 Chapter 24-25 of Irenaeus Against Heresies, Book 3 This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Anne Boulet. Irenaeus Against Heresies, Book 3. Translated by Alexander Roberts and William H. Rambeau. Chapter 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. 1. Thus then have all these men been exposed, who bring in impious doctrines regarding our maker and framer, who also form this world, and above whom there is no other God. And those have been overthrown by their own arguments 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 consistent, and continues in an even course, and receives testimony 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 containing 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 have been distributed throughout it, that is, the Holy Spirit, the earnest of incorruption, the means of confirming our faith, and the latter 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 who are not partakers who do not join themselves to the church, but defraud themselves of life through their perverse opinions and infamous behavior. 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. Two, alienated thus from the truth, they do deservedly wallow in all error, tossed to and fro by it, thinking differently in 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. Wherefore 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 pluroma, or another dispensation. Wherefore also the light which is from God does not illumine them, because they have dishonored and despised God, holding Him of small account, because, through His love and infinite benignity, He has come within reach of human knowledge. Knowledge, however, not with regard to His greatness, 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 the means of the creation, establishing all things by His word, and binding them together 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 greater God, whom nobody, they hold, can recognize 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 providence at all. Chapter 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 impart to them salvation. 1. God does, however, exercise a providence over all things, and therefore He also gives counsel, and when giving counsel, 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 with their ruler, which things are not irrational or vain, but they have understanding derived from the providence of God, and for this reason certain of the Gentiles, who were less addicted to the 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 judicial power of 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 judicial one is not also good, to bestow favors 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. Marquis on therefore himself, by dividing God into two, maintaining one to be good and the other judicial, in fact on both sides, put an end to deity. 4. 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. 5. And how can they call the Father 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 exercise of justice, nor is his wisdom lessened, for he saves those whom he should save, and judges those worthy of judgment. 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 son to rise upon all, and sends rain upon the just and unjust, shall judge those who, enjoying his equally distributed kindness, have led lives not according to the dignity of his bounty, but who have spent their days in wantonness and luxury, in opposition to his benevolence, and have, moreover, even blasphemed him who has conferred so great benefits upon them. 5. Plato has proved to be more religious than these men, for he allowed that the same God was 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 also 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 anything, thus establishing the goodness of God as the beginning and the cause of the creation of the world, but not ignorance, nor an airing aeon. Nor the consequence of a defect, nor the mother weeping and lamenting, nor another God or father. 6. Well may their mother be well them, as capable of conceiving and inventing such things for they have worthily uttered this falsehood against themselves, that their mother is beyond the pluroma, that is beyond the knowledge of God, and that their entire multitude became a shapeless and crude abortion. 7. 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 horrors did not permit her to enter the pluroma. For the spirit, Akamoth, 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 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 themselves from a mother of this nature, and depart from Bethus, 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, in as much as it is true, is salutary to them, if they will but receive it. It may be compared to a severe remedy, extropating the proud and sloughing fresh of a wound, for it puts an end to their pride and haughtiness, wherefore it shall not weary us to endeavor with all our might to stretch out the hand unto them. Over and above what has already been stated, I have deferred 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 persuading them to abandon such error, and to cease from blaspheming their Creator, who is both God alone and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. End of book 3, chapters 24 through 25. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Bill Mosley. Irenaeus Against Tereses. Book 4, translated by Alexander Roberts and William H. Rambeau. Preface 1. By transmitting to thee, my very dear friend, this fourth book of the work which is entitled The 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 or 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 conversion, must possess an accurate knowledge of their systems or schemes of doctrine, for it is impossible for anyone 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 sight of their entire discomforture. For they who oppose these men, the Valentinians, by the right method, do thereby oppose 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 I 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 eons 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 eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word of Truth hold no such opinions, but that they did also preach to us to shun these doctrines, foreseeing by the Spirit those weak-minded persons who should be led astray. 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 plurima plunge those that believe them into death, rendering them apostates from him who made them. And at that time, indeed, the Apostate Angel, having affected the disobedience of mankind by means of the serpent, imagined that he escaped the notice of the Lord. Therefore, 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. All these, although they issue forth from diverse regions and promulgate different opinions, do nevertheless concur in the same blasphemous design, wounding men unto death by teaching blasphemy against God, our maker and supporter 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 molded by his hands, that is, by the Son and Holy Spirit, to whom also he said, Let us make man. 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 dispensation 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. Chapter 1 The Lord acknowledged but one God and Father. 1 Since therefore this is sure and steadfast 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 maintaining that the being whom they have themselves 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 verbotenus because of His ruling the creation these perverse mythologists state setting their thoughts against God and putting aside the doctrine of Christ as the Apostles dividing falsehoods they dispute against the entire dispensation of God for they maintain that their eons 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 too now to whom is it not clear that if the Lord had known many Fathers and Gods he would not have taught his disciples to know only one God and to call him a lone Father but he did the rather distinguish those who by word merely verbotenus are termed Gods from him who is truly God 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 convests 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 is the teacher of such transgression in as much 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 chapter 2 proofs from the plain testimony of Moses and of the other prophets whose words are the words of Christ there is but one God the founder of the world whom our Lord preached and whom he called his Father one Moses therefore making a recapitulation of the whole law which he had received from the Creator Demiurge thus speaks in Deuteronomy give ear oh ye heavens and I will speak hear oh 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 Isaias confesses that words were uttered by God who made heaven and earth and governs them he says hear oh heavens and give spoken and again thus set the Lord God who made the heaven and stretched it out who established the earth and the things in it and to give it breath to the people upon it and spirit to them who walk therein too again our Lord Jesus Christ confesses this same being as his Father where he says I confess to thee oh 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 Bithas whom they have fabled of themselves or their mother or the only begotten or shall it be he whom the Marcionites and 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 here oh Israel the Lord thy God is one God three but since the writings literary of Moses are the words of Christ he does himself declare to the Jews as John has recorded in the Gospel if he had believed Moses he would have believed me for he wrote of me but if he believed not his writings neither shall 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 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 anyone were to rise from the dead and go to them will they believe him for now he has not merely related to us 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 5 of such persons too have spoken by Isaias they drink wine with the accompaniment of harps and tablets and salteries 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 punishment as these men the Lord reveals to us their end showing 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 who do also hear Moses and the prophets 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 a passable and Jesus who suffered as being altogether separate from him six 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 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 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 compared 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 God or the great king seven 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 and out of it the changers of money who are 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 accusations against the house nor did he blame the law which he had come to fulfill but he reproved those who were putting his house to an improper use and those who were transgressing the law and therefore the scribes and Pharisees too the law had begun to despise God did not receive his word that is they did not believe on Christ of these Isaiah 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 knowledge 8 but as many as feared God and were anxious about his law these ran to Christ and were all saved for he said to his disciples go ye to the sheep of the house of Israel which have perished and many more Samaritans it is said when the Lord had tarried among them two days believe 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 savior of the world and Paul likewise declares and so all Israel shall be saved but he has also said that the law was our pedagogy to bring us to Christ Jesus let him not therefore ascribe to the law the unbelief of certain among them for the law never hindered them from believing in the son of God nay 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 Chapter 3 Answer to the Cavals 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 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 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 his servants also expressing himself thus in the 101st Psalm in the beginning thou, O Lord, has 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 thou shalt be changed but thou art the same and thy years shall not fail the children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be established forever pointing out plainly what things they are that pass away and who it is that doth endure forever 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 forever and my righteousness shall not pass away End of Book 4 Preface through Chapter 3 Recording by Bill Mosley Prelzburg, Texas Chapters 4 through 6 of Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 4 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Marian Martin Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 4 Translated by Alexander Roberts and William H. Rombo Chapter 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 council of the same God Further also concerning Jerusalem and the Lord they ventured to assert that if it had been the city of the great king it would not have been deserted This is just as if anyone should say that if straw or a creation of God it would never part company with the wheat and that the vine 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 born 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 when the fruit of liberty had come 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 the world Even as Isaiah said the children of Jacob shall strike root and Israel shall flourish and the whole world shall be filled with his fruit The fruit therefore having been sown throughout the world actually, 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 unable 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 Since then the law originated and it terminated with John as a necessary consequence Christ had come to fulfill it wherefore the law and the prophets were with them until John and therefore Jerusalem taking its commencement from David and fulfilling its own 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 father was himself subjected to measure in the Son for the Son is a measure of the Father since he also comprehends him but that the administration of them the Jews was temporary as Isaiah 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 things be left behind is it not when the fruit shall be taken away and the leaves alone shall be left which now have no power of producing fruit 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 baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire having his 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 unquenchable fire for he who makes a chaff 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 endeared 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 condemned because having been created a rational being he lost the true rationality and living irrationally opposed the righteousness of God giving himself over to every earthly spirit and serving all lusts as says the prophet man being in honour did not understand he was assimilated to senseless beasts and made light to them Chapter 5 the author returns to his former argument and shows that there was but one God announced by the law and the prophets whom Christ confesses as his father and who through his word one living God with him made himself known to men in both covenants God therefore is one and the same who rolls up the heaven as a book and renews the face of the earth who 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 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 overall as Isaiah says I am witness saith the Lord God and my servant whom I have chosen that you 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 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 you do err not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God 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 you do err not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God for touching the resurrection of the dead he says he has not read that which was spoken by 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 lived to him by these arguments he unquestionably made it clear that he who spate to Moses out of the bush and declared himself to be the God of the fathers he 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 does there are not worship bell 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 spate 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 in 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 had children of the resurrection but our Lord is himself the resurrection as he does himself declare I am the resurrection and the life but the fathers are his children for it is said by the 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 and teaching this very thing he said to the Jews your father Abraham rejoiced that he should see my day and he saw it and was glad what was intended Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness in the first place he believed that he was a 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 by Paul when he says as lights in the world righteously 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 righteously also the apostles being of the race of Abraham left the ship and their father and followed the word righteously also do we possessing the same faith as Abraham 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 Abraham 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 only beloved and only begotten son as a sacrifice for our redemption since therefore Abraham was a prophet and saw in the spirit the day of the Lord's coming the manifestation of his suffering through whom both he himself and all who following the example of his faith trusting 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 chapter 6 explanation of the words of Christ no man no earth a father son etc which words the heretics misinterpret prove that by the father revealing the son and by the son being revealed the father was never unknown 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 imagine that they had the knowledge of God while they nevertheless rejected his word through whom God is made known declared no man no earth a son but the father neither no earth 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 light 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 alleged not to be the father of Christ 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 Caesar 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 carelessness 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 and 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 and immovable love towards the father in his book against Marcian Justin does well say I would not have believed the Lord himself if he had announced any other than he who is our framer maker 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 steadfast and my love to the father immovable God bestowing both upon us 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 anyone else he does himself 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 things are manifested through the word in order therefore that we might know that the son who came is he who imparts to those believing on him a knowledge of the father he said to his disciples no man know of the son but the father nor the father but the son and those to whom so ever 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 but this father is the maker of heaven and earth as he is shown from his words and not he the false father being invented by Marcian or by Valentinas or by Vasilides or by Carpocrates or by Simon or by the rest of the Gnostics falsely so called for none of these was the son of God but Christ Jesus our Lord was against whom they said their teaching in opposition and have the daring to preach an unknown God but they ought to hear this 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 Totten 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 you shall not find him the disciples of Valentinas falsely declare that Christ said to their eons 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 whosoever the son has revealed him 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 shout out into the darkness which they have chosen for themselves 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 righteous judgment of God shall fall upon all who like others have seen but have not like others believed for by means of the creation itself the word reveals God the creator and by means of the world he declare the Lord the maker of the world and by means of the formation of man the artificer who formed him and by the son that 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 the prophets did the word preach both himself and the father alike to all and all the people heard him 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 spoke with Christ when he was present upon earth and they named him God yay 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 tempting 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 for it was fitting that the truth should receive testimony from all and should become a means of judgment a salvation indeed of those who 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 established by all as the one means of salvation receiving testimony 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 gained said which elicits even from its adversaries striking testimonies in its behalf they being convinced with respect to the matter in hand by their own plain contemplation 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 the desire is that their own testimony should not be regarded as true he therefore who was known was not a different being from him who declared no man knoweth 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 most 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 the knowledge of the father but the knowledge of the son is in the father and has been revealed through the son and this was the reason why the Lord declared no man knoweth the son but the father nor the father save the son and those to whom soever 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 indifferently 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 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 end of book 4 chapters 4 through 6 chapters 7 through 9 of Irenaeus against heresies book 4 this is a Librivox recording all Librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit Librivox.org Irenaeus against heresies book 4 translated by Alexander Roberts and W. H. Rambo chapters 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 these to those who are partakers in the faith of Abraham but not to the Jews who reject the word of God one therefore Abraham also knowing the father through the word who made heaven and earth confessed him to be God 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 rejoiced wherefore Simon 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 descended 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 that 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 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 passable and spake with the human race that he might from the stones raise up children unto Abraham and fulfill 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 children 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 the promise which God gave us 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 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 he 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 good will 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 cometh unto the father but by me if he had known me he 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 for 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 for the son they being ignorant of that God who spake in human 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 beginning the father being in no want of angels nor again standing in need of any instrumentality for the framing of created things or for the ordering of those things 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 for his offspring for his offspring 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 who because of that declaration no man knoweth the father but the son do introduce another unknown father chapter 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 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 children 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 of heaven and then again by saying to the Jews when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of heaven but you yourselves cast out this then is a clear point that those who disallow his salvation and frame the idea of another God besides him who made the promise to Abraham are outside the kingdom of God and are disinherited from the gift of incorruption setting at not 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 to for the Lord indicated 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 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 found these 18 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 doing nothing 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 for the services should be performed by the priests for the people ye it did not disallow the healing 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 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 addresses of a beneficial kind for their neighbors benefit 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 without fear to his own inheritance 3 and again the law did not forbid those who were hungry on the Sabbath days to take food and 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 he not read this what David did when himself wasn't hungered how he went into the house of God and ate the show bread and gave to those who were with him 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 possessed the sacerdotal rank and all the apostles of the Lord are priests who do inherit here the 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 mother and have said adieu to all their neighbors 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 inheritance and again the priests the Levites shall have no part in the whole tribe of Levi nor substance with Israel this is the offerings 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 workmen is worthy of his meat and the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and were blameless wherefore 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 the 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 good fruit shall be hewn down by fire and whosoever shall defile the temple of God him shall God defile chapter nine there is but one author and one end to both covenants one all things therefore are of one and the same substance that is from one and the same God as also the Lord says to his disciples therefore every scribe which is instructed into the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a 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 are one and the same 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 fitting precepts to those that are free and have been justified by faith as well as throws his own inheritance open to those that are sons and he called his disciples scribes and teachers of the kingdom of heaven to the Jews behold I send unto you wise men and scribes and teachers and some of them he 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 life required by the gospel of which David says sing unto the lord a new song and a say us sing unto the lord a new hymn his beginning his name is glorified from the height of the earth they declare his powers in the aisles and Jeremiah says behold I will make a new covenant not as I made with your fathers in Mount 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 in you to liberty and has multiplied that grace which is from himself to he declares for in this place is one greater than the temple but the words greater are not applied to those things which have nothing in common between themselves and are of an opposite nature and mutually repugnant but are used in the case of those of the same substance 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 confers gifts upon men that is his own presence and the resurrection from the dead but he does not change 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 has 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 son of God but him who was born of the virgin Mary who also suffered in whom to we trust and whom we love as Isaias 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 you 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 we have not been taught another God besides the framer and the maker of all who has been pointed out to us from the beginning nor for another Christ the son of God besides him who was the prophets three 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 success of covenants should gradually become perfect salvation for there is one salvation and one God but the precepts 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 honor 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 beginning and again besides him who is imagined 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 forever seeking yet shall never find out God but shall continually swim in an abyss without limits unless being converted by repentance he returned to the place from which he had been cast out but shall continually swim in an abyss without limits unless being converted by repentance he returned to the place from which he had been cast out confessing one God father, the Creator, and believing in him who was declared by the law and the prophets, who was born 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, Honor 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 plainest manner him to be father and God, who said in the law, Honor 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. End of book 4, chapters 7 through 9, book 4, chapters 10 through 13 of Against Teresies. Against Teresies by St. Aranaeus, translated by Alexander Roberts and William H. Rombo. Chapter 10. The Old Testament scriptures, and those written by Moses in particular, do everywhere make mention of the Son of God, and foretell his advent and passion. From this fact it follows that they were inspired by one and the same God. 1. Wherefore also, John does 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 life. How therefore did the scriptures testify of him, unless they were from one and the same Father, instructing men beforehand as to the advent of his Son, and foretelling the salvation brought in by him? 4. 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, 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 Son, saying, Thou mayest 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 Son. 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 asses 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 wider than milk. 4. 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 nations? Who also is the vine? What was the asses 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 re-quit the Lord? And again he indicates that he who 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? Chapter 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, enriching men day by day with benefits, but conferring them in greater abundance on latter 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 way, then, did they desire both 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 reproving, and another exhorting, and then setting free his servant, and adopting him as his son, 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. Two. 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 skillful manner, while, as regards man, he is created skillfully. God also is truly perfect in all things, himself equal and similar to himself, 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. Nor 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 maker, 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 the joy of thy Lord. The Lord himself thus promises very much. Three. 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 changeableness of knowledge. 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 the latter 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 they rejoiced to a certain extent, in as much as they hoped for his coming. But those who have beheld him actually present, and have obtained liberty, and been made partakers of his gifts, do possess a greater amount of his grace, and a higher degree of exaltation, rejoicing because of the king's arrival. As also David says, My soul shall rejoice 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 recognized 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 Hosanna in the highest. But to the envious wicked stewards who circumvent those under them, and ruled over those who 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 concerning 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. For also his glory has been raised above the heavens. For 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 have been given as a type of future things, and 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. CHAPTER XII It clearly appears that there was but one author of both the old and the new law, from the fact that Christ condemned traditions and customs repugnant to the former, while he confirmed its most important precepts, and taught that he was himself the end of the Mosaic law. 1. For the tradition of the elders themselves, which they pretended to observe from the law, was contrary to the law given by Moses. 2. Wherefore also, Isaiah declares, Thy dealers mix wine with water, showing that the elders were in the habit of mingling a water 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 commandment 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, as 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 particular. And desiring to uphold these traditions, they were unwilling 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 the 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 neighbor, the Lord has taught, when he says that the entire law and the prophets hang upon these two commandments. Moreover, 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 endeavored, 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, declares, 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 knowledge 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. Given 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 neighbor 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 instructed by him, to the multitude and to his disciples. The scribes and the 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 other men's shoulders, but they themselves will not so much as move them with a finger. He therefore did not throw blame upon that law which was given by Moses, when 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 they were held as being unrighteous as respects God, and as respects their righteousness. As also Isaiah says, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. How be it in vain do they worship me, teaching the doctrines and the commandments of men. He does not call the law given by Moses' commandments of men, but the traditions of the elders themselves which they had invented, and in upholding 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 everyone that believeth. And how is Christ the end of the law, if he is 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 Moses, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which 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 are in affliction. 5. Now that the law did beforehand teach mankind the necessity of following Christ, he does himself make manifest, when he replied as follows, to him who asked him what he should do that he might 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, honor father and mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Setting as an ascending series 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 have said to him, keep the commandments. The Lord, exposing his covetousness, said to him, If thou wilt 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. And he did not preach to his followers another God the father, beside him who was proclaimed by the law from the beginning, nor another son, nor the mother, the enthymesis of the Ion, who existed in suffering and apostasy, nor the pluroma of the thirty Ions, 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 due annul former covetousness, Zacchaeus 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 four fold. CHAPTER XIII Christ did not abrogate the natural precepts of the law, but rather fulfilled and extended them. He removed the yoke and bondage of the old law, so that mankind, being now set free, might serve God with that trustful piety which becomeeth sons. ONE And that the Lord did not abrogate the natural precepts of the law by which man is justified, which also those who were justified by faith, and who pleased God, and observed previous to the beginning of the law, but that he extended and fulfilled them, is shown from his words. FOR, as he remarks, it has been said of them of old time, Do not commit adultery, but I say unto you that everyone 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, everyone 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 overturning 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 is who leads man into fellowship 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 bondage, 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 that through it the body should be willingly purified. Which having been accomplished, it follows 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, in as much as the working of liberty is greater and more glorious than that obedience which is rendered in a state of slavery. 3. And for this reason did the Lord, instead of that commandment, 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 neighbors only, but even our enemies, and not merely to be liberal givers and bestowers, but even that we should present our gratuitous gift to those who would 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 he would that men should do unto you, do ye unto them, so that we may not grieve as those who are unwilling to be defrauded, but may rejoice as those who have given willingly, and as rather conferring a favor upon our neighbors 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 neighbor, not regarding their evil intentions, but performing thy kind offices, assimilating thyself to the Father, who maketh his Son to rise upon the evil and the good, and sendeth rain upon the just and unjust. Now all these precepts, as I have already observed, were not the injunctions of one doing away with the law, but of one fulfilling, extending, and widening it among us, that as if one should say that the more extensive operation of liberty implies that a more complete 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. While the more we have loved him, the more glory shall we receive from him, when we are continually in the presence of the Father. For in as much then as all natural precepts are common to us and to 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 him above all, and one's neighbor as one's self, 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, and he does himself 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, he plainly declares himself to be the Word of God, whom Abraham also followed voluntarily and under no compulsion, 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 Abraham 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. End of book 2, chapters 10 through 13.