frankincense hast thou done anything labo-
^ Jer. vi. 20. 2 jej., yji. 2, 3. ^ jer. vii. 21. * Jer. ix. 24.
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 429
riously ; neither hast thou bought for me incense with money,
nor have I desired the fat of thy sacrifices ; but thou hast
stood before me in thy sins and in thine iniquities."^ He
says, therefore, " Upon this man will I look, even upon him
.that is humble, and meek, and who trembles at my words." ^
" For the fat and the fat flesh shall not take away from thee
thine unrighteousness." ^ " This is the fast which I have chosen,
saith the Lord. Loose every band of wickedness, dissolve
the connections of violent agreements, give rest to those that
are shaken, and cancel every unjust document. Deal thy
bread to the hungry willingly, and lead into thy house the
roofless stranger. If thou hast seen the naked, cover him,
and thou shalt not despise those of thine own flesh and blood
(domesticos seminis tui). Then shall thy morning light break
forth, and thy health shall spring forth more speedily ; and
righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of the Lord
shall surround thee : and whilst thou art yet speaking, I will
say. Behold, here I am."* And Zecharlah also, among the
twelve prophets, pointing out to the people the will of God, says:
" These things does the Lord Omnipotent declare : Execute
true judgment, and show mercy and compassion each one to
his brother. And oppress not the widow, and the orphan, and
the proselyte, and the poor ; and let none imagine evil against
your brother in his lieart."^ And again, he says : "These
are the words which ye shall utter. Speak ye the truth every
man to his neighbour, and execute peaceful judgment in your
gates, and let none of you imagine evil in his heart against
his brother, and ye shall not love false swearing : for all
these things I hate, saith the Lord Almighty."^ ]Moreover,
David also says in like manner : " What man is there who
deslreth life, and would fain see good days ? Keep thy tongue
from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile. Shun evil,
and do good : seek peace, and pursue it."^
4. From all these it Is evident that God did not seek
sacrifices and holocausts from them, but faith, and obedience,
1 Isa. xliii. 23, 24. = Isa. xlvi. 2. s Jer. xi. 15.
* Tsa. Iviii. 6, etc. * Zecli. vii. 9. 10. <^ Zech. vii. IG, 17.
7 Ps. xxxiv. 13, 14.
430 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book iv.
and righteousness, because of their salvation. As God,
when teaching them His will in Hosea the prophet, said,
" I desire mercy rather than sacrifice, and the knowledge
of God more than burnt-offerings."^ Besides, our Lord also
exhorted them to the same effect, when He said, " But if ye
had known what [this] meaneth, I will have mercy, and not
sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless." ^ Thus
does He bear witness to the prophets, that they preached the
truth ; but accuses these men (His hearers) of being foolish
throucfh their own fault.
5. Again, giving directions to His disciples to offer to God
the first-fruits^ of His own created things — not as if He
stood in need of them, but that they might be themselves
neither unfruitful nor ungrateful — He took that created
thing, bread, and gave thanks, and said, " This is my body."*
And the cup likewise, which is part of that creation to which
we belong. He confessed to be His blood, and taught the new
oblation of the new covenant ; which the church receiving
from the apostles, offers to God throughout all the world, to
Him who gives us as the means of subsistence the first-fruits
of His own gifts in the New Testament, concerning which
Malachi, among the twelve prophets, thus spoke beforehand :
" I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord Omnipotent, and
I will not accept sacrifice at your hands. For from the rising
of the sun, unto the going down [of the same], my name is
glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is
offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice ; for great is my
name among the Gentiles, saith the Lord Omnipotent;"^ —
indicating in the plainest manner, by these words, that the
former people [the Jews] shall indeed cease to make offerings
to God, but that in every place sacrifice shall be offered to
^ Hos. vi. 6. 2 Matt. xii. 7.
^ Grabe lias a long and important note on this passage and what fol-
lows, which may be seen in Harvey, in loc. See, on the other side, and
in connection with the whole of the following chapter, Massuet's third
dissertation on the doctrine of Irenseus, art. vii., reprinted in Migne's
edition.
^ Matt. xxvi. 2Q, etc. ^ Mai. i. 10, 11.
I
Book iv.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 431
Him, and that a pure one ; and His name is glorified among
the Gentiles.
6. But what other name is there which is glorified among
the Gentiles than that of our Lord, by whom the Father is
glorified, and man also ? And because it is [the name] of
Plis own Son, who was made man by Him, He calls it His
own. Just as a king, if he himself paints a likeness of his
son, is right in calHng this likeness his own, for both these
reasons, because it is [the likeness] of his son, and because
it is his own production ; so also does the Father confess
the name of Jesus Christ, which is throughout all the world
glorified in the church, to be His own, both because it is that
of His Son, and because He who thus describes it gave Him
for the salvation of men. Since, therefore, the name of the
Son belongs to the Father, and since in the omnipotent God
the church makes offerings through Jesus Christ, He says
well on both these grounds, " And in every place incense is
offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice." Now John, in
the Apocalypse, declares that the " incense" is " the prayers
of the saints." ^
Chap, xviii. — Concerning sacrifices and oblations, and those
wlio truly offer them,
1. The oblation of the church, therefore, which the Lord
gave instructions to be offered throughout all the world, is
accounted with God a pure sacrifice, and is acceptable to
Him ; not that He stands in need of a sacrifice from us, but
that he who offers is himself glorified in what he does offer,
if his gift be accepted. For by the gift both honour and affec-
tion are shown forth towards the King ; and the Lord, wishing
us to offer it in all simplicity and innocence, did express Him-
self thus : " Therefore, when thou offerest tliy gift upon the
altar, and shalt remember that thy brother hath ought against
thee, leave thy gift before the altar, and go thy way ; first
be reconciled to thy brother, and then return and offer thy
gift." '^ We are bound, therefore, to offer to God the first-
1 Kev. V. 8. 2 j^xatt. v. 2% 24.
432 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
fruits of His creation, as Moses also says, " Thou shalt not
appear in the presence of the Lord thy God empty ;"^ so
that man, being accounted as grateful, by those things in
which he has shown his gratitude, may receive that honour
which flows from Him.^
2. And the class of oblations in general has not been set
aside ; for there were both oblations there [among the Jews],
and there are oblations here [among the Christians]. Sacri-
fices there were among the people; sacrifices there are, too,
in the church : but the species alone has been changed, inas-
much as the offering is now made, not by slaves, but by free-
men. For the Lord is [ever] one and the same ; but the
character of a servile oblation is peculiar [to itself], as is also
that of freemen. In order that, by the very oblations, the
indication of liberty may be set forth. For with Him there
is nothing purposeless, nor without signification, nor without
design. And for this reason they (the Jews) had indeed the
tithes of their goods consecrated to Him, but those who have
received liberty set aside all their possessions for the Lord's
purposes, bestowing joyfully and freely not the less valuable
portions of their property, since they have the hope of better
things [hereafter] ; as that poor widow acted who cast all her
living into the treasury of God.^
3. For at the beginning God had respect to the gifts of
Abel, because he offered with single-mindedness and right-
eousness ; but He had no respect unto the offering of Cain,
because his heart was divided with envy and malice, which
he cherished against his brother, as God says when reprov-
ing his hidden [thoughts], " Though thou offerest rightly,
yet, if thou dost not divide rightly, hast thou not sinned ?
Be at rest;"^ since God is not appeased by sacrifice. For if
any one shall endeavour to offer a sacrifice merely to outward
appearance, unexceptionably, in due order, and according to
appointment, while in his soul he does not assign to his neigh-
bour that fellowship with him which is right and proper, nor
^ Deut. xvi. 16.
- The text of this passage is doubtful in some words.
3 Luke xxi. 4. ■* Gen. iv. 7, LXX.
.Book iv.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 433
is under the fear of God ; — he who thus cherishes secret sin
does not deceive God by that sacrifice which is offered cor-
rectly as to outward appearance ; nor will such an oblation
profit him anything, but [only] the giving up of that evil
which has been conceived within him, so that sin may not
the more, by means of the hypocritical action, render him the
destroyer of himself.^ Wherefore did the Lord also declare :
" Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye
are like whited sepulchres. For the sepulchre appears
beautiful outside, but within it is full of dead men's bones,
and all uncleanness ; even so ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within ye are full of wickedness and
hypocrisy."^ For while they were thought to offer correctly
so far as outward appearance went, they had in themselves
jealousy like to Cain ; therefore they slew the Just One,
slighting the counsel of the Word, as did also Cain. For
[God] said to him, "Be at rest;" but he did not assent.
Now what else is it to " be at rest" than to forego purposed
violence ? And saying similar things to these men, He de-
clares : *^ Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse that which is within
the cup, that the outside may be clean also." ^ And they did
not listen to Him. For Jeremiah says, " Behold, neither
thine eyes nor thy heart are good ; but [they are turned] to
thy covetousness, and to shed innocent blood, and for in-
justice, and for man-slaying, that thou mayest do it."^ And
again Isaiah saith, " Ye have taken counsel, but not of me ;
and made covenants, [but] not by my Spirit."^ In order,
therefore, that their inner wish and thousjht, beino; brought
to light, may show that God is without blame, and worketh no
evil — that God who reveals what is hidden [in the heart], but
who worketh not evil — when Cain was by no means at rest,
He saith to him : " To thee shall be his desire, and thou
shalt rule over him."*^ Thus did He in like manner speak
to Pilate : " Thou shouldest have no power at all against me,
^ The Latin text is : " ne per assimiilatam opcrationem, magis autem
peccatum, ipsuin sibi homicidam faciat hominera."
2 Matt, xxiii. 27, 28. ^ ^[att. xxiii. 26. * Jer. xiiL 17.
* Isa. XXX. 1. <* Geu. iv. 7.
2 E
434 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
unless it were given thee from above ;"^ God always giving
up the righteous one [in this life to suffering], that he, having
been tested by what he suffered and endured, may [at last]
be accepted ; but that the evil-doer, being judged by the
actions he has performed, may be rejected. Sacrifices, there-
fore, do not sanctify a man, for God stands in no need of
sacrifice ; but it is the conscience of the offerer that sanctifies
the sacrifice when it is pure, and thus moves God to accept
[the offering] as from a friend. "But the sinner," says
He, " who kills a calf [in sacrifice] to me, is as if he slew a
dog." 2
4. Inasmuch, then, as the church offers with single-minded-
ness, her gift is justly reckoned a pure sacrifice with God.
As Paul also says to the Philippians, " I am full, having
received from Epaphroditus the things that were sent from
you, the odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, pleasing
to God." ^ For it behoves us to make an oblation to God, and
in all things to be found grateful to God our Maker, in a pure
mind, and in faith without hypocrisy, in well-grounded hope,
in fervent love, offering the first-fruits of His own created
things. And the church alone offers this pure oblation to
the Creator, offering to Him, with giving of thanks, [the
things taken] from His creation. But the Jews do not offer
thus : for their hands are full of blood ; for they have not
received the Word, through whom it is offered to God.* Nor,
again, do any of the conventicles (synagogce) of the heretics
[offer this]. For some, by maintaining that the Father is
different from the Creator, do, when they offer to Him what
belongs to this creation of ours, set Him forth as being cove-
tous of another's property, and desirous of what is not His
own. Those, again, who maintain that the things around us
1 John xix. 11. 2 isa. Ixvi. 3. ^ pi^ii, j^^ 13,
^ The text here fluctuates between quod offertur Deo^ and per quod
offertur Deo. Massuet adopts the former, and Harvey the latter. If the
first reading be chosen, the translation will be, " the "Word who is offered
to God," implying, according to Massuet, that the body of Christ is
really offered as a sacrifice in the Eucharist ; if the second reading be
followed, the translation wiU be as above.
Book iv.] IBENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 435
originated from apostasy, ignorance, and passion, do, while
offering unto Him tlie fruits of ignorance, passion, and
apostasy, sin against their Father, rather subjecting Him to
insult than giving Him thanks. But how can they be con-
sistent with themselves, [when they say] that the bread over
which thanks have been given is the body of their Lord,^
and the cup His blood, if they do not call Plimself the Son
of the Creator of the world, that is. His Word, through
v-'hom the wood fructifies, and the fountains gush forth, and
the earth gives " first the blade, then the ear, then the full
corn in the ear." ^
5. Then, again, how can they say that the flesh, which is
nourished with the body of the Lord and with His blood,
goes to corruption, and does not partake of life ? Let them,
therefore, either alter their opinion, or cease from offering
the things just mentioned.^ But our opinion is in accordance
with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn establishes our
opinion. For we offer to Him His own, announcing consis-
tently the fellowship and union of the flesh and Spirit.* For
as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it
receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread,^
but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and
heavenly ; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucha-
rist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resur-
rection to eternitv.
6. Now we make offering to Him, not as though He stood
^ Comp. Massuet and Harvey respectively for the meaning to be
attached to these words.
2 Mark iv. 28.
^ " Either let them acknowledge that tlie earth is the io;v/V, and the
fulness thereof, or let them cease to offer to God those elements that they
deny to be vouchsafed by Him." — Harvey.
* That is, according to Harvey, " while we offer to Him His own crea-
tures of bread and wine, we tell forth the fellowship of flesh with spirit ;
i.e. that the flesh of every child of man is receptive of the Spirit.'' The-
words, Kxi 6ju,o7^oyQvur£; . . . 'iyipaiv, which here occur in the Greek text,,
are rejected as an interpolation by Grabe and Harvey, but defended as
genuine by Massuet.
* See Harvey's long note on this passage, and what immediately
follows.
436 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
in need of it, but rendering thanks for His gift/ and thus
sanctifying what has been created. For even as God does
not need our possessions, so do we need to offer something to
God ; as Solomon says : " He that hath pity upon the poor,
lendeth unto the Lord." ^ For God, who stands in need of
nothing, takes our good works to Himself for this purpose,
that He may grant us a recompense of His own good
things, as our Lord says : " Come, ye blessed of my Father,
receive the kingdom prepared for you. For I was an hun-
gered, and ye gave me to eat : I was thirsty, and ye gave me
drink : I was a stranger, and ye took me in : naked, and ye
clothed me ; sick, and ye visited me ; in prison, and ye came
to me." ^ As, therefore. He does not stand in need of these
[services], yet does desire that we should render them for
our own benefit, lest we be unfruitful ; so did the Word
give to the people that very precept as to the making of obla-
tions, although He stood in no need of them, that they might
learn to serve God : thus is it, therefore, also His will that
we, too, should offer a gift at the altar, frequently and with-
out intermission. The altar, then, is in heaven (for towards
that place are our prayers and oblations directed) ; the temple
likewise [is there], as John says in the Apocalypse, " And
the temple of God was opened;"* the tabernacle also: "For,
behold," He says, " the tabernacle of God, in which He will
dwell with men."
Chap. XIX. — Eartldy things may he the type of heavenly ^ hut
the latter cannot he the types of others still superior and
unknown ; nor can we, icithout absolute madness^ maintain
that God is known to us only as the type of a still un-
known and superior heing.
1. Now the gifts, oblations, and all the sacrifices, did the
people receive in a figure, as was shown to Moses in the
mount, from one and the same God, whose name is now
glorified in the church among all nations. But it is con-
^ The text fluctuates between dominationi and donationi.
2 Prov. xix. 17. 3 Matt. xxv. 34, etc. * Rev. xi. 19.
I
Book IV.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 437
gruous that those earthly things, indeed, which are spread
all around us, should be types of the celestial, being [both],
however, created by the same God. For in no other way
could He assimilate an image of spiritual things [to suit our
comprehension]. But to allege that those things which are
super-celestial and spiritual, and, as far as we are concerned,
invisible and ineffable, are in their turn the types of celestial
things and of another Pleroma, and [to say] that God is the
image of another Father, is to play the part both of wan-
derers from the truth, and of absolutely foolish and stupid
persons. For, as I have repeatedly shown, such persons
will find it necessaiy to be continually finding out types of
types, and images of images, and will never [be able to] fix
their minds on one and the true God. For their imamna-
tions range beyond God, they having in their hearts sur-
passed the Master Himself, being indeed in idea elated and
exalted above [Him], but in reality turning away from the
true God.
2. To these persons one may with justice say (as Scrip-
ture itself suggests), To what distance above God do ye
lift up your imaginations, O ye rashly elated men ? Ye
have heard " that the heavens are meted out in the palm of
[His] hand :"^ tell me the measure, and recount the endless
multitude of cubits, explain to me the fulness, the breadth,
the length, the height, the beginning and end of the mea-
surement,— things which the heart of man understands not,
neither does it comprehend them. For the heavenly trea-
suries are indeed great : God cannot be measured in the
heart, and incomprehensible is He in the mind ; He who
holds the earth in the hollow of His hand. Who perceives
the measure of His riojht hand? Who knoweth His fintrer?
Or who doth understand His hand, — that hand which mea-
sures immensity; that hand which, by its own measure, spreads
out the measure of the heavens, and which comprises in its
hollow the earth with the abysses; which contains in itself the
breadth, and length, and the deep below, and the height
above of the whole creation ; which is seen, which is heard
1 Isa. xl. 12.
438 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book iv.
and understood, and which is invisible ? And for this reason
God is "above all principality, and power, and dominion,
and every name that is named," ^ of all things which have
been created and established. He it is who fills the heavens,
and views the abysses, who is also present with every one of
us. For he says, " Am I a God at hand, and not a God
afar off ? If any man is hid in secret places, shall I not see
him ?"^ For His hand lays hold of all things, and that it is
which illumines the heavens, and licrhtens also the thino;s
which are under the heavens, and trieth the reins and the
hearts, is also present in hidden things, and in our secret
[thoughts], and does openly nourish and preserve us.
\ 3. But if man comprehends not the fulness and the great-
ness of His hand, how shall any one be able to understand or
know in his heart so great a God ? Yet, as if they had now
measured and thoroughly investigated Him, and explored
Him on every side,^ they feign that beyond Him there exists
another Pleroma of -^ons, and another Father; certainly
not looking up to celestial things, but truly descending into a
profound abyss (By thus) of madness ; maintaining that their
Father extends only to the border of those things which are
beyond the Pleroma, but that, on the other hand, the Demi-
urge does not reach so far as the Pleroma ; and thus they
represent neither of them as being perfect and comprehend-
ing all things. For the former will be defective in regard
to the whole world formed outside of the Pleroma, and the
latter in respect of that [ideal] world which was formed
within the Pleroma ; and [therefore] neither of these can be
the God of all. But that no one can fully declare the good-
ness of God from the things made by Him, is a point evident
to all. And that His greatness is not defective, but contains
all things, and extends even to us, and is with us, every one
will confess who entertains worthy conceptions of God.
1 Eph. i. 21. 2 jer, xxiii. 23.
2 The Latin is, " et universum eum decurrerint." Harvey imagines that
this last word corresponds to Kci.rex.rpix''^ai, but it is difficult to fit such
a meaning into the context.
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 439
CilAP. XX. — Tliat one God formed all things in the world y hy
oneans of the Word and the Holy Spirit : and that
allliough lie is to us in this life invisible and incompre-
Jicnsihle, nevertheless lie is not unknown ; inasmuch as
His works do declare Him, and His Word has shown
that in many modes He may he seen and known.
1. As regards Ilis greatness, therefore, it is not possible
to know God, for it is impossible that the Father can be
measured ; but as regards His love (for this it is which leads
us to God by His Word), when we obey Him, we do always
learn that there is so great a God, and that it is He who by
Himself has established, and selected, and adorned, and con-
tains all thin£js ; and amono; the all thinii;s, both ourselves
and this our world. We also then were made, along with
those things which are contained by Him. And this is He of
whom the Scripture says, " And God formed man, taking
clay of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of
life."^ It was not angels, therefore, who made us, nor who
formed us, neither had angels power to make an image of
God, nor any one else, except the Word of the Lord, nor any
Power remotely distant from the Father of all things. For
God did not stand in need of these [beings], in order to the
accomplishing of what He had Plimsclf determined with Him-
self beforehand should be done, as if Pie did not possess His
own hands. For with Him were always present the Word
and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom,
freely and spontaneously. He made all things, to wliom also
He speaks, saying, " Let us make man after our image and
likeness:"^ He takino; from Himself the substance of the
creatures [formed], and the pattern of things made, and the
type of all the adornments in the world.
2. Truly, then, the scripture declared, which says, " First**
of all believe that there is one God, who has established all
things, and completed them, and having caused that from
^ Gen. ii. 7. 2 Qen. i. 26.
3 This quotation is takcu from the Sheplierd of Hennas, book ii.
Sim. 1. See vol. i. p. 34.9.
440 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
what had no being, all things should come into existence:" He
who contains all things, and is Himself contained by no one.
Eightlj also has Malachi said among the prophets : " Is it
not one God who hath established us ? Have we not all one
Father ? " ^ In accordance with this, too, does the apostle
say, " There is one God, the Father, who is above all, and
in us all." ^ Likewise does the Lord also say : " All things
are delivered to me by my Father;"^ manifestly by Him who
made all things ; for He did not deliver to Him the things
of another, but His own. But in all things [it is implied
that] nothing has been kept back [from Him], and for
this reason the same person is the Judge of the living
and the dead ; " having the key of David : He shall open,
and no man shall shut : He shall shut, and no man shall
open." * For no one was able, either in heaven or in earth,
or under the earth, to open the book of the Father, or to
behold Him, with the exception of the Lamb who was
slain, and who redeemed us with His own blood, receiving
power over all things from the same God who made all
things by the Word, and adorned them by [His] Wisdom,
when '^ the Word was made flesh ;" that even as the Word of
God had the sovereignty in the heavens, so also might He
have the sovereignty in earth, inasmuch as [He was] a right-
eous man, " who did no sin, neither was there found guile in
His mouth ;"^ and that He might have the pre-eminence over
those things which are under the earth, He Himself being
made "the first-begotten of the dead;"^ and that all things,
as I have already said, might behold their King ; and that
the paternal light might meet with and rest upon the flesh of
our Lord, and come to us from His resplendent flesh, and
that thus man might attain to immortality, having been in-
vested with the paternal light.
3. I have also largely demonstrated, that the Word, namely
the Son, was always with the Father ; and that Wisdom
also, which is the Spirit, was present with Him, anterior to
all creation, He declares by Solomon : " God by Wisdom
1 Mai. ii. 10. 2 Eph. iv. 6. ^ Matt. xi. 27.
* Eev. iii. 7. « 1 Pet. ii. 23. « Col. i. 18.
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 441
founded the earth, and by understanding hath He established
the heaven. By His knowledge the depths burst forth, and
the clouds dropped down the dew." ^ And again : " The Lord
created me the beginning of His ways in His work : He set
me up from everlasting, in the beginning, before He made
the earth, before He established the depths, and before the
fountains of waters gushed forth ; before the mountains were
made strong, and before all the hills, He brought me forth." ^
And again : " When He prepared the heaven, I was with
Him, and when He established the fountains of the deep ;
when He made the foundations of the earth strong, 1 was
with Him preparing [them]. I was He in whom He rejoiced,
and throughout all time I was daily glad before His face, when
He rejoiced at the completion of the world, and was delighted
in the sons of men." ^
4. There is therefore one God, who by the Word and
Wisdom created and arranged all things ; but this is the
Creator (Demiurge) who has granted this world to the human
race, and who, as regards His greatness, is indeed unknown
to all who have been made by Him (for no man has searched
out Plis height, either among the ancients who have gone to
their rest, or any of those who are now alive) ; but as regards
His love. He is always known through Him by whose means
He ordained all things. Now this is His Word, our Lord
Jesus Christ, who in the last times w^as made a man among
men, that He might join the end to the beginning, that is,
man to God. Wherefore the prophets, receiving the pro-
phetic gift from the same Word, announced His advent
according to the flesh, by which the blending and communion
of God and man took place according to the good pleasure of
the Father, the Word of God foretelling from the beginning
that God should be seen by men, and hold converse with them
upon earth, should confer with them, and should be present
with His own creation, saving it, and becoming capable of
being perceived by it, and freeing us from the hands of all
that hate us, that is, from every spirit of wickedness ; and
causincT us to serve Him in holiness and riizhteousness all our
1 Prov. iii. 19, 20. - Prov. viii. 22-25. ^ p^^y ^iu^ 27-31.
442 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
days/ in order that man, liaving embraced the Spirit of God,
might pass into the glory of the Father.
5. These things did the prophets set forth in a prophetical
manner ; but they did not, as some allege, [proclaim] that He
who was seen by the prophets was a different [God], the
Father of all being invisible. Yet this is what those [heretics]
declare, who are altogether ignorant of the nature of pro-
phecy. For prophecy is a prediction of things future, that
is, a setting forth beforehand of those things which shall be
afterwards. The prophets, then, indicated beforehand that
God should be seen by men ; as the Lord also says, " Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."^ But in re-
spect to His greatness, and His wonderful glory, " no man
shall see God and live,"^ for the Father is incomprehensible ;
but in regard to His love, and kindness, and as to His infinite
power, even this He grants to those who love Him, that
is, to see God, which thing the prophets did also predict.
"For those things that are impossible with men, are possible
with God.""^ For man does not see God by his own powers;
but when He pleases He is seen by men, by whom He wills,
and when He wills, and as He wills. For God is power-
ful in all things, having been seen at that time indeed,
prophetically through the Spirit, and seen, too, adoptively
through the Son ; and He shall also be seen paternally in the
kingdom of heaven, the Spirit truly preparing man in the
Son'^ of God, and the Son leading him to the Father, while
the Father, too, confers [upon him] incorruption for eter-
nal life, which comes to every one from the fact of his seeing
God. For as those who see the light are within the light,
and partake of its brilliancy ; even so, those who see God
are in God, and receive of His splendour. But [His] splen-
dour vivifies them ; those, therefore, who see God, do receive
life. And for this reason. He, [although] beyond compre-
hension, and boundless and invisible, rendered Himself
visible, and comprehensible, and within the capacity of those
» Luke i. 71, 75. 2 Matt. v. 8.
3 Ex. xxxiii. 20. ^ Luke xviii. 27.
^ Some read " in filium " instead of "in filio," as above.
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 443
who believe, that He might vivify those who receive and
behold Him through faith. ^ For as His greatness is past
finding out, so also His goodness is beyond expression ; by
which having been seen, He bestows life upon those who
see Him. It is not possible to live apart from life, and the
means of life is found in fellowship with God ; but fellow-
ship with God is to know God, and to enjoy His goodness.
6. Men therefore shall see God, that they may live, being
made immortal by that sight, and attaining even unto God ;
which, as I have already said, was declared figuratively by
the prophets, that God should be seen by men who bear His
Spirit [in them], and do always wait patiently for His com-
ing. As also Moses says in Deuteronomy, " We shall see in
that day that God will talk toman, and he shall live."^ For
certain of these men used to see the prophetic Spirit and Plis
active influences poured forth for all kinds of gifts ; others,
again, [beheld] the advent of the Lord, and that dispensation
wliich obtained from the beginning, by which He accom-
plished the will of the Father with regard to things both
celestial and terrestrial ; and others [beheld] paternal glories
adapted to the times, and to those who saw and who heard
them then, and to all who were subsequently to hear them.
Thus, therefore, was God revealed ; for God the Father is
shown forth through all these [operations], the Spirit indeed
working, and the Son ministering, while the Father was ap-
proving, and man's salvation being accomplished. As He also
declares through Hosea the prophet : " I," He says, "have
multiplied visions, and have used similitudes by the ministry
{in manihus) of the prophets." ^ But the apostle expounded
this very passage, when he said, " Now there are diversities
of gifts, but the same Spirit ; and there are differences of
ministrations, but the same Lord; and there are diversities
of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in
all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to cverv
man to profit withal." ■* But as He who worketh all things
^ A part of the original Greek text is preserved here, and has been
followed, as it makes the better sense.
2 Deut. V. 24. = Hos. xii. 10. "* 1 Cor. xii. 4-7.
444 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
in all is God, [as to the points] of what nature and how great
He is, [God] is invisible and indescribable to all things which
have been made by Him, but He is by no means unknown :
for all things learn through His Word that there is one God
the Father, who contains all things, and who grants existence
to all, as is written in the Gospel : '^ No man hath seen God
at any time, except the only-begotten Son, who is in the
bosom of the Father; He has declared [Him]." ^
7. Therefore the Son of the Father declares [Him] from the
beginning, inasmuch as He was with the Father from the
beginning, who did also show to the human race prophetic
visions, and diversities of gifts, and His own ministrations,
and the glory of the Father, in regular order and connection,
at the fitting time for the benefit [of mankind]. For where
there is a regular succession, there is also fixedness; and
where fixedness, there suitability to the period ; and where
suitability, there also utility. And for this reason did the
Word become the dispenser of the paternal grace for the
benefit of men, for whom He made such great dispensations,
revealmg God indeed to men, but presenting man to God,
and preserving at the same time the invisibility of the Father,
lest man should at any time become a despiser of God, and
that he should always possess something towards which he
might advance ; but, on the other hand, revealing God to
men through many dispensations, lest man, falling away from
God altogether, should cease to exist. For the glory of God
is a living man ; and the life of man consists in beholding
God. For if the manifestation of God which is made by
means of the creation, affords life to all living in the earth,
much more does that revelation of the Father which comes
through the Word, give life to those who see God.
8. Inasmuch, then, as the Spirit of God pointed out by the
prophets things to come, forming and adapting us beforehand
for the purpose of our being made subject to God, but it was
still a future thing that man, through the good pleasure of
the Holy Spirit, should see [God], it necessarily behoved
those through whose instrumentality future things were
1 John i. 18.
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 445
announced, to see God, whom they intimated as to be seen by
men ; in order that God, and the Son of God, and the Son,
and the Father, should not only be prophetically announced,
but that He should also be seen by all His members who
are sanctified and instructed in the things of God, that man
might be disciplined beforehand and previously exercised
for a reception into that glory which shall afterwards be
revealed in those who love God. For the prophets used not
to prophesy in word alone, but in visions also, and in their
mode of life, and in the actions which they performed, accord-
ing to the suggestions of the Spirit. After this invisible
manner, therefore, did they see God, as also Esaias says, " I
have seen with mine eyes the King, the Lord of hosts," ^
pointing out that man should behold God with his eyes, and
hear His voice. In this manner, therefore, did they also see
the Son of God as a man conversant with men, while they
prophesied what was to happen, saying that He who was not
come as yet was present ; proclaiming also the impassible as
subject to suffering, and declaring that He who was then in
heaven had descended into the dust of death." Moreover,
[with regard to] the other arrangements concerning the
summing up that He should make, some of these they beheld
through visions, others they proclaimed by word, while others
they indicated typically by means of [outward] action, seeing
visibly those things which were to be seen ; heralding by
word of mouth those which should be heard ; and performing
by actual operation what should take place by action ; but
[at the same time] announcing all prophetically. Where-
fore also Moses declared that God was indeed a consuming
fire^ (igneum) to the people that transgressed the law, and
threatened that God would bring upon them a day of fire ;
but to those who had the fear of God he said, ^'' The Lord
God is merciful and gracious, and long-suffering, and of
great commiseration, and true, and keeps justice and mercy
for thousands, forgiving unrighteousness, and transgressions,
and sins." ^
^ Isa. vi. 5. * Ps. xxii. 15.
3 Deut. iv. 24. * Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7.
446 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
9. And the Word spake to Moses, appearing before him,
" just as any one might speak to his friend." ^ But Moses
desired to see Him openly who was speaking with him, and
was thus addressed : " Stand in the deep place of the
rock, and with my hand I will cover thee. But when my
splendour shall pass by, then thou shalt see my back parts,
but my face thou shalt not see : for no man sees my face, and
shall live."^ Two facts are thus signified : that it is impos-
sible for man to see God ; and that, through the wisdom of
God, man shall see Him in the last times, in the depth of a
rock, that is, in His coming as a man. And for this reason
did He [the Lord] confer with him face to face on the top
of a mountain, Elias being also present, as the Gospel relates,'^
He thus making good in the end the ancient promise.
10. The prophets, therefore, did not openly behold the
actual face of God, but [they saw] the dispensations and the
mysteries through which man should afterwards see God.
As was also said to Elias : " Thou shalt go forth to-morrow,
and stand in the presence of the Lord ; and, behold, a wind
great and strong, which shall rend the mountains, and break
the rocks in pieces before the Lord. And the Lord [was]
not in the wind ; and after the wind an earthquake, but the
Lord [was] not in the earthquake ; and after the earthquake
a fire, but the Lord [was] not in the fire; and after the
fire a scarcely audible voice" {vox aurce tenuis).^ For by
such means was the prophet — very indignant, because of the
transgression of the people and the slaughter of the prophets
— both taught to act in a more gentle manner ; and the
Lord's advent as a man was pointed out, that it should be
subsequent to that law which was given by Moses, mild and
tranquil, in which He would neither break the bruised reed,
nor quench the smoking flax.^ The mild and peaceful repose
of His kingdom was indicated likewise. For, after the wind
which rends the mountains, and after the earthquake, and
after the fire, come the tranquil and peaceful times of His
kingdom, in which the Spirit of God does, in the most gentle
' Num. xii. 8. ^ Ex. xxxiii. 20-22. ^ jyfatt. xvii. 3, etc.
^ 1 Kings xix. 11, 12. ^ Isa. xlii. 3.
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 447
manner, vivify and increase mankind. This, too, was made
still clearer by Ezekiel, that the prophets saw the dispensa-
tions of God in part, but not actually God Himself. For
when this man had seen the vision^ of God, and the cherubim,
and their wheels, and when he had recounted the mystery of
the whole of that progression, and had beheld the likeness
of a throne above them, and upon the throne a likeness as of
the figure of a man, and the things which were upon his
loins as the figure of amber, and what was below like the
sight of fire, and when he set forth all the rest of the vision
of the thrones, lest any one might happen to think that
in those [visions] he had actually seen God, he added :
'^ This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of
God."^
11. If, then, neither Moses, nor Elias, nor Ezekiel, who had
all many celestial visions, did see God ; but if what they did
see were similitudes of the splendour of the Lord, and pro-
phecies of things to come ; it is manifest that the Father
is indeed invisible, of whom also the Lord said, "No man
hath seen God at any time."^ But His AYord, as He Himself
willed it, and for the benefit of those who beheld, did show
the Father's brightness, and explained His purposes (as also
the Lord said : " The only-begotten God,* which is in the
bosom of the Father, He hath declared [Him] ;" and He does
Himself also interpret the Word of the Father as being rich
and great) ; not in one figure, nor in one character, did He
appear to those seeing Him, but according to the reasons
and effects aimed at in His dispensations, as it is written in
Daniel. For at one time He was seen with those who were
around xVnanias, Azarias, Misael, as present with them in the
furnace of fire, in the burning, and preserving them from
[the effects of] fire : " And the appearance of the fourth," it
1 Ezek. i. 1. 2 y^zqV. ii. 1. ^^ John i. 18.
* "This text, as quoted a short time ago, indicated ' the only-bcgottcn
Son ;' but the agreement of the Syriac version induces the belief that
the present reading was that expressed by Irenieus, and that the pre-
vious quotation has been corrected to suit the Vulgate. The fonner
reading, however, occurs in book iii. c. xi. 5." — Hakvey.
148 IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
is said, "was like to the Son of God."^ At another time [He
is represented as] " a stone cut out of the mountain without
hands/' ^ and as smiting all temporal kingdoms, and as blow-
ing them away (yentilans ea), and as Himself filling all the
earth. Then, too, is this same individual beheld as the Son
of man coming in the clouds of heaven, and drawing near
to the Ancient of Days, and receiving from Him all power
and glory, and a kingdom. "His dominion," it is said, "is,
an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom shall not perish."^
John also, the Lord's disciple, when beholding the sacerdotal
and glorious advent of His kingdom, says in the Apocalypse :
" I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And, being
turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks ; and in the midst of
the candlesticks One like unto the Son of man, clothed with
a garment reaching to the feet, and girt about the paps with
a golden girdle ; and His head and His hairs were white, as
white as wool, and as snow ; and His eyes were as a flame
of fire ; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if He burned in a
furnace. And His voice [was] as the voice of waters ; and He
had in His right hand seven stars ; and out of His mouth went
a sharp two-edged sword; and His countenance was as the sun
shining in his strength."^ For in these words He sets forth
something of the glory [which He has received] from His
Father, as [where He makes mention of] the head ; something
in reference to the priestly office also, as in the case of the long
garment reaching to the feet. And this was the reason why
Moses vested the high priest after this fashion. Som.ething
also alludes to the end [of all things], as [where He speaks of]
the fine brass burning in the fire, which denotes the power
of faith, and the continuing instant in prayer, because of the
consuming fire which is to come at the end of time. But
when John could not endure the sight (for he says, " I fell
at his feet as dead;"^ that what was written might come to
pass : "No man sees God, and shall live"^), and the Word
reviving him, and reminding him that it was He upon
whose bosom he had leaned at supper, when he put the ques-
1 Dan. iii. 26. 2 Dan. vii. 13, 14. ^ Dan. yii. 4.
* Rev. i. 12. « Rev. i. 17. ^ Ex. xxxiii. 20.
Book iv.] IBENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 410
tlon as to who should betray Him, declared : " I am the
first and the last, and He who liveth, and was dead, and
behold I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of death
and of lielL" And after these things, seeing the same Lord
in a second vision, he says : " For I saw in the midst of the
throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of
the elders, a Lamb standing as it had been slain, having
seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of
God, sent forth into all the earth." ^ And again, he says,
speaking of this very same Lamb: "And behold a white
horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True;
and in righteousness doth He judge and make war. And His
eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many
•crowns ; having a name written, that no man knoweth but
Himself : and He was girded around with a vesture sprinkled
with blood : and His name is called The Word of God. And
the armies of heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed
in pure white linen. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp
sword, that with it He may smite the nations ; and He shall
rule (pascet) them with a rod of iron : and He treadeth the
wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of God Almighty.
And He hath upon His vesture and upon His thigh a name
written. King of kings and Lord of lords.""" Thus
<loes the Word of God always preserve the outlines, as it
were, of things to come, and points out to men the various
forms (species), as it were, of the dispensations of the Father,
teaching us the things pertaining to God.
12. However, it was not by means of visions alone which
were seen, and words which were proclaimed, but also in
actual works, that He was beheld by the prophets, in order
that through them He might prefigure and show forth future
events beforehand. For this reason did Hosea the prophet
take " a wife of whoredoms," prophesying by means of the
action, "that in committing fornication the earth should
fornicate from the Lord," ' that is, the men who are upon
the earth ; and from men of this stamp it will be God's good
pleasure to take out^ a church which shall be sanctified by
1 Rev. V. G. - Rev. xix. 11-17. = llos. i. 2, 3. * Acts xy. 14.
2 F
450 IBENuE US A GAINST HERESIES [Book iv.
fellowsliip with Plis Son, just as that woman was sanctified
by intercourse with the prophet. And for this reason, Paul
declares tliat the ^^unbelieving wife is sanctified by the
believing husband."^ Then again, the prophet names his
children, " Not having obtained mercy," and " Not a people,"^
in order that, as says the apostle, " what was not a people
may become a people ; and she who did not obtain mercy
may obtain mercy. And it shtill come to pass, that in the
place where it was said, Tliis is not a people, there shall
they be called the children of the living God." ^ That which
had been done typically through his actions by the prophet,
the apostle proves to have been done truly by Christ in the
church. Thus, too, did Moses also take to wife an Ethiopian
woman, whom he thus made an Israelitish one, showing by
anticipation that the wild olive tree is grafted into the culti-
vated olive, and made to partake of its fatness. For as He
who was born Christ according to the flesh, had indeed to
be sought after by the people in order to be slain, but was to
be set free in Egypt, that is, among the Gentiles, to sanctify
those who were there in a state of infancy, from whom also
He perfected His church in that place (for Egypt w^as Gentile
from the beginning, as was Ethiopia also) ; for this reason, by
means of the marriage of Moses, was shown forth the marriage
of the Word;^ and by means of the Ethiopian bride, the
church taken from among the Gentiles was made manifest ;
and those who do detract from, accuse, and deride it, shall not
be pure. For they shall be full of leprosy, and expelled from
the camp of the righteous. Thus also did Eahab the harlot,
while condemning herself, inasmuch as she was a Gentile,
guilty of all sins, nevertheless receive the three spies,"" who
were spying out all the land, and hid them at her home ;
[which three were] doubtless [a type of] the 'Father and the
Son, together with the Holy Spirit. And when the entire
^ 1 Cor. vii. 14. 2 Hos. i. 6-9. ^ ^^^^^ jx. 25, 2Q.
■* The text is here uncertam ; and while the general meaning of the
sentence is plain, its syntax is confused and obscure.
^ Irenaeus seems here to have written "three"' for "two" from a lapse
of memory.
r
Book iv.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 451
city ill which she Hved fell to ruins at the sounding of the
seven trumpets, Eahab the harlot was preserved, when all
was over \in ultimis], together with all her house, through
faith of the scarlet sign ; as the Lord also declared to those
who did not receive His advent, — the Pharisees, no doubt,
nullify the sign of the scarlet thread, which meant the pass-
over, and the redemption and exodus of the people from
Egypt, — when He said, " The publicans and the harlots go
into the kingdom of heaven before you.'
J5l
Chap. xxi. — Ahraliains faith luas identical icith ours; tins
faith loas 2')refifjurecl by the loords and actions of the old
jyatriarchs,
1. But that our faith was also prefigured in Abraham, and
that he \yas the patriarch of our faith, and, as it were, the
prophet of it, the apostle has very fully taught, when he
says in the Epistle to the Galatians : '' Pie therefore that
ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among
you, [doetli he it] by the works of the law", or by the hearing
of faith ? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was ac-
counted unto him for righteousness. Know" ye therefore,
that they which are of faith, the same are the children of
Abraham. But the Scripture, foreseeing that God would
justify the heathen through faith, announced beforehand
unto Abraham, that in him all nations should be blessed.
So then they which be of faith shall be blessed with faithful
Abraham."" For which [reasons the apostle] declared that this
man was not only the prophet of faith, but also the father of
those wdio from among the Gentiles believe in Jesus Christ,
because his faith and ours are one and the same : for he be-
lieved in things future, as if they were already accomplished,
because of the promise of God ; and in like manner do we
also, because of the promise of God, beliold through faith
that inheritance [laid up for us] in the [future] kingdom.
2. The history of Isaac, too, is not without a symbolical
character. For in the Epistle to the Eomans, the apostle
1 .Alatt. xxi. 31. - Gal. iii. 5-9 ; Gen. xii. o.
452 lEENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
declares : " Moreover, wlien Rebecca had conceived by one,
even by our father Isaac," she received answer^ from the
Word, " that the purpose of God according to election might
stand, not of works, but of him tliat calleth, it was said
unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner
of people are in thy body ; and the one people shall over-
come the other, and the elder shall serve the vouno-er." '^
' I/O
From wdiich it is evident, that not only [were there] pro-
phecies of the patriarchs, but also that the children brought
forth by Kebecca were a prediction of the two nations ; and
that the one should be indeed the greater, but the other the
less ; that the one also should be under bondage, but the
other free ; but [that both should be] of one and the same
father. Our God, one and the same, is also their God, who
knows hidden things, who knowetli all things before they can
come to pass ; and for this reason has He said, " Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated." '^
3. If any one, again, will look into Jacob's actions, he shall
find them not destitute of meaning, but full of import with
regard to the dispensations. Thus, in the first place, at his
birth, since he laid hold on his brother's heel,'* he was called
Jacob, that is, the supplanter — one who holds, but is not held ;
binding the feet, but not being bound ; striving and conquer-
ing ; grasping in his hand his adversary's heel, that is, victory.
For to this end was the Lord born, the type of whose birth
he set forth beforehand, of whom also John says in the
Apocalypse : '' He went forth conquering, that He should
conquer."'^ In the next place, [Jacob] received the rights of
the first-born, when his brother looked on them with con-
tempt; even as also the younger nation received Him, Christ,
the first-begotten, when the elder nation rejected Him, say-
ing, "" We have no king but Caesar." ^ But in Christ every
blessing [is summed up], and therefore the latter people has
snatched away the blessings of the former from the Father,
just as Jacob took away the blessing of this Esau. For
^ Massuet would cancel these words.
2 Rom. ix. 10-13 ; Gen. xxv. 23. ^ Rom. ix. 13 ; Mai. i. 2.
"^ Gen. xxv. 2Q. ^ Rev. vi. 2. ^ John xix. 15.
Book iv.] IUEN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 453
wlilcli cause his brother suffered the plots and persecutions
of a brother, just as the church suffers this self-same thing
from the Jews. In a foreign country were the twelve tribes
born, the race of Israel, inasmuch as Christ was also, in a
strange country, to generate the twelve-pillared foundation
of the church. Various coloured sheep were allotted to this
Jacob as his wages ; and the wages of Christ are human
beings, who from various and diverse nations come together
into one cohort of faith, as the Father promised Him, saying,
" Ask of me, and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine
inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy posses-
sion." ^ And as from the multitude of his sons the prophets
of the Lord [afterwards] arose, there was every necessity that
Jacob should beget sons from the two sisters, even as Christ
did from the two laws of one and the same Father ; and in
like manner also from the handmaids, indicating that Christ
should raise up sons of God, both from freemen and from
slaves after the flesh, bestowing upon all, in the same manner,
the gift of the Spirit, who vivifies us." But he (Jacob) did
all things for the sake of the younger, she who had the hand-
some eyes, Kachel, who prefigured the church, for which
Christ endured patiently ; who at that time, indeed, by
means of His patriarchs and prophets, was prefiguring and
declaring beforehand future things, fulfilling His part by
anticipation in the dispensations of God, and accustoming
Ills inheritance to obey God, and to pass through the world
as in a state of pilgrimage, to follow His word, and to indicate
beforehand thIno:s to come. For with God there is nothino;
without purpose or due signification.
CllAP. XXII. — Christ did not come for the sake of the men
of one age onJij^ but for all icho, living righteously and
piousb/, had believed upon Illm ; and for those, too, ivho
shall believe.
1. Now^ In the last davs, when the fulness of the time
1 Ts. ii. 8.
2 The text of this sentence is in great confusion, and we can give only
a doubtful translation.
454 IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
of liberty had arrived, the "Word Himself did by Himself
" wash away the filtli of the daughters of Zion," ^ when He
washed the disciples' feet with His own hands." For this is
the end of the human race inheriting God ; that as in the
beginning, by means of our first [parents], we were all
brought into bondage, by being made subject to death ; so
at last, by means of the New jMan, all who from the begin-
ning [were His] disciples, having been cleansed and washed
from things pertaining to death, should come to the life of
God. For He who washed the feet of the disciples sancti-
fied the entire body, and rendered it clean. For this reason,
too. He administered food to them in a recumbent posture,
indicating that those who were lying in the earth were they
to whom He came to impart life. As Jeremiah declares,
" The holy Lord remembered Ilis dead Israel, who slept in
the land of sepulture ; and He descended to them to make
known to them His salvation, that they might be saved." ^
For this reason also were the eyes of the disciples weighed
down when Christ's passion was approaching ; and when, in
the first instance, the Lord found them sleeping, He let it
pass, — thus indicating tlie patience of God in regard to the
state of slumber in which men lay ; but coming the second
time. He aroused them, and made them stand up, in token
that His passion is the arousing of His sleeping disciples, on
whose account " He also descended into the- lower parts of
the earth,"* to behold with His eyes the state of those who
were resting from tlieir labours," in reference to whom He
did also declare to the disciples : '' Many prophets and
righteous men have desired to see and hear what ye do see
and hear." ^
2. For it was not merely for those who believed on Him
^ Isa. iv. 4. ^ John xiii. 5.
^ This spurious quotation has been introduced before. See book iii.
20,4.
* Eph. iv. 9.
^ So Harvey understands the obscure Latin text, " id quod erat inope-
ratmn conditionis."
^ Matt. xiii. 17.
Book iv.] IHENJE US A GAINST HERESIES. 455
in the time of Tiberius Cassar that Christ came, nor did the
Father exercise His providence for the men only who are
now ahve, but for all men altogether, who from the begin-
ning, according to their capacity, in their generation have
both feared and loved God, and practised justice and piety
towards their neighbours, and have earnestly desired to see
Christ, and to hear His voice. Wherefore He shall, at His
second coming, first rouse from their sleep all persons of this
description, and shall raise them up, as well as the rest who
shall be judged, and give them a place in His kingdom. For
it is truly " one God who " directed the patriarchs towards
His dispensations, and " has justified the circumcision by
faith, and the uncircumcision through faith." ^ For as in
the first we were prefigured, so, on the other hand, are they
represented in us, that is, in the church, and receive the
recompense for those things which they accomplished.
CnAr. XXIII. — The pa^narcA.s and prophets, hy pointing out
the achent of Christ, fortified thereby, as it luere, the way
of 'posterity to the faith of Christ ; and so the labours of
the apostles luere lessened, inasmuch as they gathered in
the fruits of the labours of others.
1. For which reason the Lord declared to the disciples :
" Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look upon
the districts (regiones), for they are white [already] to harvest.
For the harvest-man receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto
life eternal, that both he that sowetli and he that reapeth may
rejoice together. For in this is the saying true, that one
soweth and another reapeth. For I have sent you forward
to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour ; other men have
laboured, and ye have entered into their labours." ' Who,
then, are they that have laboured, and have helped forward
the dispensations of God ? It is clear that tliey are the
patriarchs and prophets, who even prefigured our faith, and
disseminated through the earth the advent of the Son of God,
who and what He should be : so that posterity, possessing the
1 Rom. iii. 30. - Joliu iv. 35, etc.
456 IRENuEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book ir.
fear of God, might easily accept the advent of Christ, having
been instructed by the prophets. And for this reason it was,
that when Joseph became aware tliat Mary was with child,
and was minded to put her away privily, the angel said to him
in sleep : " Fear not to take to thee Mary thy wife ; for that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. For she
shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus ;
for He shall save His people from their sins."^ And exhort-
ing him [to this], he added : " Now all this has been done,
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken from the Lord by
the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and
shall bring forth a son, and His name shall be called Em-
manuel ;" thus influencing him by the words of the prophet,
and warding off blame from Mary, pointing out that it was
she who was the virgin mentioned by Isaiah beforehand, who
should give birth to Emmanuel. Wherefore, when Joseph
was convinced beyond all doubt, he both did take Mary, and
joyfully yielded obedience in regard to all the rest of the
education of Christ, undertaking a journey into Egypt and
back again, and then a removal to Nazareth. [For this
reason,] those who knew not the Scriptures nor the promise
of God, nor the dispensation of Christ, at last called him the
father of the child. For this reason, too, did the Lord Him-
self read at Capernaum the prophecies of Isaiah {^ " The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me ;
to preach the gospel to the poor hath He sent me, to heal the
broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and sight
to the blind." ^ At the same time, showing that it was Pie
Himself who had been foretold by Esaias the prophet. He saidi
to them : ^' This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears."
2. For this reason, also, Philip, when he had discovered
the eunuch of the Ethiopians' queen reading these words
which had been written : '' He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter; and as a lamb is dumb before the shearer, so Ho
opened not His mouth : in His humiliation His judgment
was taken away ;"^ and all the rest which the prophet pro-
1 Matt. i. 20, etc. ~ Luke iv. 18.
^ Isa. Ixi. 1. ■* Acts viii. 27 ; Isa. liii. 7.
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 457
ccedecl to relate in regard to Ills passion and His coming
in the fleslj, and how lie was dishonoured by tliose who
did not beHeve Plim ; easily persuaded him to believe on
Him, that He was Christ Jesus, who was crucified under
Pontius Pilate, and suffered whatsoever the prophet had pre-
dicted, and that He was the Son of God, who gives eternal
life to men. And immediately when [Philip] had baptized
liim, he departed from him. For nothing else [but baptism]
"was wanting to him who had been already instructed by the
])rophets : he was not ignorant of God the Father, nor of
the rules as to the [proper] manner of life, but was merely
ignorant of the advent of the Son of God, which, when he
had become acquainted with, in a short space of time, he went
on his way rejoicing, to be the herald in Ethiopia of Christ's
advent. Therefore Philip had no great labour to go through
with regard to this man, because he was already prepared in
the fear of God by the prophets. For this reason, too, did
the apostles, collecting the sheep which had perished of the
house of Israel, and discoursing to them from the Scriptures,
prove that this crucified Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the
living God ; and they persuaded a great multitude, who, how-
ever, [already] possessed the fear of God. And there were, in
one day, baptized three, and four, and five thousand men.^
CllAP. XXIV. — TJie conversion of the Gentiles icas more diffi-
cult than that of the Jews ; the labours of those apostlesy
therefore, who engaged in the former taslc, iccre greater
than tliose u'ho iindertooh the latter,
1. Wherefore also Paul, since he was the apostle of the
Gentiles, says, " I laboured more than they all." ""' For the
instruction of the former, [viz. the Jews,] was an easy task,
because they could allege proofs from the Scriptures, and
because thev, who were in the habit of hearinir Moses and
the prophets, did also readily receive the First-begotten of
the dead, and the Prince of the life of God, — Him who, bv
the spreading forth of hands, did destroy Amalek, and vivify
1 Acts ii. 41, iv. L 2 1 Cor. xv. 10.
458 IRENjEUS against HERESIES. [Book iv.
man from the wound of the serpent, by means of faith which
was [exercised] towards Him. As I have pointed out in the
preceding book, the apostle did, in the first place, instruct
the Gentiles to depart from the superstition of idols, and to
worship one God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and the
Framer of the whole creation ; and that His Son was His
Word, by whom He founded all things ; and that He, in the
last times, was made a man among men ; that He re-formed
the human race, but destroyed and conquered the enemy of
man, and gave to His own handiwork victory against the
adversarv. But although thev who were of the circumcision
still did not obey the words of God, for they were desplsers,
yet they were previously instructed not to commit adultery,
nor fornication, nor theft, nor fraud ; and that whatsoever
things are done to our neighbours' prejudice, were evil, and
detested by God. Wherefore also they did readily agree to
abstain from these things, because they had been thus in-
structed.
2. Bat they were bound to teach the Gentiles also this
very thing, that works of such a nature were wicked, pre-
judicial, and useless, and destructive to those who engaged in
them. Wherefore he who had received the apostolate to the
Gentiles, did labour more than those who preached the Son
of God among them of the circumcision. For they were
assisted by the Scriptures, which the Lord confirmed and
fulfilled, in coming such as He had been announced ; but
here, [in the case of the Gentiles,] there was a certain foreign
erudition, and a new doctrine [to be received, namely], that
the gods of the nations not only were no gods at all, but
even the idols of demons ; and that there is one God, who is
" above all principality, and dominion, and power, and every
name which is named ;" ^ and that His Word, invisible by
nature, was made palpable and visible among men, and did
descend ^' to death, even the death of the cross ;" ^ also, that
they who believe in Him shall be incorruptible and not sub-
ject to suffering, and shall receive the kingdom of heaven.
These things, too, were preached to the Gentiles by word,
1 Eph. i. 21. 2 ptii. ii. 8.
\
Book iv.] IPcENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 459
without [the aid of] the Scriptures : wherefore, also, they
who preached among the Gentiles underwent greater lahour.
But, on the other hand, the faith of the Gentiles is proved to
be of a more noble description, since they followed the word
of God without the instruction [derived] from the [sacred]
w^ri tings (sine instructione liter arum).
Chap. XXV. — Both covenants icere ^:>r^y?^in'<?6Z in ALraJiamj
and in the lahour of Tamar ; there icaSy hoivever, hut one
and the same God to each covenant.
1. For thus it had behoved the sons of Abraham [to be],
whom God has raised up to him from the stones,^ and caused
to take a place beside him who was made the chief and the
forerunner of our faith (who did also receive the covenant
of circumcision, after that justification by faith which had
pertained to him, when he was yet in uncircumcision, so that
in him both covenants might be prefigured, that he might be
the father of all who follow the Word of God, and who sus-
tain a life of pilgrimage in this world, that is, of those who
from amono; the circumcision and of tliose from amono; the
uncircumcision are faithful, even as also " Christ" is the chief
corner-stone," sustaining all things) ; and He gathered into
the one faith of Abraham those who, from either covenant,
are eligible for God's buildinij;. But this faith which is in
uncircumcision, as connectincj the end with the befrinninrr,
has been made [both] the first and the last. For, as I have
shown, it existed in Abraham antecedently to circumcision,
as it also did in the rest of the righteous who pleased God :
and in these last times, it again sprang up among mankind
throuMi the cominij of the Lord. But circumcision and the
law of works occupied the intervening period.
2. This fact is indeed set forth by many other [occur-
rences], but typically by [the history of] Thamar, Judah's
daughter-in-law.^ For when she had conceived twins, one
of them put forth his hand first ; and as the midwife sup-
•poscd that he was the first-born, she bound a scarlet token
1 Matt. iii. 9. ^ Epli. ii. 20. » Geu. xxxviii. 28, etc.
4 GO IREN^ US A GAINST HERESIES [Book iv.
on his hand. But after this had been done, and he had
drawn back his hand, his brother Phares came forth the
first ; then, after him, Zara, upon whom was tlie scarlet line,
[was born] tlie second : the Scripture clearly pointing out
that people which possessed the scarlet sign, that is, faith in
a state of circumcision, which was shown beforehand, indeed,
in the patriarchs first ; but after that withdrawn, that his
brother might be born ; and also, in like manner, him who
was the elder, as being born in the second place, [him] who
was distinguished by the scarlet token, which was [fastened]
on him, that is, the passion of the Just One, which w^as
prefigured from the beginning in Abel, and described by the
prophets, but perfected in the last times in the Son of God.
3. For it was requisite that certain facts should be an-
nounced beforehand by the fathers in a paternal manner,
and others prefigured by the prophets in a legal one, but
others, described after the form of Christ, by those who have
received the adoption ; wliile in one God are all things shown
forth. For althouG;li Abraham was one, he did in himself
prefigure the two covenants, in which some indeed have
sown, while others have reaped ; for it is said, " In this is
the saying true, that it is one ' people' who sows, but another
who shall reap ;"^ but it is one God who bestows things suit-
able upon both — seed to the sower, but bread for the reaper
to eat. Just as it is one that planteth, and another who
watereth, but one God who giveth the increase.^ For the
patriarchs and prophets sowed the word [concerning] Christ,
but the church reaped, that is, received the fruit. For this
reason, too, do these very men (the prophets) also pray to
have a dwelHng-place in it, as Jeremiah says, " Who will
give me in the desert the last dwelling-place ? " ^ in order that
both the sower and the reaper may rejoice together in the
kingdom of Christ, wdio is present with all those who were
from the beginning approved by God, who granted them
His Word to be present with them.
1 John iv. 37. ' 1 Cor. iii. 7. ^ jer. ix. 2.
Book iv.] IRENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 461
ClIAr. XXVI. — Tlte treasure liid in the Scriptures is Christ;
the true exposition of the Scriptures is to he found in the
church cdone.
1. If any one, therefore, reads the Scriptures whh atten-
tion, he will find in them an account of Christ, and a fore-
shadowing of the new calling (yocationis). For Christ is the
treasure which was hid in the field,^ that is, in this world
(for "the field is the world"") ; but the treasure hid in the
Scriptures is Christ, since He was pointed out by means of
types and parables. Hence Plis human nature could not^
be understood, prior to the consummation of those things
which had been predicted, that is, the advent of Christ.
And therefore it was said to Daniel the prophet : " Shut up
the words, and seal the book even to the time of consumma-
tion, until many learn, and knowledge be completed. For at
that time, when the dispersion shall be accomplished, they
shall know all these things." ^ But Jeremiah also says, " In
the last days they shall understand these things."^ For every
prophecy, before its fulfilment, is to men [full of] enigmas
and ambiguities. But when the time has arrived, and the
prediction has come to pass, then the prophecies have a clear
and certain exposition. And for this reason, indeed, when
at this present time the laAV is read to the Jews, it is like a
fable ; for they do not possess the explanation of all things
pertaining to the advent of the Son of God, which took
place in human nature ; but when it is read by the Chris-
tians, it is a treasure, hid indeed in a field, but brought to
light by the cross of Christ, and explained, both enriching
the understanding of men, and showing forth the wisdom of
God, and declaring His dispensations with regard to man,
and forming the kingdom of Christ beforehand, and preach-
ing by anticipation the inheritance of the holy Jerusalem,
and proclaiming beforehand that the man who loves God
shall arrive at such excellency as even to see God, and hear
1 Matt. xiii. 44. 2 ^j.^tt. xiii. 38.
3 Harvey cancels " nou," and reads the sentence interrogatively.
* Dan. xii. 4, 7. ^ jer. xxiii. 20.
4G2 IREN^US AGAINST HEEESIES. [Book iv.
His word, and from the hearing of His discourse be glorified
to such an extent, that others cannot behold the glory of his
countenance, as was said by Daniel : '' Those who do under-
stand, shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and
many of the righteous^ as the stars for ever and ever."^
Thus, then, I have shown it to be,^ if any one read the
Scriptures. For thus it was that the Lord discoursed with
the disciples after His resurrection from the dead, proving
to them from the Scriptures themselves " that Christ must
suffer, and enter into His glory, and that remission of sins
should be preached in His name throughout all the world."*
And the disciple will be perfected, and [rendered] like the
householder, " who bringeth forth from his treasure things
new and old."''
2. Wherefore it is incumbent to obey the presbyters who
are in the church — those who, as I have shown, possess the
succession from the apostles ; those who, together with the
succession of the episcopate, have received the certain gift
of truth, according to the good pleasure of the Father. But
[it is also incumbent] to hold in suspicion others wdio depart
from the primitive succession, and assemble themselves to-
gether in any place whatsoever, [looking upon them] either
as heretics of perverse minds, or as schismatics puffed up
and self-pleasing, or again as hypocrites, acting thus for the
sake of lucre and vainglory. For all these have fallen from
the truth. And the heretics, indeed, who bring strange fire
to the altar of God — namely, strange doctrines — shall be
burned up by the fire from heaven, as were Nadab and
Abiud.^ But such as rise up in opposition to the truth,
and exhort others against the church of God, [shall] remain
among those in hell (apud inferos), being swallowed up by
^ The Latin is, "a multis justis," corresponding to the Greek version
of the Hebrew text. If the translation be supposed as corresponding to
the Hebrew comparative, the Enghsh equivalent Avill be, "and above
(more than) many righteous."
2 Dan. xii. 3.
2 The text and punctuation are here in great uncertainty, and very
different views of both are taken by the editors.
^ Luke xxiv. 26, 47. ^ Matt. xiii. 52. « Lev. x. 1, 2.
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 4G3
an earthquake, even as those who were with Chore, Dathan,
and Abiron.^ But those who cleave asunder, and separate
the unity of the church, [shall] receive from God the same
punishment as Jeroboam did.'^
3. Those, however, who are believed to be presbyters by
many, but serve their own lusts, and do not place the fear
of God supreme in their hearts, but conduct themselves with
contempt towards others, and are puffed up with the pride of
holding the chief seat, and work evil deeds in secret, saying,
"No man sees us," shall be convicted by the Word, who
does not judge after outward appearance {secundum gloriam\
nor looks upon the countenance, but the heart ; and they
shall hear those words, to be found in Daniel the prophet:
" O thou seed of Canaan, and not of Judah, beauty hath
deceived thee, and lust perverted thy heart."' Thou that art
waxen old in wicked days, now thy sins wdiich thou hast
committed aforetime are come to light ; for thou hast pro-
nounced false judgments, and hast been accustomed to con-
demn the innocent, and to let the guilty go free, albeit the
the Lord saith. The innocent and the righteous shalt thou
not slay." '* Of whom also did the Lord say : " But if the
evil servant shall say in his heart, ]\Iy lord delayeth his
coming, and shall begin to smite the man-servants and
maidens, and to eat and drink and be drunken ; the lord
of that servant shall come in a day that he looketh not for
him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut
him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the unbe-
lievers." ^
4. From all such persons, therefore, it believes us to keep
aloof, but to adhere to those who, as I have already observed,
do hold the doctrine of the apostles, and who, together with
the order of priesthood {preshyterii ordinc\ display sound
speech and blameless conduct for the confirmation and cor-
rection of others. In this way, Moses, to whom such a leader-
ship was entrusted, relying on a good conscience, cleared
1 Num. xvi. 33. 2 1 Ki^gg ^iv. 10.
3 Hist. Siis. vcr. 56. ■* Ih'ul. vcr. 5J, etc. ; Ex. xxiii. 7.
^ Matt. xxiv. 48, etc. ; Luke xii. 15.
4G4 IFcENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
liimself before God, saying, "I have not in covetousness
taken anything belonging to one of these men, nor have I
done evil to one of them." ^ In this way, too, Samuel, who
judged the people so many years, and bore rule over Israel
without any pride, in the end cleared himself, saying, " I
have walked before you from my childhood even unto this
day : answer me in the sight of God, and before His anointed
(Christi ejus) ; whose ox or whose ass of yours have I taken,
or over whom have I tyrannized, or whom have I oppressed ?
or if I have received from the hand of any a bribe or [so
much as] a shoe, speak out against me, and I will restore it to
you." ^ And when the people had said to him, '^ Thou hast
]iot tyrannized, neither hast thou oppressed us, neither hast
thou taken ought of any man's hand," he called the Lord to
witness, saying, '^ The Lord is witness, and His Anointed is
witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand.
And they said to him, He is witness." In this strain also
the Apostle Paul, inasmuch as he had a good conscience, said
to the Corinthians : '' For we are not as many, who corrupt
the Word of God : but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the
sight of God speak we in Christ;"^ ^' We have injured no
man, corrupted no man, circumvented no man." ^
5. Such presbyters does the church nourish, of whom also
the prophet says : " I will give thy rulers in peace, and thy
bishops in righteousness."^ Of whom also did the Lord
declare, " Who then shall be a faithful steward {actor), good
and wise, whom the Lord sets over His household, to give
them their meat in due season? Blessed is that servant
whom his Lord, when He cometh, shall find so doing." ^
Paul then, teaching us where one may find such, says,
'' God hath placed in the church, first, apostles ; secondly,
prophets ; thirdly, teachers." '' Where, therefore, the gifts of
the Lord have been placed, there it behoves us to learn the
truth, [namely,] from those who possess that succession of
the church which is from the apostles, and among whom
1 Xum. xvi. 15. 2 1 gam. xii. 3. ^ 2 Cor. ii. 17.
4 2 Cor. vii. 2. ^ Isa. Ix. 17. ^ Matt, xxivr. 45, 4G.
7 1 Cor. xii. 28.
Book iv.] IIIENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 465
exists that which is sound and blameless in conduct, as well
as that which is unadulterated and incorrupt in speech. For
these also preserve this faith of ours in one God who created
all things ; and they increase that love [which we have] for
the Son of God, who accomplished such marvellous dispensa-
tions for our sake : and they expound the Scriptures to us
without danger, neither blaspheming God, nor dishonouring
the patriarchs, nor despising the prophets.
Chap, xxvii. — The sins of the men of old time, ivhich in-
curred the displeasure of God^ loere, hjj His providence,
committed to luriting^ that lue might derive instruction
thereby, and not he filled loith pride. We must not, there-
fore^ infer thai there was another God than lie whom
Christ j^reached ; ive should rather fear, lest the one and
the same God who inflicted punishment on the ancients,
should bring down heavier upon us.
1. As I have heard from a certain presbyter,^ who had
heard it from those who had seen the apostles, and from those
who had been their disciples, the punishment [declared] in
Scripture was sufficient for the ancients in regard to what
they did without the Spirit's guidance. For as God is no
respecter of persons. He inflicted a proper punishment on
deeds displeasing to Ilim. As in the case of David," when
he suffered persecution from Saul for righteousness' sake,
and fled from King Saul, and would not avenge himself of his
enemy, lie both sung the advent of Christ, and instructed the
nations in wisdom, and did everything after the Spirit's guid-
ance, and pleased God. But when his lust prompted Iiim to
take Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, the Scripture said con-
cerning him, ^' Now, the thing {sermo) which David had done
appeared wicked in the eyes of the Lord;"' and Nathan
the prophet is sent to him, pointing out to him his crime, in
order that he, passing sentence upon and condemning him-
^ Polycarp, Papias, Potliinus, and others, have been siig^estoil as pro-
bably here referrei-l to, but the point is involved in utter uncertaiuty.
2 1 Sam. xviii. ^ 2 Sam. xi. 27.
2 G
4G6 IHENjEUS against heresies. [Book iv
self, might obtain mercy and forgiveness from Christ : " And
[Nathan] said to him, There were two men in one city; the
one rich, and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding
many flocks and herds ; but the poor man had notliing, save
one httle ewe-lamb, which he possessed, and nourished up ;
and it had been \vith him and with his children together : it
did eat of his own bread, and drank of his cup, and was to
him as a daughter. And there came a guest unto the rich
man ; and he spared to take of the flock of his own ewe-
lambs, and from the herds of his own oxen, to entertain the
guest ; but he took the ewe-lamb of the poor man, and set it
before the man that had come unto him. And David's-
anger was greatly kindled against the man ; and he said to
Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this
thing shall surely die (filius 7nortis est) : and he shall restore
the lamb fourfold, because he hath done this thing, and
because he had no pity for the poor man. And Nathan said
unto him. Thou art the man who hast done this."^ And then
he proceeds with the rest [of the narrative], upbraiding him,
and recounting God's benefits towards him, and [showings
him] how much his conduct had displeased the Lord. For
[he declared] that works of this nature were not pleasing to
God, but that great wrath was suspended over his house.
David, however, was struck with remorse on hearing this,
and exclaimed, "I have sinned against the Lord ;" and he
sung a penitential psalm, waiting for the coming of the Lord,
who washes and makes clean the man who had been fast
bound with [the chain of] sin. In like manner it was with
regard to Solomon, while he continued to judge uprightly,
and to declare the wisdom of God, and built the temple as
the type of truth, and set forth the glories of God, and
announced the peace about to come upon the nations, and
prefigured the kingdom of Christ, and spake three thousand
parables about the Lord's advent, and five thousand songs,
singing praise to God, and expounded the wisdom of God in
creation, [discoursing] as to the nature of every tree, every
herb, and of all fowls, quadrupeds, and fishes ; and he saiclj,
^2 Sam. xii. 1, etc.
Book i v.] IRENJE US A GAINST JIEnESIES. 4 G 7
" Will God, whom tlie heavens cannot contain, really dwell
with men upon the earth V ^ And he pleased God, and was
the admiration of all ; and all kinii^s of the earth souMit an
interview with him {qucerehant faciem ejus), that they might
hear the wisdom which God had conferred upon him.""^ The
queen of the south, too, came to him from the ends of the
earth, to ascertain the wisdom that was in him;'^ she whom
the Lord also referred to as one who should rise up in the
judgment with the nations of those men who do hear His
words, and do not believe in Ilim, and should condemn them,
inasmuch as she submitted herself to the wisdom announced
by the servant of God, while these men despised that wisdom
which proceeded directly from the Son of God. For Solo-
mon was a servant, but Christ is indeed the Son of God, and
the Lord of Solomon. AYhile, therefore, he served God
without blame, and ministered to His dispensations, then was
he glorified : but when he took wives from all nations, and
permitted them to set up idols in Israel, the Scripture spake
thus concerning him : " And King Solomon was a lover of
women, and he took to himself foreign women ; and it came
to pass, when Solomon was old, his heart was not perfect
with the Lord his God. And the foreio;n women turned
away his heart after strange gods. And Solomon did evil
in the sight of the Lord : he did not walk after the Lord,
as did David his father. And the Lord was angry with
Solomon ; for his heart was not perfect with the Lord, as
was the heart of David his father." "* The. Scripture has thus
sufficiently reproved him, as the presbyter remarked, in order
that no flesh may glory in the sight of the Lord.
2. It was for this reason, too, that the Lord descended
into the regions beneath the earth, preaching His advent
there also, and [declaring] the remission of sins received by
those who believe in Him. Now all those believed in Him
who had hope towards Him, that is, those who proclaimed
His advent, and submitted to His dispensations, the righteous
men, the prophets, and the patriarchs, to whom He remitted
sins in the same way as He did to us, which sins we should
^ 1 Kings viii. 27. ^ 1 Kings iv. 34. ^ 1 Kings x. 1. * 1 Kings xi. 1.
4G8 IRENJE US A GAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
not lay to tlieir charge, if we would not despise the grace
of God. For as these men did not impute unto us (the
Gentiles) our transgressions, which we wrought before Christ
was manifested among us, so also it is not right that we
should lay blame upon those who sinned before Christ's com-
ing. I^'or ^' all men come short of the glory of God," ^ and
are not justified of themselves, but by the advent of the Lord,
— they who earnestly direct their eyes towards His light. And
it is for our instruction that their actions have been com-
mitted to writing, that we might know, in the first place, that
our God and theirs is one, and that sins do not please Him
although committed by men of renown ; and in the second
place, that we should keep from wickedness. For if these
men of old time, who preceded us in the gifts [bestowed upon
them], and for whom the Son of God had not yet suffered,
when they committed any sin and served fleshly lusts, were
rendered objects of such disgrace, what shall the men of the
present day suffer, who have despised the Lord's coming, and
become the slaves of their own lusts ? And truly the death
of the Lord became [the means of] healing and remission of
sins to the former, but Christ shall not die ae^ain in behalf of
those who now commit sin, for death shall no more have
-dominion over Him ; but the Son shall come in the glory of
the Father, requiring from His stewards and dispensers the
money which He had entrusted to them, with usury ; and
from those to whom He had given most shall He demand
most. We ought not, therefore, as that presbyter remarks,
to be puffed up, nor be severe upon those of old time, but
ought ourselves to fear, lest perchance, after [we have come
to] the knowledge of Christ, if we do things displeasing to
God, we obtain no further forgiveness of sins, but be shut
out from His kingdom. And therefore it was that Paul said,
" For if [God] spared not the natural branches, [take heed]
lest He also spare not thee, who, when thou wert a wild olive
tree, wert grafted into the fatness of the olive tree, and wert
made a partaker of its fatness." ^
3. Thou wilt notice, too, that the transgressions of the
^ Ptom. iii. 23. 2 p^^jn. xi. 21, 17.
Book iv.] IRENjEUS AGAINST HERESIES, 4G9
common people have been described in like manner, not for
the sake of those who did then transgress, but as a means of
instruction unto us, and that we sliould understand that it
is one and the same God against whom, these m.en sinned,
and against whom certain persons do now transgress from
among those who profess to have believed in Him. But this
also, [as the presbyter states,] has Paul declared most plainly
in tlie Epistle to the Corinthians, when he says, " Brethren, I
would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers
w^ere under the cloud, and were all baptized unto Moses in the
sea, and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink
the same spiritual drink : for they drank of that spiritual rock
that followed them ; and the rock was Christ. But with m.any
of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown
in the wilderness. These things were for our example {in
figuram nostri), to the intent that we should not lust after
evil things, as they also lusted ; neither be ye idolaters, as
were some of them, as it is wTitten :^ The people sat down to
eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit
fornication, as some of them also did, and fell in one day
three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as
some of them also tempted, and were destroj'ed of serpents.
Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and were
destroyed of the destroyer. But all these things happened to
them in a figure, and were written for our admonition, upon
whom the end of the world (scvculorum) is come. A\ herefore
let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he falL"^ .
4. Since therefore, beyond all doubt and contradiction,
the apostle shows that there is one and the same God, who
did both enter into judgment with these former things, and
who does inquire into those of the present time, and points
out why these things have been committed to writing; all
these men are found to be unlearned and presumptuous, nay,
even destitute of common sense, who, because of the trans-
gressions of them of old time, and because of the disobedience
of a vast number of them, do allege that there was indeed
one God of these men, and that lie was the maker of the
^ Ex. xxxii. 0. - 1 Cor. x. 1, etc.
470 IRENjEUS against IIEBESIES. [Book iv.
world, and existed in a state of degeneracy ; but that there
was another Father declared by Christ, and that this Being
is He who has been conceived by the mind of each of them ;
not understanding that as, in the former case, God showed
Himself not well pleased in many instances towards those
who sinned, so also in the latter, '^ many are called, but few
are chosen."^ As then the unrighteous, the idolaters, and
fornicators perished, so also is it now : for both the Lord
declares, that such persons are sent into eternal fire ;"^ and
the apostle says, " Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the kingdom of God ? Be not deceived : neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous,
nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the
kingdom of God."" And as it was not to those who are
without that he said these things, but to us, lest we should
be cast forth from the kingdom of God, by doing any such
thing, he proceeds to say, " And such indeed were ye ; but
ye are washed, but ye are sanctified in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God." And just as
then, those who led vicious lives, and put other people astray,
were condemned and cast out, so also even now the offending
eye is plucked out, and the foot and the hand, lest the rest of
the body perish in like manner."^ And we have the precept :
" If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or
covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an ex-
tortioner, with such an one no not to eat."'' And again does
the apostle say, " Let no man deceive you with vain words ;
for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon
the sons of mistrust. Be not ye therefore partakers with
them."^ And as then the condemnation of sinners extended
to others who approved of them, and joined in their society ;
so also is it the case at present, that " a little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump."^ And as the wrath of God did then
descend upon the unrighteous, here also does the apostle like-
1 Matt. XX. 16. 2 Matt. xxy. 41. ^ i Cor. vi. 9, 10.
4 Matt, xviii. 8, 9. M Cor. v. 11. ^ Eph. v. 6, 7.
^ 1 Cor. V. 6.
Book iv.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 471
•wise say : '^ For the wratli of God shall be revealed from
heaven airainst all iino;odlii)ess and unriMiteousness of those
men who hold back the truth in nnrighteousness."^ And as,
in those times, vengeance came from God upon the Egyptians
who were subjecting Israel to unjust punishment, so is it
now, the Lord truly declaring, " And shall not God avenge
Plis own elect, which cry day and night unto Him ? I tell
you, that He will avenge them speedily."" So says the
apostle, in like manner, in the Epistle to the Thessalonians :
^' Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribu-
lation to them that trouble you ; and to you who are troubled
rest with us, at the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ from
heaven with His mighty angels, and in a flame of fire, to take
vengeance upon those w^ho know not God, and upon those
that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ : who
shall also be punished with everlasting destruction from the
presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power ; when
He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired
in all them who have believed in Him."^
Chap, xxviii. — Tltose persons prove themselves senseless who
exaggerate the mercy of Christy hut are silent as to the
judgment^ and look only at the more abundant grace of
the New Testament ; hut, forgetful of the greater degree
of perfection ichich it demands from us, they endeavour to
show that there is another God heyond Him who created
the world.
1. Inasmuch, then, as in both Testaments there is the
same righteousness of God [displayed] when God takes ven-
geance, in the one case indeed typically, temporarily, and
anore moderately ; but in the other, really, enduringly, and
more riojidlv : for the fire is eternal, and the wratli of God
which shall be revealed from heaven from the face of our
Lord (as David also says, '' But the face of the Lord is
against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them
from the earth "^), entails a heavier punishment on those who
i^ Rom. i. 18. - Luke xviii. 7, 8. ^ o ^hess. i. 6-10. "* Ps. xxxiv. 16.
472 IRENuEUS AGAINST HEBESTES. [Book iv,
incur It, — the elders pointed out that those men are devoid
of sense, who, [arguing] from what liappened to those who
formerly did not obey God, do endeavour to bring in another
Father, setting over against [these punishments] what great
thiniTs the Lord had done at Plis coming to save those who
received Him, taking compassion upon them ; while they
keep silence with regard to His judgment, and all those
things which shall come upon such as have heard His words,
but done them not, and that It were better for them If they
had not been born,-^ and that it shall be more tolerable for
Soclom and Gomorrha In the iudo-ment than for that citv
w^hlch did not receive the w^ord of His disciples.^
2. For as. In the New^ Testament, that faith of men [to
be placed] In God has been Increased, receiving In addition
[to what w^as already revealed] the Son of God, that man too
might be a partaker of God; so Is also our walk In life
required to be more circumspect, when we are directed not
merely to abstain from evil actions, but even from evil
thoughts, and from Idle words, and empty talk, and scurrilous
language : thus also the punishment of those who do not
bellev^e the Word of God, and despise His advent, and are
turned away backwards, is Increased ; being not merely tem-
poral, but rendered also eternal. For to whomsoever the Lord
shall say, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,"'^
these shall be damned for ever ; and to whomsoever He shall
say, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, Inherit the kingdom
prepared for you for eternity,"^ these do receive the kingdom
for ever, and make constant advance In It ; since there Is one
and the same God the Father, and His Word, who has been
always present with the human race, by means Indeed of
various dispensations, and has wrought out many things, and
saved from the beginning those who are saved, (for these are
they who love God, and follow the Word of God according
to the class to which they belong,) and has judged those
who are judged, that Is, those who forget God, and are blas-
phemous, and transgressors of His word.
1 Matt. xxvi. 24. 2 ;^jatt. x. 15.
3 Matt. XXV. 41. ^ Matt. xxv. 34.
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 473
3. For these same heretics ah'eady mentioned by us have
fallen away from themselves, by accusing the Lord, in whom
they say that they believe. For those points to which they
call attention with regard to the God who then awarded tem-
poral punishments to the unbelieving, and smote the Egyp
tians, while He saved those that were obedient; these same
[facts, I say,] shall nevertheless repeat themselves in the
Lord, who judges for eternity those whom He doth judge, and
lets go free for eternity those whom He does let go free : and.
He shall [thus] be discovered, according to the language used
by these men, as having been the cause of their most heinous
sin to those who laid hands upon Him, and pierced Him. For
if He had not so come, it follows that these men could not
have become the slayers of their Lord ; and if He had not
sent prophets to them, they certainly could not have killed
them, nor the apostles either. To those, therefore, who assail
us, and say. If the Egyptians had not been afflicted with
plagues, and, when pursuing after Israel, been choked in the
sea, God could not have saved His people, this answer may
be given ; — Unless, then, the Jews had become the slayers
of the Lord (which did, indeed, take eternal life away from
them), and, by killing the apostles and persecuting the church,
had fallen into an abyss of wrath, we could not have been
saved. For as they were saved by means of the blindness
of the Egyptians, so are we, too, by that of the Jews ; if,
indeed, the death of the Lord is the condemnation of those
who fastened Him to the cross, and who did not believe His
advent, but the salvation of those who believe in Him. For
the apostle does also say in the Second [Epistle] to the
Corinthians : " For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ,
in them which are saved, and in them which perish : to the
one indeed the savour of death unto death, but to the other
the savour of life unto life."^ To whom, then, is there the
savour of death unto death, unless to those who believe not,
neither are subject to the Word of God ? And who are
they that did even then give themselves over to death ?
Those men, doubtless, who do not believe, nor submit them-
' 2 Cor. ii. 15, 16.
474 IBENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
selves to God. And again, ^vho are tliey that have been
saved, and received the inheritance? Those, doubtless, wlio
do believe God, and ^vho have continued in His love ; as
<lid Caleb [the son] of Jephunneli, and Joshua [the son]
of Nun,^ and innocent children, who have had no sense of
evil. But who are they that are saved now, and receive
life eternal ? Is it not those wdio love God, and who be-
lieve Plis promises, and who " in malice have become as little
children?" 2
Chap. xxix. — Refutation of the arguments of the Marcioniies,
u'ho attemj^ted to show that God icas the autlior of sin,
because He blinded Pharaoh and his servants,
1. '' But," say they, ^' God hardened the heart of Pharaoh
and of his servants." '" Those, then, who allege such diffi-
culties, do not read in the Gospel that passage where the
Lord replied to the disciples, when they asked Him, " Why
speakest Thou unto them in parables?" — "Because it is given
unto you to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven ;
but to them I speak in parables, that seeing they may not
see, and hearing they may not hear, understanding they may
not understand ; in order that the prophecy of Isaiah regard-
ing them may be fulfilled, saying. Make the heart of this
people gross, and make their ears dull, and blind their eyes.
But blessed are your eyes, wdiich see the things that ye see ;
and your ears, which hear what ye do hear." * For one and
the same God [that blesses others] inflicts blindness upon
those w'ho do not believe, but who set Him at naught ; just
as the sun, which is a creature of His, [acts watli regard] to
those who, by reason of any weakness of the eyes, cannot
behold his light ; but to those wdio believe in Him and follow
Him, He grants a fuller and greater illumination of mind.
In accordance with this word, therefore, does the apostle say,
in the Second [Epistle] to the Corinthians : " In whom the
god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that
^ Xum. xiv. 30. 2 i Qor. xiv. 20.
3 Ex. ix. 35. 4 Matt. xiii. 11-16 ; Isa. vi. 10.
Book iv.] IREN^US AGAINST HERESIES. 475
believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ
should shine [unto them]." ^ And again, in that to the
llomans : " And as they did not think fit to have God in
their knoAvledgc, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to
do those things that are not convenient." ^ Speaking of
antichrist, too, he says clearly in the Second to the Thessa-
lonians : ^* And for this cause God shall send them the work-
ing of error, that they should believe a lie ; that they all
might be judged who believed not the truth, but consented
to iniquity." ^
2. If, therefore, in the present time also, God, knowing the
number of those who will not believe, since He foreknows all
things, has given them over to unbelief, and turned away His
face from men of this stamp, leaving them in the darkness
which they have themselves chosen for themselves, what is
there wonderful if He did also at that time give over to their
unbelief, Pharaoh, who never would have believed, along
with those who were with him ? As the Word spake to
Moses from the bush : " And I am sure that the kinfr of
Egypt will not let you go, unless by a mighty hand." * And
for the reason that the Lord spake in parables, and brought
blindness upon Israel, that seeing they might not see, since
He knew the [spirit of] unbelief in them, for the same reason
did He harden Pharaoh's heart ; in order that, while seeing
that it was the finger of God which led forth the people, he
might not believe, but be precipitated into a sea of unbelief,
resting in the notion that the exit of these [Israelites] was
accomplished by magical power, and that it was not by the
operation of God that the Eed Sea afforded a passage to the
people, but that this occurred by merely natural causes (sed
naiuraUter sic se habere).
Chap. XXX. — lipfatatlon of another argument alduced hij the
Marcionitesy that God directed the Ilehreics to spoil the
Egyptians.
1. Those, again, who cavil and find fault because the
1 2 Cor. iv. 4. =^ Kom. i. 28. ^ 2 Thcss. ii. 11. ■» Ex. iii. 19.
476 IBENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
people did, by God's command, upon the eve of their de-
parture, take vessels of all kinds and raiment from the
Egyptians,^ and so went away, from which [spoils], too, the
tabernacle was constructed in the wilderness, prove them-
selves ignorant of the righteous dealings of God, and of His
dispensations ; as also the presbyter remarked : For if God
had not accorded this in the typical exodus, no one could
now be saved in our true exodus ; that is, in the faith in
which w^e have been established, and by which we have been
brought forth from among the. number of the Gentiles. For
in some cases there follows us a small, and in others a large
amount of property, which we have acquired from the
mammon of unrighteousness. For from wdiat source do we
derive the houses in which w'e dwell, the garments in which
we are clothed, the vessels which we use, and everything
else ministering to our every-day life, unless it be from
those things which, when we w^ere Gentiles, we acquired by
avarice, or received them from our heathen parents, relations,
or friends who unrighteously obtained them ? — not to men-
tion that even now we acquire such things when we are in
the faith. For who is there that sells, and does not w^ish to
make a profit from him who buys? Or who purchases any-
thing, and does not wish to obtain good value from the
seller ? Or wdio is there that carries on a trade, and does
not do so that he may obtain a livelihood thereby ? And as
to those believing ones who are in the royal palace, do they
not derive the utensils they employ from the property which
belongs to Csesar ; and to those who have not, does not each
one of these [Christians] give according to his ability ? The
Egyptians were debtors to the [Jewish] people, not alone as
to property, but as to their very lives, because of the kindness
of the patriarch Joseph in former times ; but in what way
are the heathen debtors to us, from wdiom we receive both
gain and profit ? Whatsoever they amass with labour, these
things do we make use of without labour, although we are in
the faith.
2. Up to that time the people served the Egyptians in
1 Ex. xi. 2.
Book iv.] IRENJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. ' All
the most abject slavery, as saitli the Scripture : " And tlie
Egyptians exercised their power rigorously upon the children
of Israel; and they made life bitter to them by severe labours,
in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the
field which they did, by all the w'orks in which they op-
pressed them with rigour." ^ And with immense labour they
built for them fenced cities, increasing the substance of these
men throughout a long course of years, and by means of
every species of slavery ; while these [masters] were not only
ungrateful towards them, but had in contemplation their
utter annihilation. In what way, then, did [the Israelites]
act unjustly, if out of many things they took a few, they
who might have possessed much property had they not
served them, and might have gone forth w^ealthy, while, in
fact, by receiving only a very insignificant recompense for
their heavy servitude, they went away poor? It is just as
if any free man, being forcibly carried away by another, and
serving him for many years, and increasing his substance,
should be thought, when he ultimately obtains some support,
to possess some small portion of his [master's] property, but
should in reality depart, having obtained only a little as the
result of his own great labours, and out of vast possessions
which have been acquired, and this should be made by any
one a subject of accusation against him, as if lie had not
acted properly." He (the accuser) ^vill rather appear as an
unjust judge against him who had been forcibly carried away
into slavery. Of this kind, then, are these men also, who
charge the people with blame, because they appropriated a
few thincTS out of many, but who brini: no chariie against
those who did not render them the recompense due to their
fathers' services ; nay, but even reducing them to the most
irksome slavery, obtained the highest profit from them. And
[these objectors] allege that [the Israelites] acted dishonestly,
because, forsooth, they took away for the recompense of their
labours, as I have observed, unstamped gold and silver in a
1 Ex. i. 13, 14.
" This perploxod sentence is pointed by Harvey interrogatively, bnt
w'c prefer the above.
478 TREN2EUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv,
few vessels ; wlille they say that they themselves (for let
truth be spoken, although to some it may seem ridiculous)
do act honestly, when they carry away in their girdles from
the labours of others, coined gold, and silver, and brass, with
CcBsar's inscription and image upon it.
3. If, however, a comparison be instituted between us and
them, [I would ask] which party shall seem to have received
[their worldly goods] in the fairer manner ? Will it be the
[Jewish] people, [who took] from the Egyptians, who were
at all points their debtors ; or we, [who receive property]
from the Romans and other nations, who are under no
similar obligation to us ? Yea, moreover, through their
instrumentality the world is at peace, and we walk on the
highways without fear, and sail where we will. Therefore,
against men of this kind (namely, the heretics) the word
of the Lord applies, which says : " Thou hypocrite, first
cast the beam out of thine eye, and then slialt thou see
clearly to pull out the mote out of thy brother's eye."^ For
if he who lays these things to thy charge, and glories in his
own wisdom, has been separated from the company of the
Gentiles, and possesses nothing [derived from] other people's
goods, but is literally naked, and barefoot, and dwells home-
less among the mountains, as any of those animals do which
feed on grass, he will stand excused [in using such language],
as beincj io;norant of the necessities of our mode of life.
But if he do partake of what, in the opinion of men, is the
property of others, and if [at the same time] he runs down
their type,^ he proves himself most unjust, turning this kind
of accusation against himself. For he will be found carrying
about property not belonging to him, and coveting goods
which are not his. And therefore has the Lord said :
'' Judge not, that ye be not judged : for with what judg-
ment ye shall judge, ye shall be judged."" [The meaning
^ Matt. vii. 5.
2 This is, if he inveighs against the Israelites for spoiling the Egyp-
tians ; the former being a type of the Christian church in relation to
the Gentiles.
2 Matt. vii. 1, 2.
Book iv.] IRKNJEUS AGAINST HERESIES. 470
is] not certainly that we should not find fault with sumers,
nor that we should consent to those who act wickedly ; but
that we should not pronounce an unfair judo;ment on tlie
dispensations of God, inasmuch as Pie has Himself made
provision that all things shall turn out for good, in a way
consistent with justice. For, because He knew that we
would make a good use of our substance, which we should
possess by receiving it from another. He says, " He that
liath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none ; and he
that liath meat, let him. do likewise."^ And, " For I was an
hungered, and ye gave me meat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave
me drink ; I was naked, and ye clothed me."^ And, " When
thou docst thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy
right hand doeth."^ And we are proved to be righteous by
Avhatsoever else we do well, redeeming, as it were, our pro-
perty from strange hands. But thus do I say, " from strange
hands,*' not as if the world were not God's possession, but
that we have gifts of this sort, and receive them from others,
in the same way as these men had them from the Egyptians
who knew not God; and by means of these same do we erect
in ourselves the tabernacle of God : for God dwells in those
who act uprightly, as the Lord says : " ^lake to yourselves
friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that they, when
ye shall be put to flight,'^ may receive you into eternal
tabernacles."^ For whatsoever we acquired from unright-
eousness when we were heathen, we are proved righteous,
when we have become believers, by applying it to the Lord's
advantage.
4. As a matter of course, therefore, these things were done
beforehand in a type, and from them was the tabernacle of
God constructed ; those persons justly receiving them, as I
have shown, while we were pointed out beforehand in them,
— [we] who should afterwards serve God by the things of
others. For the whole exodus of the people out of Egypt,
^ Luke iii. 11. = Matt. xxv. o5, o^. ^ Matt. vi. ?>.
"* As Harvey remarks, this is "a strange translation for ix.'hi-r.T:" of
the (c.vt. 7'cc., and he atkls that ** possibly the translator read Urpxz-rtTs."
' Luke xvi. 9.
480 lEENyEUS AGAINST HERESIES. [Book iv.
which took place under divine guidance/ was a type and
image of the exodus of the church which should take place
from among the Gentiles ; and for this cause He leads it out
at last from this world into His own inheritance, which Moses
the servant of God did not [bestow], but which Jesus the
Son of God shall give for an inheritance. And if any one
will devote a close attention to those things which are stated
by the prophets with regard to the [time of the] end, and
those which John the disciple of the Lord saw in the Apo-
calypse,^ he will find that the nations [are to] receive the
same plagues universally, as Egypt then did particularly.
^ TVe here follow the punctuation of Massuet in preference to that of
Harvey.
^ See Rev. xv. xvi.
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A SYSTEM OF BIBLICAL PSYCHOLOGY.
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translated from the secoxd thoroughly revised and enlarged german edition,
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CONTEXTS.
Prolego^iena.
I. The Everlasting Postulates.
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