Irenæus. A.D. 180

Irenæus was a native of Asia Minor, a pupil of Polycarp of Smyrna (Adv. Hær. Lib. III. cap. 3, § 4; Euseb. H. E. v. 20), and through him a grand-pupil of St. John the Apostle. He was bishop of the church at Lyons (Lugdunum), in the South of France, in 177, wrote his great work against the Gnostic heresies about 180, while Eleutherus (d. 185) was bishop of Rome (Adv. Hær. Lib. III. cap. 3, § 3), and died about 202.

He was therefore a connecting link between the East and the West, as well as between post-apostolic and ante-Nicene Christianity, and altogether the most important witness of the doctrinal status of the Catholic Church at the close of the second century. The ancient Massilia (Marseilles) was a Greek colony, and the churches of Lyons and Vienne in Gaul were probably planted by Eastern missionaries, and retained a close connection with the Eastern churches, as appears from the letter of those churches to their brethren in Asia Minor after the fierce persecution under Marcus Aurelius, A.D. 177 (see Euseb. H. E. v. 1).

Irenaeus refutes the heretics of his age by the Scriptures and the apostolic tradition. This tradition, though different in form from the New Testament, and perhaps older than the writings of the Apostles, agrees with them, being a summary of their teaching, and is handed down in all the churches through the hands of the presbyters.⁵ The sum and substance of this tradition is the baptismal creed, called by him the kanon tes aletheias, apostolon didache, to archaion tes ekklesias sustema, gnosis alethe, traditio veritatis, vera fides, prædicatio ecclesiæ. He does not give the creed in full, but incorporates passages of it in several parts of his work. He gives most of the articles of the Apostles' Creed as it prevailed in the West, but has also several characteristic passages in common with the Nicene Creed ( hena ... sarkothenta huper tes emeteras soterias ... to dia propheton kekeruchos ). The ancient liturgies of Gaul likewise have a semi-Oriental character.

First Form

Contra Hæreses, Lib. I. cap. 10, § 1 (Opera, ed. Stieren, Tom. I. p. 119).

He men gar ekklesia, kaiper kath' holes tes oikoumenes heos peraton tes ges diesparmene, para de ton Apostolon kai ton ekeinon matheton paralabousa ten [pistin]

The Church, though scattered through the whole world to the ends of the earth, has received⁶ from the Apostles and their disciples the faith

eis hena Theon, Patera pantokratora,

in one God, the Father Almighty,

ton pepoiekota ton ouranon, kai ten gen,

who made the heaven and the earth,

kai tas thalassas, kai panta ta en autois, pistin;

and the seas, and all that in them is;

kai eis hena Christon Iesoun, ton Huion tou Theou,

and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God,

ton sarkothenta huper tes hemeteras soterias;

who became flesh for our salvation;

kai eis Pneuma hagion,

and in the Holy Ghost,

to dia ton propheton kekeruchos tas oikonomias kai tas eleuseis [ten eleusin, adventum ],

who through the prophets preached the dispensations and the advents [advent],

kai ten ek Parthenou gennesin,

and the birth from the Virgin,

kai to pathos,

and the passion,

kai ten egersin ek nekron,

and the resurrection from the dead,

kai ten ensarkon eis tous ouranous analepsin tou egapemenou Christou Iesou, tou Kuriou hemon,

and the bodily assumption into heaven of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord,

kai ten ek ton ouranon en te doxe tou Patros parousian autou,

and his appearing from heaven in the glory of the Father,

epi to anakephalaiosasthai ta panta, to comprehend all things under one head,

kai anastesai pasan sarka pases anthropotetos,

and to raise up all flesh of all mankind,

hina Christo Iesou, to Kurio hemon, kai Theo, kai Soteri, kai basilei, kata ten eudokian tou Patros tou aoratou, pan gonu kampse epouranion kai epigeion kai katachthonion, kai pasa glossa exomologesetai auto, kai krisin dikaian en tois pasi poiesetai, ta men pneumatika tes ponerias, kai angelous parabebekotas, kai en apostasia gegonotas, kai tous asebeis, kai adikous kai anomous kai blasphemous ton anthropon eis to aionion pur pempse; tois de dikaiois, kai hosiois, kai tas entolas autou teterekosi kai en te agape autou diamemenekosi, tois ap' arches, tois de ek metanoias, zoen charisamenos, aphtharsian doresetai, kai doxan aionian peripoiese.

that, according to the good pleasure of the Father invisible, every knee of those that are in heaven and on the earth and under the earth should bow before Christ Jesus, our Lord and God and Saviour and King, and that every tongue should confess to him, and that he may execute righteous judgment over all: sending into eternal fire the spiritual powers of wickedness, and the angels who transgressed and apostatized, and the godless and unrighteous and lawless and blasphemous among men, and granting life and immortality and eternal glory to the righteous and holy, who have both kept the commandments and continued in his love, some from the beginning, some after their conversion.

Note.—Irenæus adds to this Creed: 'The Church, having received this preaching and this faith, as before said, though scattered throughout the whole world, zealously preserves it ( epimelos phulassei ) as one household, ... and unanimously preaches and teaches the same, and hands it down as by one mouth ( sumphonos tauta kerussei kai didaskei kai paradidosin, hos hen stoma kiktemene ); for although there are different dialects in the world, the power of the tradition is one and the same ( he dunamis tes paradoseos mia kai he aute ). And in no other manner have either the churches established in Germany believed and handed down, nor those in Spain, nor among the Celts, nor in the East, nor in Egypt, nor in Libya, nor those established in the middle of the world. But as the sun, God's creature, is one and the same in all the world, so, too, the preaching of the truth shines every where and enlightens all men who wish to come to the knowledge of the truth. And neither will he who is very mighty in language among those who preside over the churches say other than this (for the disciple is not above his Master), nor will he who is weak in the word impair the tradition. For as the faith is one and the same, neither he who is very able to speak on it adds thereto, nor does he who is less mighty diminish therefrom.'

Second Form

Adv. Hær., Lib. III. cap. 4, § 1, 2 (Opera, Tom. I. p. 437).

Quid autem si neque Apostoli quidem Scripturas reliquissent nobis, nonne oportebat ordinem sequi traditionis, quam tradiderunt iis quibus committebant ecclesias? Cui ordinationi assentiunt multæ gentes barbarorum, eorum qui in Christum credunt, sine charta et atramento scriptam habentes per Spiritum in cordibus suis salutem, et veterem traditionem diligenter custodientes,

If the Apostles had not left to us the Scriptures, would it not be necessary to follow the order of tradition, which those to whom they committed the churches handed down? To this order many nations of barbarians give assent, those who believe in Christ having salvation written in their hearts by the Spirit without paper and ink, and guarding diligently the ancient tradition, In unum Deum credentes, believing in one God, Fabricatorem cæli et terræ, Maker of heaven and earth, et omnium quæ in eis sunt, and all that in them is,

Per Christum Jesum Dei Filium;

Through Christ Jesus the Son of God;

Qui, propter eminentissimam erga, figmentum suum dilectionem,

Who, for his astounding love towards his creatures,

eam quæ esset ex Virgine generationem sustinuit,

sustained the birth of the Virgin,

ipse per se hominem adunans Deo,

himself uniting his manhood to God, et passus sub Pontio Pilato, and suffered under Pontius Pilate, et resurgens, and rose again, et in claritate receptus, and was received in glory, in gloria venturas, shall come in glory,

Salvator eorum qui salvantur, et Judex eorum qui judicantur; et mittens in ignem æternum transfiguratores veritatis et

the Saviour of those who are saved, and the Judge of those who are judged; and sending into eternal fire the perverters of the truth

contemptores Patris sui et adventus ejus.

and the despisers of his Father and his advent.

Third Form

Adv. Hær., Lib. IV. cap. 33, § 7 (Opera, Tom. I. p. 670).

After remarking that the spiritual man shall judge all those who are beyond the pale of the truth—that is, outside of the Church—and shall be judged by no one, Irenæus goes on to say: 'For to him all things are consistent; he has a full faith ( pistis holokeros )—'

Eis hena Theon pantokratora, In one God Almighty, ex hou ta panta, from whom are all things;

kai eis ton Huion tou Theou, Iesoun Christon,

and in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, ton Kurion hemon, our Lord,

di hou ta panta, by whom are all things,

kai tas oikonomias autou, and in his dispensations,

di hon anthropos egeneto ho Huios tou Theou;

through which the Son of God became man;

Peismone bebaia kai eis to Pneuma tou Theou,⁷

the firm persuasion also in the Spirit of God,

... to tas oikonomias Patros te kai Huiou skenobatoun kath' hekasten genean en tois anthropois, kathos bouletai ho Pater.

who furnishes us with a knowledge of the truth, and has set forth the dispensations of the Father and the Son, in virtue of which he dwells in every generation of men, according to the will of the Father.