Irenaeus: Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

This opening section is in the manner of the introductions to each of the five books Against Heresies : in the first of these, of which the Greek is preserved, we have parallels to language used here: καθὼς δύναμις ἡμῖν , and ἐπὶ πολὺ καρποφορήσεις τὰ δἰ ὀλίγων ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν εἰρημένα .

“To shew forth the preaching.” This corresponds to the wording of the title: the ἐπίδειξις , ostensio , or “demonstration” of the Apostolic Preaching.

Lit. “a more essential remembrancer.”

Cf. I, i. 20: ἕ ν ἕκαστον δὲ τῶν εὶρημένων τῇ ἰδίᾳ _α ξει, καὶ προσαρμόσας τῷ τῆς ἀληθείας σωματίῳ.

Cf. IV. pref. 3: “ Homo est autem temperatio animæ et carnis :” V, vi. 1, viii. 1, ix. 1.

Or, “spirit.” The Armenian word for “spirit” ( πνεῦμα is sometimes used also for “soul” ( ψυχή ): the context shows that it is so used here.

Lit., “I am the Existing One,” as in LXX Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὥν. In III, vi. 2 the words are quoted as spoken by the Father

Here, as usual, the LXX is followed ( λοιμῶν ).

Cf. I, i. 20: ὁ τὸν κανόνα τῆς ἀληθείας ἀκλινῆ ἐν ἑαυτῷ κατέχωη, ὃν διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος εἴληφε . The Arm. has taken over the Greek word κανών .

Cf. V, xxxvi. i: “ presbyteri apostolorum discipuli .”

This passage is obscure, and I cannot feel any confidence in my rendering of it. The Armenian translator has probably misunderstood the construction of the Greek: his verbs are all in the infinitive, which suggests that Irenæus is recording what the faith teaches. The words “made God” represent θεοποιεῖσθαι . This word, if not traceable elsewhere in Irenæus, is found in other early writers: e.g. Hippolytus, Philos . x. 34: γέγονας γὰρ θεός . . . ἐθεοποιήθης ἀθάνατος γεννηθείς· οὐ γὰρ πτωχεύει θεὸς καὶ σὲ θεὸν ποιήσας εἰς δόξαν αὺτοῦ . It is frequent in Athanasius; e. g. , De Incarn. 54: αὐτὸς γὰρ ἐνηνθρώπησεν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς θεοποιηθῶμεν . In Irenæus the thought finds expression in various forms: see IV, lxiii. 3: “ quoniam non ab initio dii facti sumus, sed primo quidem homines, tunc demum dii :” also III, vi. 1.

This is a reminiscence of controversy with the heretics who denied that the Good God of the New Testament was the Creator God of the Old Testament: see IV, xxxiv. 2: “ non enim aliena sed sua tradidit ei ” (of the Father committing all things to the Son); V, ii. 1: “ vani autem qui in aliena dicunt Dominum venisse, velut aliena concupiscentem ” (where the Arm. enables us to correct the Latin, which has “ Deum ”).

In IV, xxxiv. 2 he quotes, as “Scripture,” the Shepherd of Hermas, Mand. : Πρῶτον πάντων πίστευσον ὅτι εἷς ἐστὶν ὁ θεός, ὁ τὰ πάντα κτίσας καὶ καταρτίσας, καὶ ποιήσας ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς τὸ εἶναι τὰ πάντα, καὶ πάντα χωρῶν, μόνος δὲ ἀχώρητος ὤν. Cf. also I, xv. 1.

IV, xxxiv. 1: “ in omnibus autem et nos, et hunc mundum qui est secundum nos :” I, xv. 1: “ etenim mundus ex omnibus :” III, xi. 7: “ in omnibus ergo est et hæc quæ secundum nos est conditio .”

Or “shown to be”: cf. V, xviii. 1: “ Et sic unus Deus Pater ostenditur (= δείκνυται ).”

God is λογικός , therefore by λόγος He created the world. The play on the words is given by the Armenian, but cannot be given by the English translation.

“Gives body:” apparently representing σωματοποιεῖ : cf. I. i. 9, of the Demiurge of Valentinus: ἐξ ἀσωμάτων σωμαποποιἠσαντα .

III, xxxviii. 2: “Verbo suo confirmans et Sapientia compingens omnia;” IV, xxxii. 2: “ qui omnia Verbo fecit et Sapientia adornavit ;” 4: “ qui Verbo et Sapientia fecit et adaptavit omnia. ” On this whole section, see Introd. pp. 44 ff.

V, xviii. i: “ Super omnia quidem Pater, et ipse est caput Christi; per omnia autem Verbum, et ipse est caput ecclesiæ; in omnibus autem nobis Spiritus, et ipse est aqua viva quam præstat Dominus ,” etc. Cf. Hippol. c. Noet. 14: ὁ ὢν πατὴρ ἐπὶ πάντων, ὁ δὲ υἱὸς διὰ πάντων, τὸ δὲ ἅγιον πνεῦμα ἐν πᾶσιν.

Lit. “head:” cf. cc. 7, 100.

This is fully worked out in IV, lv. 1–6: the prophets were “members of Christ,” and so each, according to the “member” that he was, declared his portion of prophecy, all together announcing the whole.

The same double rendering of ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι ( Eph. i. 10 ) is found in the Arm. version of V, i. 2.

IV, xi. 4: “ visibilem et palpabilem ;” cf. IV, xiii. 1, where the Arm. shows that the Latin “ passibilis ” should be corrected to “ palpabilis .”

This double rendering occurs in the Arm. of IV, xxxiv. 4 and V, i. 1, where the Latin has simply “ communio .” With the whole of this passage compare IV, xxxiv. 4: “ qui novissimis temporibus homo in hominibus factus est, ut finem conjungeret principio, id est, hominem Deo. ”

We have the same words in IV, lv. 6: “ in novissimis temporibus nove effusus est in nos. ”

IV, xxv. 2: “ assuescens hominem portare ejus Spiritum ;” xxxiv. 6: “ qui portant Spiritum ejus. ”

IV, xxxiv. 5: “ Spiritu quidem præparante hominem in Filium Dei, Filio autem adducente ad Patrem, Patre autem incorruptelam donante ;” V, xxxvi. 2: “ per Spiritu quidem ad Filium, per Filium autem ascendere ad Patrem. ”

IV, xi. 5: “ Agnitio enim Patris Filius. ”

Lit. “ministerially dispenses.” Cf. V, xviii. i: “ Verbum . . . præstat Spiritum omnibus quemadmodum vult Pater ”

Cf. c. 91; and III, xi. 5: “ testamentum hominibus aperiens ;” V, ix. 4: “ testamentum evangelii apertum et universo mundo lectum ;” xxxiii. i: “ apertionem hæreditatis ;” cf. III, xviii. 1.

An account of the late Jewish teaching as to the Seven Heavens is given in Mr. H. St John Thackeray’s valuable book St Paul and Contemporary Jewish Thought , pp. 172–179, where three parallel tables of their descriptions will be found. References to them in Christian apocryphal literature are collected in Dr Charles’s Book of the Secrets of Enoch (from the Sclavonic), pp. xliv-xlvii. Hippolytus in his Commentary on Daniel (ed. Achelis, p. 96), referring to εὐλογεῖτε οὐρανοί in the Benedicite, says: τοὺς ἑπτὰ οὐρανοὺς . . . προσκαλούμενοι . Clement of Alexandria ( Strom. iv. 25) says: εἵτε ἑπτὰ οὐρανοί, οὕς τινες ἀριθμοῦσιν κατ᾽ ἐπανάβασιν . Origen ( c. Cels. vi. 21) likewise mentions the Seven Heavens, but without committing himself to the exact number. Irenæus in I, i. 9 refers to the Valentinian teaching which identified the Seven Heavens with angels of varying degrees of power. In our passage he strangely connects the Seven Heavens with the Seven Gifts of the Spirit. We observe two peculiarities in his description. First, that, numbering from above downwards, he reckons the highest as the First Heaven: secondly, that his Seventh, or lowest, is the firmament. Evil is wholly excluded from these heavens: so it is in the Ascension of Isaiah (for which see Introd. p. 41), where however it is found in the firmament, which is not reckoned as one of the heavens. The belief in the Seven Heavens soon came to be discredited; and it is curious to find a survival of it, due apparently to Irish influences, in the invocation of the septens cælos in a book of prayers of the seventh or eighth century (Brit. Mus. Reg. 2. A. xx, f. 47 v. ).

Compare the reason given by Justin Martyr ( Dial. 22) for the worship to the Temple: οὐχ ὡς ἐνδεὴς ὤν . . . ἀλλ᾽ ὅπως κἂν κατὰ τοῦτο πρυσέχοντες αὐτῷ μὴ εἰδωλολατρῆτε. .

Perhaps the text should be emended so as to give “operation” ( ἐνέργεια ).

Or “ministrations” (= διακονιῶν in Arm. version of 1 Cor. xii. 5 ).

Omitted by oversight: cf. c. 59, and III, x. 1, xviii. 2, where the words are correctly given.

The heavens are enumerated from above, in order to correspond with the prophet’s words and put Wisdom first and Fear of God last.

V, xx. 2: “ ecclesia . . . ἑπτάμυχος lucerna .”

IV, xxv. 3: “ Quoniam facies omnia juxta typum eorum quæ vidisti in monte :” LXX, τὸν δεδειγμένον σοι : the variation may be due to a reminiscence of Acts vii. 44 ὃν ἐωράκει .

On the glorification of the Father by the Son and the Holy Spirit, see Introd. p. 39.

The meaning is uncertain: the word means “daily, continual, perpetual”; but it is also used as an adverb. The German translations take it in the sense of “eternal” ( sein ewiger Sohn ). It renders διὰ παντὸς in Lev. xxiv. 2 ; and that may have been the original Greek in this passage. But even so it is not clear whether it is to be taken with “who is His Son,” or with “is glorified”—For the Eternal Sonship we may compare III, xix. 1: “ existens semper apud Patrem ;” and IV, xxxiv. 3: “ semper cum Patre erat. ”

Origen in his Commentary on Romans (III, § 8) interprets the two Cherubim over the mercy-seat as the Son and the Holy Spirit. In De Principiis (I, iii. 4, IV, iii. 26) he gives the same interpretation of the two Seraphim of Isa. vi. 3 , saying that he received it from his Hebrew teacher: he adds that the same applies to the two living creatures of Hab. iii. 2 (LXX) . Philo ( Vit. Mos. iii. 8) had interpreted the two Cherabim as τὰς πρεσβυτάτας καὶ ἀνωτάτω δύο τοῦ ὄντος δυνάμεις, τὴν τε ποιητικὴν καὶ βασιλικήν : the former ὀνομάζεαι θεός , the latter κύριος . This probably paved the way for Orign’s interpretation.

Elsewhere Irenæus constantly speaks of the Son and the Spirit as the Hands of God: see Introd. p. 51.

Equivalent to plasma or plasmatio .

So both the German tanslations; but they transfer the words so as to link them with “this great created world.” What we seem to want is, “to have all as his own,” if the words can bear that meaning.

For this function of angels cf. Papias, as quoted by Andreas in Apocal. c. 34, serm. 12: Ἐνίοις δὲ αὐτῶν (δηλαδὴ τῶν πάλαι θείων ἀγγέλων) καὶ τῆς περὶ τὴν γῆν διακοσμήσεως ἔδωκεν ἄρχειν, καὶ καλῶς ἄρχειν παρηγγύησε .

IV. lxii. 1: νήπιος γὰρ ἦν .

That Paradise was in a region outside this world is not quite distinctly stated here, but the opening words of c. 17 seem to support this view. The view of Irenæus, however, is clearly given in V, v. 1: Παῦ οὖν ἐτέθη ὁ πρῶτος ἄνθρωπος; ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ δηλονότι, καθὼς γέγραπται ( Gen. ii. 8 ) . . . καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ἐξεβλήθη εἰς τάνδε τὸν κόσμον παρακούσας . He goes on to speak of this as the Paradise into which St Paul was caught up ( 2 Cor. xii. 4 ). Moreover he identifies it with the resting-place of just men, such as Enoch and Elijah. So in the Apocalypse of Peter the just are dwelling in a μεγιστον χῶρον ἐκτὸς τούτου τοῦ κόσμου . Irenæus is silent as to whether Paradise is in the third heaven. But the Slavonic Secrets of Enoch , referred to above, places it there. In the shorter and apparently more original recension we read as follows (c. 8): “And the men removed me from that place, and brought me to the third heaven, and placed me in the midst of a garden; a place such as was never seen for the goodliness of its appearance. And every tree is beautiful, and every fruit ripe; all kinds of agreeable food springing up with every kind of fragrance. And (there are) four rivers flowing with a sift course; and every kind of thing good, that grows for food,” etc. The Valentinians, according to Irenæus (I, i. 9), placed Paradise ὑπὲρ τρίτον οὐρανόν . Comp. the Anaphora in the Liturgy of St Basil (Swainson, p. 80): ἐξώρισας αὐτόν ἐν τῇ δικαιοκρισίᾳ σοῦ, ὁ θεός, ἐκ τοῦ παραδείσου εἰς τόνδε τὸν κόσμον. .

As LXX, κατ᾽ αὐτόν .

As LXX, ᾠκοδόμησεν . . . εἰς γυναῖκα .

Cf. III, xxxii. 1.

IV, lxvi. 2; ἔκτοτε γὰρ ἀποστάτης ὁ ἀγγελος οὗτος καὶ ἐχθρός. ἀφ᾽ ὅτε ἐζήλωσε τὸ πλάσμα τοῦ θεοῦ : V, xxiv. 4: “ Invidens homini, apostata a divina factus est lege: invidia enim aliena est a Deo. ” Cf. Wisd. ii. 24 : φθόνῳ δὲ διαβόλου θάνατος εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον .

V, xxi. 2: “ Satana enim verbum Hebraicum apostatam significat. ” Cf. Just. Mart. Dial. 103.

Cf. Gen. iii. 24 : κατῴκισεν αὐτὸν ἀπέναντι τοῦ παραδείσου τῆς τρυφῆς . Perhaps “the way” comes from “the way of the tree of life” in the same verse.

This is from the Book of Enoch, to which Irenæus also refers in IV, xxvii. 2. Enoch vii. 1: καὶ ἐδίδαξαν αὐτὰς φαρμακείας καὶ ἐπαοιδὰς καὶ ῥιζοτυμίας, καὶ τὰς βυτάνας ἐδήλωσαν αὐταῖς : viii. 1: ψέλια καὶ κόσμους καὶ στίβεις καὶ τὸ καλλιβλέφαρον καὶ παντοίους λίθους ἐκλεκτοὺς καὶ τὰ βαφικά . Tertullian makes use of the same passage: De cultu fem. i. 2, ii. 10 (ut Enoch refert).

The Armenian corresponds to the Greek ὁ νεώτερος ( Gen. ix. 24 ). As there were three sons of Noah, the comparative causes difficulty. Origen took it as a superlative: for in later Greek (as in French) the comparative with the article is used as a