 CHAPTERS 22 THROUGH 25 OF IRONEUS AGAINST HERESES, BOOK 5 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 Bill Moseley. Threlsburg, Texas. IRONEUS AGAINST HERESES, BOOK 5 Translated by Alexander Roberts and William H. Rambeau. CHAPTER 22 The true Lord and the one God is declared by the law and manifested by Christ his Son in the Gospel, whom alone we should adore, and from him we must look for all good things, not from Satan. One. Thus then does the Lord plainly show that it was the true Lord and the one God who had been set forth by the law, for him whom the law proclaimed as God the same did Christ point out as the Father, whom also it behooves the disciples of Christ alone to serve. By means of the statements of the law, he put our adversary to utter confusion, and the law directs us to praise God the Creator, Demi-Urgum, and to serve him alone. Since this is the case, we must not seek for another Father besides him or above him, since there is one God who justifies the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith, for if there were any other perfect Father above him, he, Christ, would, by no means, have overthrown Satan by means of his words and commandments, for one ignorance cannot be done away with by means of another ignorance, any more than one defect by another defect. If therefore the law is due to ignorance and defect, how could the statements contained therein bring to naught the ignorance of the devil, and conquer the strong man? For a strong man can be conquered neither by an inferior nor by an equal, but by one possessed of greater power. But the word of God is the superior above all, he who is loudly proclaimed in the law here, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God befall by heart, and him shall thou adore, and him alone shall thou serve. Then in the Gospel, casting down the apostasy by means of these expressions, he did both overcome the strong man by his Father's voice, and he acknowledges the commandment of the law to express his own sentiments when he says, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. For he did not confound the adversary by the saying of any other, but by that belonging to his own Father, and thus overcame the strong man, too. He taught by his commandment that we who have been set free should, when hungry, take that food which is given by God, and that when placed in the exalted position of every grace that can be received, we should not, either by trusting to works of righteousness, or when adorned with supereminent gifts of ministration, by any means be lifted up with pride, nor should we tempt God, but should feel humility in all things, and have ready to hand this saying, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. As also the apostle taught saying, minding not high things, but consenting to things of low estates, that we should neither be ensnared with riches, nor mundane glory, nor present fancy, but should know that we must worship the Lord thy God and serve him alone, and give no heed to him, and falsely promise things not his own, when he said, all these will I give thee, if falling down thou wilt worship me. For he himself confesses that to adore him and to do his will is to fall from the glory of God. And in what thing, either pleasant or good, can that man who has fallen participate? Or what else can such a person hope for or expect except death? For death is next neighbor to him who has fallen. Hence also it follows that he will not give what he has promised. For how can he make grants to him who has fallen? Moreover, since God rules over men, and him too, and without the will of our Father in heaven, not even a sparrow falls to the ground. It follows that his declaration, all these things are delivered unto me, and to whom so ever I will give them, proceeds from him when puffed up with pride. For the creation is not subjected to his power, since indeed he is himself but one among created things. Nor shall he give away the rule over men to men, but both all other things, and all human affairs, are arranged according to God the Father's disposal. Besides, the Lord declares that the devil is a liar from the beginning, and the truth is not in him. If then he be a liar, and the truth be not in him, he certainly did not speak truth but a lie when he said, For all these things are delivered to me, and to whom so ever I will give them. Chapter 23 The devil is well practiced in falsehood, by which Adam, having been led astray, sinned on the sixth day of the creation, in which day he also has been renewed by Christ. 1. He had indeed been already accustomed to lie against God, for the purpose of leading men astray. For at the beginning, when God had given to man a variety of things for food, he commanded him not to eat of one tree only, as the Scripture tells us that God said to Adam, From every tree which is in the garden thou shalt eat food, but from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, from this ye shall not eat, for in the day that ye shall eat of it, ye shall die by death. 2. He then, lying against the Lord, tempted man, as the Scripture says that the serpent said to the woman, Has God indeed said this, ye shall not eat from every tree of the garden? 3. And when she had exposed falsehood, and simply related the command, as he had said, From every tree of the garden we shall eat, but out of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God had said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it lest ye die. 4. When he had thus learned from the woman the command of God, having brought his cunning into play, he finally deceived her by a falsehood, saying ye shall not die by death, for God knew that in the day ye shall eat of it, your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil. 5. In the first place then, in the garden of God, he disputed about God as if God was not there, for he was ignorant of the greatness of God. And then in the next place, after he had learned from the woman that God had said that they should die if they tasted the aforesaid tree, opening his mouth, he uttered the third falsehood, ye shall not die by death. 6. But that God was true, and the serpent, a liar, was proved by the result, death having passed upon them who had eaten. For, along with the fruit, they did also fall under the power of death, because they did eat in disobedience, and disobedience to God entails death. 7. Wherefore, as they became forfeit to death, from that moment they were handed over to it. 8. To. Thus then, in the day that they did eat, in the same did they die, and became death's debtors, since it was one day of the creation. For it is said, there was made in the evening and there was made in the morning one day. Now in this same day that they did eat, in that also did they die. But according to the cycle and progress of the days, after which one is turned first, another second, and another third, if anybody seeks diligently to learn upon what day out of the seven it was that Adam died, he will find it by examining the dispensation of the Lord. For by summing up in himself the whole human race, from the beginning to the end, he has also summed up its death. From this it is clear that the Lord suffered death in obedience to his father upon that day on which Adam died while he disobeyed God. Now he died on the same day in which he did eat. For God said, In that day on which ye shall eat of it ye shall die by death. The Lord therefore, recapitulating in himself this day, underwent his sufferings upon the day preceding the Sabbath, that is the sixth day of the creation, on which day man was created, thus granting him a second creation by means of his passion, which is that creation out of death. And there are some again who relegate the death of Adam to the thousandth year, or since a day of the Lord is as a thousand years, he did not overstep the thousand years, but died within them thus bearing out the sentence of his sin. Whether therefore with respect to disobedience, which is death, whether we consider that on account of that they were delivered over to death and made debtors to it, whether with respect to the fact that on one and the same day on which they ate they also died, for it is one day of the creation, whether if we regard this point that with respect to the cycle of days they died on the day in which they did also eat, that is the day of the preparation, which is termed the pure suffer, that is the sixth day of the feast, which the Lord also exhibited when he suffered on that day. Or whether we reflect that he, Adam, did not overstep the thousand years, but died within their limit, it follows that, in regard to all these significations, God is indeed true, for they died who tasted of the tree, and the serpent is proved a liar and a murderer as the Lord said of him, for he is a murderer from the beginning and the truth is not in him. Chapter 24 Of the constant falset of the devil, and of the powers and governments of the world, which we ought to obey, inasmuch as they are appointed of God not of the devil. 1. As therefore the devil lied at the beginning, so did he also in the end, when he said, All these are delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will give them. For it is not he who has appointed the kingdoms of this world, but God, for the heart of the king is in the hand of God. And the word also says by Solomon, By me kings do reign and princes administer justice. By me chiefs are raised up, and by me kings rule the earth. Paul the Apostle also says upon this same subject, The subject to all the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. Now those which are have been ordained of God. And again, in reference to them he says, For he beareth not the sword in vain, for he is the minister of God, the avenger for wrath to him who does evil. Now that, he spake these words, not in regard to angelical powers, nor of invisible rulers, as some venture to expound the passage. But of those of actual human authorities, he shows, when he says, For this cause pay ye tribute also, for they are God's ministers, doing service for this very thing. This also the Lord confirmed when he did not do what he was tempted to by the devil. But he gave directions that tribute should be paid to the tax gatherers for himself and Peter, because they are the ministers of God serving for this very thing. Two, for since man, by departing from God, reached such a pitch of fury as even to look upon his brother as his enemy, and engaged without fear in every kind of restless conduct and murder and avarice. God imposed upon mankind the fear of man, as they did not acknowledge the fear of God. In order that, being subjected to the authority of men, and kept under restraint by their laws, they might attain to some degree of justice, and exercise mutual forbearance through dread of the sword suspended full in their view, as the apostle says. For he beareth not the sword in vain, for he is the minister of God, the avenger for wrath upon him who does evil. And for this reason too, magistrates themselves, having laws as a clothing of righteousness, whenever they act in a just and legitimate manner, shall not be called in question for their conduct, nor be liable to punishment. But whatsoever they do to the subversion of justice, iniquitously and impiously and illegally and tyrannically, in these things shall they also perish. For the just judgment of God comes equally upon all, and in no case is defective. Earthly rule, therefore, has been appointed by God for the benefit of nations, and not by the devil, who is never at rest at all, may who does not love to see even nations conducting themselves after a quiet manner. So that under the fear of human rule, men may not eat each other up like fishes. But that, by means of the establishment of laws, they may keep down an excess of wickedness among the nations. And considered from this point of view, those who exact tribute from us are God's ministers serving for this very purpose. 3. As then the powers that be are ordained of God, it is clear that the devil lied when he said, These are delivered unto me, and to whosoever I will, I give them. For by the law of the same being as calls men into existence are kings also appointed, adapted for those men who are at the time placed under their government. Some of these rulers are given for the correction and the benefit of their subjects, and for the preservation of justice, but others for the purposes of fear and punishment and rebuke. Others, as the subjects deserve it, are for deception, disgrace, and pride. While the just judgment of God, as I have observed already, passes equally upon all. The devil, however, as he is the apostate angel, can only go to this length, as he did at the beginning, namely to deceive and lead astray the mind of man into disobeying the commandments of God, and gradually to darken the hearts of those who would endeavor to serve him, to the forgetting of the true God, but to the adoration of himself as God. 4. Just as if anyone, being an apostate, and seizing in a hostile manner another man's territory, should harass the inhabitants of it, in order that he might claim for himself the glory of a king among those ignorant of his apostasy and robbery, so likewise also the devil. Being one among those angels who are placed over the spirit of the air, as the apostle Paul has declared in his epistle to the Ephesians, becoming envious of man was rendered an apostate from the divine law. For envy is a thing foreign to God, and as his apostasy was exposed by man, and man became the means of searching out his thoughts. He has set himself to this, with greater and greater determination, in opposition to man, envying his life, and wishing to involve him in his own apostate power. The Word of God, however, the maker of all things, conquering him by means of human nature, and showing him to be an apostate, has, on the contrary, put him under the power of man, for he says, Behold, I confer upon you the power of treading upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy. In order that, as he obtains dominion over man by apostasy, so again his apostasy might be deprived of power by means of man turning back again to God. Chapter 25 The fraud, pride, and tyrannical kingdom of antichrists, as described by Daniel and Paul. One. And not only by the particulars already mentioned, but also by means of the events which shall occur in the time of antichrist, is it shown that he, being an apostate and a robber, is anxious to be adored as God, and that, although a mere slave, he wishes himself to be proclaimed as a king, for he, antichrist, being endued with all the power of the devil, shall come not as a righteous king, nor as a legitimate king, i.e., one in subjection to God, but an impious, unjust, and lawless one, as an apostate, iniquitous, and murderous, as a robber concentrating in himself all satanic apostasy and setting aside idols to persuade men that he himself is God, raising up himself as the only idol, having in himself the multifarious errors of the other idols. This he does in order that they who do now worship the devil, by means of many abominations, may serve himself by this one idol, of whom the apostle thus speaks, in the second epistle to the Thessalonians. Unless there shall come a falling away first, and the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts of himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God. The apostle therefore clearly points out his apostasy, and that he is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, that is above every idol, or these are indeed so called by men, but they're not really gods, and that he will endeavor in a tyrannical manner to set himself forth as God, too. Moreover, he, the apostle, has also pointed out this which I have shown in many ways, that the temple in Jerusalem was made by the direction of the true God, for the apostle himself, speaking in his own person, distinctly called it the temple of God. Now I have shown in the third book that no one is termed God by the apostles, when speaking for themselves, except him who truly is God, the Father of our Lord, by whose directions the temple which is at Jerusalem was constructed for those purposes, which I have already mentioned, in which temple the enemy shall sit, endeavoring to show himself as Christ, as the Lord also declares. But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation which has been spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, standing in the holy place, let him that readeth understand, then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains, and he who is upon the house top. Let him not come down to take anything out of his house, for there shall then be great hardship, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be. 3. Daniel, too, looking forward to the end of the last kingdom, i.e. the ten last kings, amongst whom the kingdom of those men shall be partitioned, and upon whom the Son of Perdition shall come, declares that ten horns shall spring from the beast, and that another little horn shall rise in the midst of them, and that three of the former shall be rooted up before his face. He says, and behold, eyes were in this horn as the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things, and his look was more stout than his fellows. I was looking, and this horn made war against the saints, and prevailed against them until the ancient of days came, and gave judgment to the saints of the Most High God, and the time came, and the saints obtained the kingdom. Then further on, in the interpretation of the vision, there was said to him, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall excel all other kingdoms, and devour the whole earth, and tread it down, and cut it in pieces, and its ten horns are ten kings which shall arise, and after them shall arise another who shall surpass in evil deeds all that were before him, and shall overthrow three kings, and he shall speak words against the Most High God, and wear out the saints of the Most High God, and shall purpose change times and laws, and everything shall be given unto his hand until a time of times, and a half time. That is, for three years and six months, during which time when he comes, he shall reign over the earth, of whom also the Apostle Paul, again speaking in the second Epistle to the Thessalonians, and at the same time proclaiming the cause of his advent, thus says, And then shall the wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy by the presence of his coming, whose coming, i.e., the wicked ones, is after the working of Satan, in all power and signs and portents of lies, and with all deceivableness of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved, and therefore God will send them the working of error, that they may believe a lie, that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but gave consent to iniquity. 4. The Lord also spoke as follows to those who did not believe in him. I have come in my Father's name, and ye have not received me, when another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive, calling Antichrist the other, because he is alienated from the Lord. This is also the unjust judge, whom the Lord mentioned as one who feared not God, neither regarded man, to whom the widow fled in her forgetfulness of God, i.e., the earthly Jerusalem, to be avenged of her adversary, which also he shall do in the time of his kingdom. He shall remove his kingdom into that city, and shall sit in the temple of God, leading astray those who worship him as if he were Christ. To this purpose Daniel says again, and he shall desolate the holy place, and sin has been given for a sacrifice, and righteousness been cast away in the earth, and he has been active, facet, and gone on prosperously. And the angel Gabriel, when explaining his vision, states with regard to this person, and towards the end of the kingdom a king of a most fierce countenance shall arise, one understanding of dark questions, an exceedingly powerful, full of wonders, and he shall corrupt, direct, influence, facet, and put strong men down. The holy people likewise, and his yoke shall be directed as a wreath round their neck. Deceit shall be in his hand, and he shall be lifted up in his heart. He shall also ruin many by deceit, and lead many to perdition, bruising them in his hand like eggs. And then he points out the time that his tyranny shall last, during which the saints shall be put to flight, they who offer a pure sacrifice unto God. And in the midst of the week he says, the sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and the abomination of desolation shall be brought into the temple, even unto the consummation of the time shall the desolation be complete. Now, three years and six months constitute the half week. Five. From all these passages are revealed to us not merely the particulars of the apostasy and the doings of him who concentrates in himself every satanic error, but also that there is one and the same God the Father, who was declared by the prophets, but made manifest by Christ. For if what Daniel prophesied concerning the end has been confirmed by the Lord, when he said, when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, which has been spoken of by Daniel the prophet, and the angel Gabriel gave the interpretation of the visions to Daniel, and he is the archangel of the Creator, Demaergy, who also proclaimed to Mary the visible coming in the incarnation of Christ, then one and the same God is most manifestly pointed out, who sent the prophets, and made promise of the Son, and called us into his knowledge. End of book five, chapters twenty-two through twenty-five, recording by Bill Moseley, Frelsburg, Texas. Chapters twenty-six through twenty-eight of Irenaeus Against Heresies, book five. 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 Bill Moseley, Frelsburg, Texas. Irenaeus Against Heresies, book five. Translated by Alexander Roberts and William H. Rambeau. Chapter twenty-six. John and Daniel have predicted the dissolution and desolation of the Roman Empire, which shall precede the end of the world and the eternal kingdom of Christ. The Gnostics are refuted, those tools of Satan, who invent another Father different from the Creator. One. And a still clearer light has John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the Lord's disciples what shall happen in the last times, and concerning the ten kings who shall then arise, among whom the Empire, which now rules the earth, shall be partitioned. He teaches us what the ten horns shall be, which were seen by Daniel, telling us that thus it had been said to him. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but shall receive power as if kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and give their strength and power to the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because he is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. It is manifest, therefore, that of these potentates, he who is to come shall slay three, and subject the remainder to his power, and that he shall be himself the eighth among them, and they shall lay battle on waste, and burn her with fire, and shall bring their kingdom to the beast, and put the church to flight. After that they shall be destroyed by the coming of our Lord. For that the kingdom must be divided, and thus come to ruin, the Lord declares when he says, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. It must be, therefore, that the kingdom, the city, and the house be divided into ten, and for this reason he has already foreshadowed the partition and division which shall take place. Daniel also says particularly that the end of the fourth kingdom consists in the toes of the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar, upon which came the stone cut out without hands, as he does himself say. The feet were indeed the one part iron the other part clay, until the stone was cut out without hands, and struck the image upon the iron and clay feet, and dashed them into pieces even to the end. Then afterwards when interpreting this, he says, and as thou sawest the feet and the toes, partly indeed of clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, and there shall be in it a root of iron, as thou sawest iron mixed with baked clay, and the toes were indeed the one part iron and the other part clay. The ten toes, therefore, are these ten kings, among whom the kingdom shall be partitioned, of whom some indeed shall be strong and active or energetic, others again shall be sluggish and useless, and shall not agree, as also Daniel says, some part of the kingdom shall be strong and part shall be broken from it, as thou sawest the iron mixed with baked clay, there shall be minglings among the human race, but no cohesion one with the other, just as iron cannot be welded on to pottery ware. And since an inn shall take place, he says, and in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven raise up a kingdom which shall never decay, and this kingdom shall not be left to another people. It shall break in pieces and shatter all kingdoms, and shall itself be exalted forever, as thou sawest that the stone was cut without hands from the mountain, and break in pieces the bright clay, the iron, the brass, the silver, and the gold. God is pointed out to the king what shall come to pass after these things, and the dream is true, and the interpretation trustworthy, too. If, therefore, the great God showed future things by Daniel, and confirmed them by his son, and if Christ is the stone which is cut out without hands, who shall destroy temporal kingdoms, and introduce an eternal one which is the resurrection of the just, as he declares, the God of heaven shall raise up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, let those thus confuted come to their senses, who reject the creator, Demi Urgum, and do not agree that the prophets were sent beforehand from the same father from whom also the Lord came, but who assert that prophecies originated from diverse powers. For those things which have been predicted by the creator alike through all the prophets, has Christ fulfilled in the end, ministering to his father's will, and completing his dispensations with regard to the human race. Let those persons, therefore, who blaspheme the creator, either by openly expressed words such as the disciples of Martian, or by a perversion of the sense of Scripture as those of Valentinus, and all the Gnostics falsely so-called, be recognized as agents of Satan by all those who worship God, through whose agency Satan now, and not before, has been seen to speak against God, even him who has prepared eternal fire for every kind of apostasy. For he did not venture to blaspheme his Lord openly of himself, as also in the beginning he led man astray through the instrumentality of the serpent, concealing himself as it were from God. Truly as Justin remarked, that before the Lord's appearance Satan never dared to blaspheme God in as much as he did not yet know his own sentence, because it was contained in parables and allegories, but that after the Lord's appearance, when he had clearly ascertained for the words of Christ and his apostles that eternal fire has been prepared for him, as he apostatized from God of his own free will, and likewise for all who unrepentant continue in the apostasy, he now blasphemes. By means of such men, the Lord who brings judgment upon him as being already condemned and imputes the guilt of his apostasy to his maker, not to his own voluntary disposition. Just as it is with those who break the laws, when punishment overtakes them, they throw the blame upon those who frame the laws, but not upon themselves. In like manner do those men, filled with their satanic spirit, bring innumerable accusations against our Creator, who has both given to us the spirit of life and established a law adapted for all, and they will not admit that the judgment of God is just. Wherefore also, they set about imagining some other father who neither cares about nor exercises a providence over our affairs, nay, one who even approves of all sins. Chapter 27, the future judgment by Christ, communion with and separation from the divine being, the eternal punishment of unbelievers. 1. If the father then does not exercise judgment, it follows that judgment does not belong to him, or that he consents to all those actions which take place, and if he does not judge, all persons will be equal and accounted in the same condition. The advent of Christ will therefore be without an object, nay, absurd in as much as, in that case, he exercises no judicial power. 4. He came to divide a man against his father and the daughter against the mother and the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law. And when two are in one bed, to take the one and to leave the other, and of two women grinding at the mill to take one and leave the other. Also, at the time of the end, to order the reapers to collect first the tares together and bind them in bundles, and burn them with unquenchable fire. But to gather up the wheat into the barn, and to call the lambs into the kingdom prepared for them, but to send the goats to everlasting fire, which has been prepared by his father for the devil and his angels. And why is this? Has the word come for the ruin and for the resurrection of many? For the ruin certainly of those who do not believe him, to whom also he has threatened a greater damnation in the judgment day than that of Sodom and Gomorrah, but for the resurrection of believers, and those who do the will of his father in heaven. If then the advent of the Son comes indeed a like to all, but is for the purpose of judging and separating the believing from the unbelieving, since as those who believe do his will agreeably to their own choice, and as also agreeably to their own choice, the disobedient do not consent to his doctrine, it is manifest that his father has made all in a light condition, each person having a choice of his own, and a free understanding, and that he has regard to all things, and exercises a providence overall, making his son to rise upon the evil and on the good and sending rain upon the just and unjust, too. And to as many as continue in their love towards God, does he grant communion with him. But communion with God is life and light, and the enjoyment of all the benefits which he has in store. But on as many as according to their own choice depart from God, he inflicts that separation from himself which they have chosen of their own accord. But separation from God is death, and separation from light is darkness, and separation from God consists in the loss of all the benefits which he has in store. Those therefore who cast away by apostasy those four mentioned things, being in fact destitute of all good, do experience every kind of punishment. God, however, does not punish them immediately of himself, but that punishment falls upon them because they are destitute of all that is good. Now good things are eternal and without end with God, and therefore the loss of these is also eternal and never ending. It is in this matter, just as occurs in the case of a flood of light, those who have blinded themselves or have been blinded by others are forever deprived of the enjoyment of light. It is not, however, that the light has inflicted upon them the penalty of blindness, but it is that the blindness itself has brought calamity upon them, and therefore the Lord declared, He that believeth in me is not condemned, that is, is not separated from God, for he is united to God through faith. On the other hand, he says, he that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. That is, he separated himself from God of his own accord. For this is the condemnation that light has come into this world, and men have loved darkness rather than light. For everyone who doeth evil, hatheth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that he has wrought them in God. Chapter 28. The distinction to be made between the righteous and the wicked, the future apostasy in the time of Eichreist, and the end of the world. 1. Inasmuch then, as in this world, I only, some persons we take themselves to the light, and by faith unite themselves with God. But others shun the light and separate themselves from God. The Word of God comes preparing a fit habitation for both. For those indeed who are in the lights, that they may derive enjoyment from it, and from the good things contained in it, but for those in darkness, that they may partake in its calamities. And on this account, he says, that those upon the right hand are called in the Kingdom of Heaven. That those on the left, he will send into eternal fire, for they have deprived themselves of all good. 2. And for this reason, the Apostles says, because they receive not the love of God, that they might be saved, therefore God shall also send them the operation of error, that they may believe a lie, that they all may be judged who have not believed the truth, but consented to unrighteousness. For when he, Antichrist, is come, and of his own accord concentrates in his own person in the apostasy, and accomplishes whatever he shall do according to his own will and choice, sitting also in the temple of God, so that his dupes may adore him as the Christ, wherefore also shall he deservedly be cast into the lake of fire. This will happen according to divine appointment, God by his prescience for seeing all this. 3. And at the proper time sending such a man, that they may believe a lie, that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but consented to unrighteousness. 4. Whose coming John is thus described in the Apocalypse, and the beast which I had seen was like unto a leopard, and his feet as of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion, and the dragon conferred his own power upon him at his throne and great might. 5. And one of his heads was, as it were, slain into death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast, and they worshipped the dragon because he gave power to the beast, and they worshipped the beast saying, Who is like unto this beast, and who is able to make war with him? 6. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemy and power was given to him during forty and two months. And he opened his mouth for blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven, and power was given him over every tribe and people and tongue and nation, and all who dwell upon the earth worshipped him, everyone whose name was not written in the book of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone have ears, let him hear. If anyone shall lead into captivity, he shall go into captivity. If any shall slay with the sword, he must be slain with the sword. Here is the endurance and the faith of the saints. After this, he likewise describes his armor bearer whom he also terms a false prophet. He spake as a dragon and exercised all the power of the first beast in his sight, and caused the earth and those that dwell therein to adore the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. And he shall perform great wonders so that he can even cause fire to the sin from heaven upon the earth in the sight of men, and he shall lead the inhabitants of the earth astray. Let no one imagine that he performs these wonders by divine power, but by the working of magic, and we must not be surprised if since the demons and apostate spirits are at his service, he through their means performs wonders by which he leads the inhabitants of the earth astray. John says further, And he shall order an image of the beast to be made, and he shall give breath to the image so that the image shall speak, and he shall cause those to be slain who will not adore it. He says also, And he will cause a mark to be put on the forehead and in the right hand, that no one may be able to buy or sell unless he who has the mark of the name of the beast or the number of his name, and the number is 666. That is 6 times 100, 6 times 10, and 6 units. He gives this as a summing up of the whole of that apostasy, which has taken place during 6,000 years. 3. For in as many days as this world was made, in so many thousand years shall it be concluded. And for this reason the scripture says, Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all there adornment. And God brought to a conclusion upon the sixth day the works that he had made, and God rested upon the seventh day from all his works. This is an account of the things formerly created, as also it is a prophecy of what is to come. The day of the Lord is as a thousand years, and in six days created things were completed. It is evident therefore, that they will come to an end at the sixth thousandth year. 4. And therefore throughout all time, man having been molded at the beginning by the hands of God, that is of the Son and of the Spirit, is made after the image and likeness of God, the chaff indeed which is the apostasy being cast away, but the wheat that is those who bring forth fruit to God in faith, being gathered into the barn. And for this cause, tribulation is necessary for those who are saved. That having been after a man are broken up, and rendered fine, and sprinkled over by the patience of the word of God, and set on fire for purification, they may be fitted for the royal banquets. As a certain man of ours said when he was condemned to the wild beast, because of his testimony with respect to God, I am the wheat of Christ, dim ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of God. End of book five, chapters 26 through 28. Section 62, chapters 29 through 32 of Irenaeus against Heresies, book five. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Reporting by Bill Mosley Grelsberg, Texas. Irenaeus against Heresies, book five. Translated by Alexander Roberts and William H. Rambo, chapter 29. All things have been created for the service of man. The deceits, wickedness, and apostate power of antichrist. This was prefigured at the deluge as afterwards by the persecution of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. One. In the previous books, I have set forth the causes for which God permitted these things to be made. And it pointed out that all such have been created for the benefit of that human nature which is saved, ripening for immortality that which is possessed of its own free will and its own power and preparing and rendering it more adapted for eternal subjection to God. And therefore the creation is suited to the wants of man. For man was not made for its sake but creation for the sake of man. Those nations, however, who did not of themselves raise up their eyes into heaven, nor returned thanks to their maker, nor wished to behold the light of truth. But who were like blind mice concealed in the depths of ignorance? The word justly reckons as wastewater from a sink and as the turning weight of a balance. In fact, as nothing so far useful and serviceable to the just as stubble conduces toward the growth of the weak, and its straw by means of combustion serves for working gold. And therefore, when in the end the church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said there shall be tribulations such as not been since the beginning, neither shall be. For this is the last contest of the righteous in which when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption. Two, and there is therefore in this beast when he comes a recapitulation made of all sorts of iniquity and of every deceit in order that all apostate power flowing into and being shut up in him may be sent into the furnace of fire. Fittingly therefore shall his name possess the number 666 since he sums up in his own person all the co-mixture of wickedness which took place previous to the deluge due to the apostasy of the angels, where Noah was 600 years old when the deluge came upon the earth, sweeping away the rebellious world for the sake of that most infamous generation which lived in the times of Noah. And Antichrist also sums up every error of devised idols since the flood together with the slaying of the prophets and the cutting off of the just. For that image which was set up by Nebuchadnezzar had indeed a height of 60 cubits while the breadth was 6 cubits on account of which Ananias, Azarias, and Mishael when they did not worship it were cast into a furnace of fire pointing out prophetically by what happened to them the wrath against the righteous which shall arise towards the time of the end. For that image taken as a whole was a prefiguring of this man's coming decreeing that he should undoubtedly himself alone be worshiped by all men. Thus then the 600 years of Noah in his time the deluge occurred because of the apostasy and the number of the cubits of the image for which these just men were sent into the fiery furnace do indicate the number of the name of that man in whom is concentrated the whole apostasy of 6000 years and unrighteousness and wickedness and false prophecy and deception for which things say a cataclysm of fire shall also come upon the earth. Chapter 30 although certain as to the number of the name of Antichrist yet we should come to no rash conclusions as to the name itself because this number is capable of being fitted to many names reasons for this point being reserved by the Holy Spirit Antichrist's reign and death one such then being the state of the case and this number being found in all the most approved and ancient copies of the apocalypse and those men who saw John face to face bearing their testimony to it while reason also leads us to conclude that the number of the name of the beast if reckoned according to the Greek mode of calculation by the value of the letters contained in it will amount to 666 that is the number of tens shall be equal to that of the hundreds and the number of hundreds equal to that of the units for that number which expresses the digit 6 being adhered to throughout indicates the recapitulations of that apostasy taken in its full extent which occurred at the beginning during the intermediate periods and which shall take place at the end I do not know how it is that some have aired following the ordinary mode of speech and have vitiated the middle number in the name deducting the amount of 50 from it so that instead of six decades they will have it that there is but one I'm inclined to think that this occurred through the fault of the copyists as is want to happen since numbers also are expressed by letters so that the Greek letter which expresses the number 60 was easily expanded into the letter Yoda of the Greeks others then received this reading without examination some in their simplicity and upon their own responsibility making use of this number of expressing one decade while some in their inexperience have ventured to seek out a name which should contain the erroneous and spurious number now as regards those who have done this in simplicity and without evil intent we are at liberty to assume that pardon will be granted them by God but as for those who for the sake of vain glory lay it down for certain that names containing the spurious number are to be accepted and affirm that this name hit upon by themselves is that of him who is to come such persons shall not come forth without loss because they have led into error both themselves and those who confided in them now in the first place it is lost to wander from the truth and to imagine that as being the case which is not then again as there shall be no like punishment inflicted upon him who either adds or subtract anything from the scripture under that such a person must necessarily fall moreover another danger by no means trifling shall overtake those who falsely presume that they know the name of antichrist for if these men assume one number when this antichrist shall come having another they will be easily led away by him as supposing him not to be the expected one who must be guarded against two these men therefore ought to learn what really is the state of the case and go back to the true number of the name that they be not reckoned among false prophets but knowing the sure number declared by a scripture that is six hundred sixty and six let them await in the first place the division of the kingdom into ten then in the next place when these kings are reigning and beginning to set their affairs in order and advance their kingdom let them learn to acknowledge that he who shall come claiming the kingdom for himself and shall terrify those men of whom we had been speaking having a name containing the aforesaid number is truly the abomination of desolation this to the apostle affirms when they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction shall come upon them and Jeremiah does not merely point out his sudden coming but he even indicates the tribe from which he shall come where he says we shall hear the voice of his swift horses from Dan the whole earth shall be moved by the voice of the neighing of his galloping horses he shall also come and devour the earth and the fullness thereof the city also and they that dwell therein this too is the reason that this tribe is not reckoned in the apocalypse along with those which are saved three it is therefore more certain and less hazardous to await the fulfillment of the prophecy than to be making surmises and casting about for any names that may present themselves in as much as many names can be found possessing the number mentioned and the same question will after all remain unsolved for if there are many names found possessing this number you'll be asked which among them shall the coming man bear it is not through a want of names containing the number of that name that I say this but on account of the fear of God and zeal for the truth for the name evanthus epsilon gamma alpha new theta alpha sigma contains the required number but I make no allegation regarding then also latinos lambda alpha tau epsilon yota new amicron sigma has the number 666 and it is a very probable solution this being the name of the last kingdom of the four seen by daniel for the latins are they who at present bear rule I will not however make any boast over this coincidence titanium 2 tau epsilon yota tau alpha new the first syllable being written with the two greek vowels epsilon and yota among all the names which are found among us is rather worthy of credit for it has in itself the predicted number and is composed of six letters each syllable containing three letters and the word itself is ancient and removed from ordinary use for among our kings we find none bearing this name titan nor have any of the idols which are worshiped in public among the greeks and barbarians this appellation among many persons too this name is accounted divine so that even the sun is termed titan by those who do now possess the rule this word too contains a certain outward appearance of vengeance and of one inflicting merited punishment because he at a christ pretends that he vindicates the oppressed and besides this it is an ancient name one worthy of credit of royal dignity and still further a name belonging to a tyrant and as much then as this name titan has so much to recommend it there is a strong degree of probability that from among the many names suggested we infer that perchance he who is to come shall be called titan we will not however incur the risk of pronouncing positively as to the name of antichrist for if it were necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in this present time it would have been announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision for that was seen no very long time since but almost in our day towards the end of domitian's reign for but he indicates the number of the name now that when this man comes we may avoid him being aware who he is the name however is suppressed because it is not worthy of being proclaimed by the holy spirit for if it had been declared by him he antichrist might perhaps continue for a long period but now as he was and is not and shall ascend out of the abyss and goes into perdition as one who has no existence so neither has his name been declared for the name of that which does not exist is not proclaimed but when this antichrist shall have devastated all things in this world he will reign for three years and six months and sit in the temple at jerusalem and then the lord will come from heaven in the clouds in the glory of the father sending this man and those who follow him into the lake of fire but bringing in for the righteous the times of the kingdom that is the rest the hallowed seventh day and restoring to abraham the promised inheritance in which kingdom the lord declared that many coming from the east and from the west should sit down with abraham isaac and jacob chapter 31 the preservation of our bodies is confirmed by the resurrection and ascension of christ the souls of the saints during the intermediate period are in a state of expectation of that time when they shall receive their perfect and consummated glory one since again some who are reckoned among the orthodox go beyond the prearranged plan for the exaltation of the just and are ignorant of the methods by which they are disciplined beforehand for incorruption they thus entertain heretical opinions for the heretics despising the handy work of god and not admitting the salvation of their flesh while they also treat the promise of god contemptuously and pass beyond god altogether in the sentiments they form affirm that immediately upon their death they shall pass above the heavens and the demiurge and go to the mother akamoth or do that father whom they have fain those persons therefore who disallow resurrection affecting the whole man universal reprobot resurrection and as far as in them lies remove it from the midst of the christian scheme how can they be wondered if again they know nothing as to the plan of the resurrection for they do not choose to understand that if these things are as they say the lord himself in whom they profess to believe did not rise again upon the third day but immediately upon his expiring on the cross undoubtedly departed on high leaving his body to the earth but the case was that for three days he dwelt in a place where the dead were as the prophet says concerning him and the lord remembered his dead saints who slept formerly in the land of sepulchre and he descended to them to rescue and save them and the lord himself says as Jonas remained three days and three nights in the wales belly so shall the son of man be in the heart of the earth then also the apostle says but when he ascended what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth this to david says when prophesying of him and thou has delivered my soul from the nethermost hell and on his rising again on the third day he said to Mary who was the first to see and to worship him touch me not for I have not yet ascended to the father but go to the disciples and say unto them I ascend unto my father and unto your father too if then the lord observed the law of the dead that he might become the first begotten from the dead and tarried until the third day in the lower parts of the earth then afterwards rising in the flesh so that he even showed the print of the nails to his disciples he thus ascended to the father if all these things occurred I say how must these men not be put to confusion who allege that the lower parts refer to this world of ours but that their inner man leaving the body here ascends into the super celestial place for as the lord went away in the midst of the shadow of death where the souls of the dead were yet afterwards arose in the body and after the resurrection was taken up into heaven it is manifest that the souls of his disciples also upon whose account the lord underwent these things shall go away into the invisible place allotted to them by god and there remain until the resurrection awaiting that event then receiving their bodies and rising in their entirety that is bodily just as the lord arose they shall come thus into the presence of god or no disciple is above the master but everyone that is perfect shall be as his master as our master therefore did not at once depart taking flight to heaven but awaited the time of his resurrection prescribed by the father which had been also shown forth through Jonas and rising again after three days was taken up to heaven so ought we also to await the time of our resurrection prescribed by god and foretold by the prophets and so rising be taken up as many as the lord shall account worthy of this privilege chapter 32 in that flesh in which the saints have suffered so many afflictions they shall receive the fruits of their labors especially since all creation waits for this and god promises it to abraham and his seed one in as much therefore as the opinions of certain orthodox persons are derived from heretical discourses they are both ignorant of god's dispensations and of the mystery of the resurrection of the just and of the earthly kingdom which is the commencement of incorruption by means of which kingdom those who shall be worthy are accustomed gradually to partake of the divine nature and it is necessary to tell them respecting these things that it behooves the righteous first to receive the promise of the inheritance which god promised to the fathers and to reign in it when they rise again to behold god in this creation which is renovated and that the judgment should take place afterwards for it is just that in that very creation in which they toiled or were afflicted being proved in every way by suffering they should receive the reward of their suffering and that in the creation in which they were slain because of their love to god in that they should be revived again and that in the creation in which they endured servitude in that they should reign for god is rich in all things and all things are his it is fitting therefore that the creation itself being restored to its primeval condition should without restraint be under the dominion of the righteous when the apostle has made this plane in the epistle to the romans when he thus speaks for the expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of god for the creature has been subjected to vanity not willingly but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope since the creature itself shall also be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of god too thus then the promise of god which he gave to abraham remains steadfast or thus he said lift up thine eyes and look from this place where now thou art towards the north and south and east and west for all the earth which thou seest I will give to thee and do thy seed even forever and again he says arise and go through the length and breadth of the land since I will give it unto thee and yet he did not receive an inheritance in it not even a footstep but was always a stranger and a pilgrim therein and upon the death of sarah his wife when the hittites were willing to bestow upon him a place where he might bury her he declined it as a gift but bought the burying place giving for it 400 talents of silver from ephron the son of zohar the hittites thus did he awake patiently the promise of god and was unwilling to appear to receive from men what god had promised to give him when he said again to him as follows I will give this land unto thy seed from the river of egypt even to the great river euphrates if then god promised him the inheritance of the land yet he did not receive it during all the time of his sojourn there it must be that together with his seed that is those who fear god and believe in him he shall receive it at the resurrection of the just for his seed is the church which receives the adoption to god through the lord as john the baptist said for god is able from the stones to raise up children to abraham thus also the apostle says in the epistle to the galatians but e brethren as isaac was are the children of the promise and again in the same epistle he plainly declares that they who have believed in christ do receive christ the promise to abraham thus saying the promises were spoken to abraham and to his seed now he does not say and of seeds as if he spoke of many but as of one and to thy seed which is christ and again confirming his former words he says even as abraham believed god and it was accounted to him for righteousness know ye therefore that they which are of faith are the children of abraham but the scripture foreseeing that god would justify the heathen through faith declared to abraham beforehand that in thee shall all nations be blessed so they which are of faith shall be blessed with faithful abraham thus then they who are of faith shall be blessed with faithful abraham and these are the children of abraham now god made promise of the earth to abraham and his seed yet neither abraham nor his seed that is those who are justified by faith do now receive any inheritance in it but they shall receive it at the resurrection of the just for god is true and faithful and on this account he said blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth end of book five chapters 29 through 32