A View of Antiquity Presented, Part 3
Irenaeus Lugdunensis Episcopus.
§ 1. COncerning his birth, where and of what Parents he was born,Cent. 2. c. 10. Graecus Asianus & fortè Smyrnaeus fuit. Possev. apparat. we have nothing certain; Only probable it is that for Country he was an Asian, and that he came of honest and pious parents not far from, if not in the City of Smyrna: for there in his youth was he trained up in the School of blessed Polycarp a Disciple of the Apostle Iohn; Euseb. l. 4. c. 15. in Ep, Smynens.and Bishop of Smyrna; Of whom it is reported, that being brought before the Proconsul, and by him urged to blaspheme and revile Christ, he thus answered him, Fourscore and six years, saith he, have I served him, neither hath he in any thing ever wronged me; and how can I then revile my King, that hath hitherto preserved me? Also in the same Epistle of the Church of Smyrna, it follows concerning him; that being in the fire, which in the form of a vault or sail of a ship, encompassed him about as a wall, his body seemed as gold or silver tried in the furnace; and that from it there proceeded a sweet and fragrant smell, as of frankincense or some such like precious perfume: and that at length, the persecutors perceiving that the fire consum'd not his body, commanded the tormentour to lance him in the side with a spear; which done, there forthwith issued such a stream of blood out of his body, as quenched the fire to the great admiration of the multitude.
Upon this Reverend Father did Irenae… with so great diligence attend, that the Doctrine which he learned from him was deeply ingraven in his breast; so that even to his ol… age he firmly retained the remembrance of i… yea his very gestures: so much he himself testifieth in his Epistle unto Florinus, sometime his fellow Scholar, but tainted with that opinion that God was the Author of evil, an… afterward with the errour of Valentinus: remember, saith he, the things of old, bett… then those of later times: for the things … learn in our childhood, sink farther into … minds, and grow up together with us; … that I do well remember,Eus. l. 4. c. 18. the place whe… Polycarp sate when he taught, his going o… and coming in, his manner and course … life, the figure and proportion of his body the Sermons which he made unto the mult… tude the relation he gave of his converse wit… the Apostle Iohn and others which saw t… Lord; how he remembred their sayings, … what he heard from their mouths touchin… the Lord,…. haeres 24. Hie…mym. in Ca…log. his power, Doctrine, &c. Hen… is he not unjustly stiled a man of the Apost… lical times, very near unto them, and the su… cessor of them.
By Polycarp he was s…nt unto the City … Lyons in France, Greg. Tu…onens. l. 1. hist. c. 27.whereby his admirable v… tue he soon became famous; in so much that in a small space of time by his preaching he had made almost the whole City Christian. Of this Church he was at first a Presbyter of Pothinus (as Ierom, In catalog. l. hist. 5. c. ….Eusebius and Nicephorus call him) or Photinus, (as the Centurists, Baronius and Gregory of Turon) who was the first Bishop of that place.
At this time the Churches of Asia being much infested with the New prophesies and delusions of Montanus, Cent. 2. c. 10.Alcibiades and Theodotus; the Gallicane Churches (either of their own accord out of their brotherly love to and care of them, or else at their request craving assistance from them against these corrupters of the Gospel) sent Irenaeus unto them as the meetest man for such a work, with their letters; that he might comfort those afflicted Churches, confirm them in the truth, and confute those heretical adversaries: He took Rome in his way, haply to confer with and crave the advice and help of Eleutherius Bishop there, about this affair, unto whom he had letters recommendatory from the Churches making Honourable mention of him.
During his absence upon this weighty occasion,Eus. l. 5. c. … ▪ in the great persecution under Antoninus Verus (which much raged in the Churches of France) the good Bishop Photinus aged ninety years, is imprisoned: and being brought before the tribunal, and by the President asked this question; who is the God of the Christians; he perceiving this demand to be made rather in way of scorn, then out of a serious desire to be informed; because h… would not cast pearls before swine, vouchsafed him no other answer but this; si dignus fueris, cognosces: when thou shalt become worthy, thou shalt know. With which answer, as contumelious, the President being highly provoked, commanded the Officers to beat him; which accordingly they did, handling him in a most barbarous and cruel manner, and afterward, almost breathless, cas… him into a filthy prison; wherein about two days after by a glorious death he obtained the crown of Martyrdom.
The Church of Lyons by this means being destitute of a Bishop, none was thought mo… worthy to suceed the aged Martyr,Euseb. lib. 5. cap. 5. then his Presbyter Irenaeus, who not long after returning,Baron. ad a…. 180. § 1. was accordingly chosen an… took upon him the Government of tha… Church.
He entred upon the administration thereo… in a very unquiet and turbulent time; the sta… of affairs being much distracted,Fevard. in vitâ Irenaei. not only b… reason of that grievous storm of persecutio… they had lately been under, yea which … yet scarcely calmed and blown over; … also through the busie attempts of dive… impostours cunningly seeking to undermin… the Doctrine of Christ.Cent. 2. c. 10. For now had th… Valentinian Hereticks prevail'd and spread … far as France, and among others bewitch… sundry eminent women with their sott… and absurd opinions, by means of one M… cus a wretched sorcerer, and a wicked deceiver and abuser of the weaker Sex; But … such a manner did this vigilant watchma… and painful Pastour bestir himself, that he notably prevented the farther spreading of this Pest, and recovered many of those who had been therewith infected: And having happily secured his own charge, he rested not here, but proceeded farther, affording his help by his excellent letters unto other Churches also; particularly unto that of Rome; out of which he endeavoured to weed those tares, which the envious man had there sown; their careless Bishop (how unfit to be an universal overseer!) it seems securely sleeping the while, and leaving the work, that properly belonged to himself unto another. The chief instruments that Satan here imployed in sowing those tares; were Florinus and Blastus Presbyters of this Church,Theodoret. h…ret. f…bul. lib. 1. but by the Bishop degraded for their impiety; in commiseration of whose sad condition infected with so soul Heresies, he wrote (as is reported) those five learned books now extant.
In such kind of laborious imployments did he spend much of his time,Baron. ad▪ an. 180. under the Emperours Antoninus, the whole of Commodus, and a good part of Severus Reigns: being very serviceable unto the Church of God in his generation, not only by his preaching and disputations, but also by his writings which he left behind him, as singular monuments unto posterity of his zeal for the glory of God, and love to his truth: as a bright shining lamp lighted and set up by the Lord, he diffused his Rayes for the good of many, till the oyl was wholly spent and consumed.
In his time fell out that sharp and lasting contention between the Eastern and Western Churches,Euseb. lib. 5. cap. 21. 23. about the observation of the Feast of Easter, as also about the kind and manne… of fasting. The Churches of Asia, as from an ancient Tradition, and herein following the examples of Philip and Iohn Apostles, as also of Polycarp with others their Successors, observed this Feast on the fourteenth Moon, upon what day of the week soever it fell out, on which day the Jews were to offer thei… Paschal Lamb. But the Church of Rome, together with others in the West, did celebrate it always upon the Lord's day; and hence grew a great rent between them: for those of the East refusing to leave their former usage and custom (for which they had so good … warrant) and to conform themselves herei… unto the other: Victor, who was the Bishop of Rome (possessing that Chair that would afterward usurp authority over all Churches,Cent. 2. and acting accordingly) in the heighth of his pride, and the heat of his passion begins to threaten and thunder out his excommunication against them. Hereupon Irenaeus (brooking his name, as a lover of peace) with the Brethren of the Gallican Churches, being grieved at such insolent and harsh proceedings, and foreseeing the sad effects they might produce, thought it their duty not to stand still as idle Spectators, but to interpose at least by their Letters, and to endeavour a prevention (if it might be) of those evils that were like to ensue,Gallic… Sanctâ que libertate objurgat. Feuard. in vita ejus. and follow upon so rigorous and sharp a censure: which they did accordingly, dealing plainly and roundly with the proud Prelate, tartly reprehending him for handling his Brethren in so unchristian a manner; and that for things indifferent (which he made necessary) he would fall upon so extreme a course, the cutting off of so considerable a part from the Body; shewing withal, that his excommunication was void, and of no force. Now, so great was the authority of the man with the Bishop of Rome (who had not as yet exalted himself so high, that it should not be lawful for any of his Fellow Bishops to take the boldness to admonish him, or to say, what dost thou, though he should lead thousands to Hell) and such the strength of the arguments alledged, that the issue was (as Feuardentius relates) the asswaging of his fury,In vitâ Irenaei. and the deterring of him from that rash attempt of cutting off so many famous Churches from the Body of Christ: whence followed a more serene face of things, and a great tranquillity to the Churches of Christ.
§ 2. He was a man exceeding eminent,Vir Apostolicorum temporum, & Papiae, auditoris Egelistae Joannis discipulus. Hieronym. Epist. 29. and of chief note among those of his time, very ancient, and not far from the days of the Apostles. Honourable mention is made of him by those of the following ages: for Eusebius, Inter omnes coaetaneos ei palmam tribuit, gives him the preheminence above all his contemporaries:Theodoret. dialog. 1. & haeret. fab. lib. 1. Others stile him an Apostolical man, admirable, and the light of the Western Churches,August. lib. 1. contra Julian. tom. 7. an ancient man of God; highly commended he is as one in whom the resplendent Beams and brightness of Apostolical Doctrine did gloriously shine forth:Baron. ad an. 205. … § 30. for what he had learned and received from Polycarp, and Polycarp from the Apostle Iohn, he retaining it in its purity, communicated i… unto the Church; so that in all things he resembled the face of the Apostles.
He excelled both in piety and learning,Sixt. Sen…ns. Biblioth. lib. lib. 4 Haeres. 32. being so admirably endued with both, that he was no less famous for the one than for the other: stiled therefore by Epiphanius a sacer Irenaeus, holy man, so singularly accomplished and fitted for the work he was designed and called unto, as that he became praeclarum organum, Cent. 2. cap. 10. …a choice instrument for the good of the Churches of Christ.
Admirably well skilled he was in all sorts of Learning,Trithem. de Script. both sacred and secular; very studious and ready in the Holy Scriptures, having by this means attained unto a more than ordinary measure of understanding and insight into them. And how notably instructed and furnished with knowledge in the Arts and Sciences,F…uard. in vitâ Iren. is abundantly manifested, by his subtil investigation of abstruse Heresies which, though wonderfully obscure and confused, he representeth and sets forth to publick view with very great perspicuity and order: as also by his most acute and quick disputations, wherein he throughly discovers their vanity, and as soundly confuteth them: So that it is most evident (saith Erasmus) that he was very exact in all the liberal Science….Epist. ante Iren. Yea, how diligently he had read over the Books both of the ancient Philosophers, Thales, Anaximander, Anaxagoras, Democritus▪ Empedocles▪ Plato, Aristotle, &c. As also of the Poets,Cent. 1. ibid. Tragick, Comick and Lyrick, may be gathered from hence, in that he clearly evinceth those Heresies which he impugned, to have been taken and to have had their original from those prophane Authors, the names only being changed.Tertull. advers. Valentin. So that he was not without cause stiled by Tertullian, Omnium doctrinarum curiosissimum exploratorem; a most curious inquirer or searcher into all sorts of Doctrines: very large is Epiphanius his Encomium of him (who held him in high esteem, as appears by the great use he made of him) Old Irenaeus (saith he) every way adorned by the Holy Ghost,Epiphan. Haeres. 31. brought into the Field by the Lord as a valiant and expert Soldier and Champion, and annointed with Heavenly Gifts and Graces, according to the true faith and knowledge, contended against all the arguments of sottish Hereticks, and most exactly confuted them.
Add hereunto (which put a lustre upon all the rest) that he was of a very meek and modest spirit,Illyric. in catalog. a great lover, and as studious a preserver of peace among Brethren; but withal no less earnest and zealous in the cause of God, and a bitter adversary of the wretched Hereticks of his time:Epist. Nuncupat. ante Iren. Magnus (to give you Erasmus his words to this purpose) Ecclesiae propu…nator, ac pro sui nominis …ugurio, pacis Ecclesiasticae vindex.
§ 3. He wrote divers learned Books upon several subjects and occasions; the greater part whereof (indeed all to one) through the injury and neglect of foregoing ages are quite lost, not any of them remaining and extant at this day: and they are (such as we find mention of.)
1. A brief Volume against the Gentiles:Hieronym. in catalog. Miaeus. Schol. in catalog. Hieronym. And, saith Ierom, another of discipline; but herein is he mistaken, and those that follow him, as Honorius Augustodunensis, Trithemi…, &c. who supposed that they were two distinct Books; whereas by Eusebius it appears 'twas but one and the same Volume;Euseb. lib. 5. cap. …4. for thus he speaks of it: Extat adhuc liber illius adversus Gentes compendiosissimus & summopere necessarius, de scientia inscriptus.
2. A declaration of the (manner and way,foreign. Hieronym. ibid. Possevin) of the Apostles preaching unto a certain Brother, one Marcianus.
3. A Book intituled foreign, variorum tractatuum, Ibid.saith Ierom, variarum dictionum inquiunt centuriatores, or a disquisition of sundry things. Possevin.
4. A Book or an Epistle de schismate, unto Blastus.
5. A Book de Monarchiâ, Possevin. apparat.or, that God is not the author of Sin, unto Florinus, whose Doctrine (he being of this opinion) he proves to be both impious and blasphemous.
6. A Book entituled Ogdoas, Cent. 2. cap. 10. in catalog▪or foreign, written also for Florinus, who was bewitched with the errours of Valentinus, which Ierom calls commentarium egregium, an excellent commentary: in the close whereof we have these words, containing a solemn obtestation, which both Eusebius and Ierom thought worthy of special notice:Euseb. lib. 5. cap. 18. Hieronym. in catalog. Adjur… te, &c. I adjure thee (whosoever thou art that copyest out or transcribest this Book) by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by his glorious coming, wherein he shall judge the quick and the dead, that thou compare what thou hast written, and correct it diligently by the exemplar from whence 'tis transcribed: and also that thou do likewise write out this adjuration, and insert it into the copy so taken. The like hereunto is that of Ruffinus in his preface in his Translation of Origen, Tom. 2. Epis. 63.foreign, which is found among the Epistles of Ierom, charging both the Transcriber and Reader not to add or diminish, to insert or alter any thing therein, but to be exact even to a Letter, &c.
7. Divers Epistles unto Victor, Euseb. lib. 5. cap. 18. & 22.and many other Pastors of Churches about the Controversies of Easter; as also against those who at Rome did corrupt the sincerity of the Churches.
8. Volateran saith,Anthropolog. lib. 16. that he wrote an Ecclesiastical History, quam mutuatus est Euse…ius testem que citat.
9. A Commentary upon the Apocalypse, Biblioth. lib. 4.as saith Sixtus Senensis. But these two latter are very questionable, seeing that neither Eusebius, nor Ierom in his Catalogues, not Honorius A…gustudonensis, nor Trithemius make mention of any such.
That of his which to this day the World injoys,Liber doctissimo & eloquentissimo sermone compositus. Hieronym. Epist. 29. is only a Volume containing five Books against the Heresies of the Gnosticks and Valentinians, wh…ch was thus intitled, as both Eusebius and Photius have it;Lib. 5. cap. 7. Biblioth. 120▪ foreign. of redargution and the eversion of knowledge falsly so called:Rivet. crit. sac. a learned and most famous piece,Bellarm. catalog. Script. full fraught with Learning and Piety. This too, it seems, was almost lost, at least as to the Western Churches;Registr. lib. 9. Epist. 5…. For, (saith Gregory) we have long and diligently made inquiry after the Writings of Irenaeus, but hitherto not any of them could be found.
Erasmus therefore tells us, he that might well call him his,Epist. nuncupat. ante Iren. as being by his industry brought to light (after it had been almost buried) and recovered from the dust, being mouldy and moth-eaten.Ibid. And should they have remained in perpetual oblivion: the loss had been exceeding great: for (saith he) his writings do breath forth the ancient vigour of the Gospel; yea his very phrase came from a breast prepared for Martyrdom; for the Martyrs have a certain serious, bold and masculine kind of speech.
It hath been a question,Bellarm. in Catalog. Scrip. and doubted by some learned men, whether he wrote these Books in the Greek, or Latine Tongue: because they are now not to be found but in the Latin only:In Epist. nuncupat. ante Iren. yet was he a Greek by Nation, and his phrase savours of that Language, having many Grecisms in it. Erasmus, a man of more than ordinary perspicacity and judgement this way, rather inclined to think it written by him in Latin, yet would not peremptorily conclude it: For, saith he, it is not clear to me, whether of the two he wrote in; though I rather soppose that he wrote in Latin, but was more expert in the Greek, and therefore speaking Latin he is bold to make use of Greek figures and forms of speech. But most are of another mind, judging the Greek to have been the Original Language, werein his Books were written; And that they were afterward translated by himself,In vita Iren. Rivat. crit. …ac. saith Feuardentius, (to cover over the faults of the Translator, which are not a few, or lest the Testimonies alleadged from the translation should lose of their Authority and Weight) or (which is most likely) by some other.Ad An. 180. § 5. Biblioth. lib. 4. All consent in this (saith Baronius) that he wrote In Greek; he wrote many excellent Volumes in the Greek Tongue,In Annotat. in lib. Ter. tull. advers. Valent. also our learned Fulke. Ireneus wrote in Greek, and is translated into Latine by one that followed very much the vulgar Latin Text in his Preface to the Epist. dedicat. ante Tertull. saith Sixtus Senensis: and, saith Rhenanus, proculdubio, without doubt he wrote in Greek; for else would not Ierom have ranked him among the Greek Fathers, nor have made Tertullian (as he doth) the third, but the fourth, (as he should) among the Latins. Pamelius also thinks that both he and those first Roman Bishops unto his time wrote rather in Greek than Latine, which things considered, it's a wonder that Erasmus should herein be of the mind he was: The Latin Copy of Irenaeus (saith Cornatius) is an exceeding faulty Translation, and may better be restored out of Epiphanius, than afford any help in the translating of Epiphanius: In Praefat. ad Epiphan.so that marvailous it is that Erasmus, a man otherwise endued with a piercing judgement in things of this Nature, should think that Irenaeus did wr…tein Latin.In Epist. ad. Thomsonum num. 239. To the same purpose speaks the great Scaliger: I do admire (saith he) that from such a feverish Latin Interpreter, as he is whom now we have, Erasmus should imagine, both that 'tis the true Irenaeus, and that he imitates the Greeks: That Latin Interpreter was most foolish, and either omitted or depraved many things, which he understood not. The fragments which are extant in Epiphanius; also the History of the things done by Irenaeus in Eusebius, do sufficiently prove both that the man was a Grecian, and wrote in Greek: neither is it to be doubted of, &c.
The Greek Copy therefore written by himself is long since perished;Rivet. crit. sac. only there are some remains of it to be found scattered in several Authors, who saw and made use thereof: Thus we have seven and twenty Chapters of of his first Book by Epiphanius inserted into his Panarium; (who took a good part of his second and third Books word for word out of Iuneus) and some few fragments in Eusebiu… and Theodoret: Chitraeus. in Orat. de stud. Theolog.by comparing of which wit… the Translation we now have,Feuard. commonit. in 5. ab. Irenaei. it will easily appear how great a loss the Church sustains in the want of it: For instead of elegan… Greek,Rivet. crit. …ac. we have nothing else (in the Ire…e… now extant) but rude and ill-favoured Latin… Nor indeed can a Translation, especially … of Greek into Latin, equal the Original, seeing that (as Ierom speaks) the Latin Tongue r… ceives not the propriety of the Greek.
The Contents of the five Books of this excellent Volume (to give you a brief accou… of them from Grynaeus) are these.In praefat. ante Iren. 1. In th… first he at large sets down the dismal and diabolical Errours of the Valentinians; together with a narration of the discords and impieties of those wretched Hereticks:In Argument. lib. 2. Wh… opinions (saith Erasmus) are so horrid, th… the very bringing of them to light, is confutation sufficient: yea the very terms, as w… as the opinions, are so monstrous (saith the sa… Author) that it would even turn the stomach and tire the patience of any one,In Epist. ante Iren. but to peru… them over.
2. In the second, he treats of the one Eternal, True, Omnipotent and Omniscient God, besides whom there is none other: And that not any feigned Demiurgus or Angels, but this eternal God alone, Father, Son and holy Ghost, did out of nothing produce this whole Fabrick, both of Heaven and Earth; and gave being to Angels, Men and all inferiour Creatures; and refuses the Errours of the Gnosticks concerning the same; shewing what they stole from the Philosophers to deceive the simple withal, and wounding, yea overcoming them with Weapons or Arguments fetched out of their own Magazines and Armory.
3. In the third, which is partly polemical, and partly exegetical, he discovers and proves the Hereticks to be foully guilty of that heynous crime of corrupting and curtailing the sacred Scriptures: and evidently demonstrates the perpetual consent of the Prophets and Apostles concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, God and Man.
4. In the fourth he clearly, and by solid Arguments proves, that one and the same God was the Author of both the Testaments, the Old and the New; and that therein he hath revealed himself and his Will concerning the Restitution and Salvation by Jesus Christ, of all men that do repent; largely discoursing of the power of the Will, and of our imperfection; and being gotten out of the craggy and intricate places, he enters into a large field, explaining many Scriptures depraved by the Hereticks.
5. In the fifth and last Book having made a repetition of divers things formerly handled, he comes to confute the vain conceits of the Gnosticks concerning the utter perishing of the bodies of men; and proves that our bodies shall not only be raised by Christ at the last day, but also that the very bodies of the Saints shall injoy eternal life, and be saved together with their Souls. In the handling whereof he gives a notable experiment (as the diligent Reader may observe) of a clear head, and as of a choice a spirit; whence his weighty arguments sharpned with holy Zeal, do pierce deeply into the very hearts of the Enemies of the Truth, to their shameful prostration, and utter overthrow: for great is the Truth, and will prevail.
He is one of the Ancients, and the only one among those contained in this Decade, that had the good hap not to have his name abused by being prefixed to the Books he never wrote, nor the bastard-brats of others to be father'd upon him.
§ 4. As for his Stile 'tis somewhat obscure and intricate,Cent. 2. cap. 10. yea he is oftentimes neglectin… of his words, and speaks improperly: ye such is the subject he discourseth of, that … will hardly admit of clear and plain expressions:In Prooem. lib. 1. He himself disclaims Eloquence, a… dwelling among the Celtae, a people of a barbarous speech; Look not, saith he, for the art of Oratory, which we have not learned: but what simply, truly and foreign in … vulgar manner we have written in Love, i… Love receive. Yet understand him of affected Rhetorick, and not that he was altogether ignorant of that art: which could not be, seeing that in a subject so thorny and perplex, his stile is perspicuous,Erasm. in Epist. nuncupat. digested and coherent. So that considering the matter he handleth, 'tis no wonder he is so obscure, and that so little art appears, but rather a wonder he is no more so: which proceeded not so much from want of skill in himself, as from the incapacity of the Subject whereof he treateth.Erasm. Praefat. ante Hilarium. A most difficult thing it is (saith the same Author) for him that discusseth things of a subtile Nature, to joyn with perspicuity, the care of polishing his Language.
§ 5. Among many wherewith this Learned Piece is righly fraught and stored, I shall cull out and present you with a few memorable passages.
1. His Symbol or Creed, containing a brief sum, and confession of the Faith of the Churches of Christ (at least in the West) at that day: his words are these.
The Church,Lib. 1. cap. 2. although dispersed through the whole World, even unto the ends of the Earth, received the Faith from the Apostles, and their Disciples; which is, to believe,
In one omnipotent God, which made Heaven and earth and the Seas, and all things that are in them; and in one Jesus Christ the Son of God, incarnate for our Salvation; and in the Holy Ghost, who by the Prophets preached the mysteries of the dispensation and coming of Christ,foreign. Dispositiones Dei. So doth the Centurists render it. and his Birth of a Virgin, and his Passion, and Resurrection from the dead, and the Assumption of the Beloved Christ Jesus our Lord in his flesh into Heaven,foreign. and his coming from Heaven in the Glory of the Father to restore (or recapitulate and gather into one) all things, and to raise the flesh (or bodies) of all mankind, that unto Jesus our Lord, and God and Saviour, and King,foreign. according to the good pleasure of the Father invisible, every knee should bow, both of things in Heaven, and in the earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess to him, and that he should pass a righteous sentence or judgment upon all, and send the spiritual wickednesses and the Angels that fell and became apostate, and also ungodly, unrighteous, lawless and blasphemous men into eternal fire: but for the righteous and holy,foreign. and such as did keep his commandments, and abide in his love, some from the beginning, and some by repentance gratifying them with life, might bestow on them incorruptibility, and give unto them eternal Glory.
Where observe by the way, that though it may be wondered at, that Irenaeus should no where expresly call the Holy Ghost God, yet that he held him to be God equal with the Father and the Son, is manifest, in that he makes in his Creed the object of faith to be all the three persons of the Trinity alike:In prooem. lib. 4. As also from hence, that elsewhere he ascribes the creation of man unto the Holy Ghost, as well as to the Father and the Son.
2. He gives the reason why the Mediatour between God and man, ought to be both God and man:Lib. …. cap. 20. For, saith he, if man had not overcome the enemy of man, he had not been justly overcome: again, unless God had given salvation, we should not have had it firmly; and unless man had been joyned unto our God, he (viz. Man) could not have been made partaker of incorruptibility. For it became the Mediator of God and Men,Domesticitatem. by his nearness unto both, to reduce both into friendship and concord; and to procure that God should assume Man (or take him into communion) and that man should give up himself unto God.
3. The whole Scriptures,Lib. 2. cap. 46. both Prophetical and Evangelical (are) open or manifest, and without ambiguity; and may likewise be heard of all.Lib. 2. cap. 47. Again, we ought to believe God, who also hath made us; most assuredly knowing, that the Scriptures are indeed perfect, as being spoken (or dictated) by the word of God and his Spirit.
4. Fides, quae est ad deum, justificat hominem, Lib. 4. cap. 13.Faith towards God (foreign, Heb. 6. 2.) justifieth a man.
5. Concerning the marks of the true Church,Lib. 3. 11. and that it is not tied to one place or succession; he thus speaks, When once the Gospel was spread throughout the world, and the Church gathered out of all Nations, then was the Church no where tied to one place, or to any certain and ordinary succession; but there was the true Church wheresoever the uncorrupted voice of the Gospel did sound, and the Sacraments were rightly administred according to the Institution of Christ. Also, that the pillar and ground of the Church is the Gospel and Spirit of Life.
5. Of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost,Lib. 2. cap. 58. continuing unto his time, thus, Some (saith he) cast out Devils soundly and truly; so that oftentimes even they who were cleansed from wicked Spirits do believe, and are in the Church: others have the foreknowledge of things to come,Dictiones. and also prophetical Visions and Sayings: others do cure and restore to health such as labour of some infirmity by the laying on of their hands. Moreover, as we have said, the dead also have been raised and continued with us many years:foreign. And what shall I say? the Graces are not to be numbred, which throughout the whole world the Church receiving from God, doth dispose in the name of Christ Jesus (crucified under Pontius Pilate) every day for the help of the Nations, neither seducing any one, nor taking money from him. For as it hath freely received from God, so also doth it freely administer: nor doth it accomplish any thing by Angelical Invocations, nor incantations, nor any wicked curiosity, but purely and manifestly directing their prayers unto the Lord, who hath made all things.
6. He plainly asserts that the world shall continue but six thousand years: For, saith he,Lib. 5. pag. 613. cap. 28. Feuardent. edit. look in how many days this world was made, in so many thousand years it shall be consummate. Therefore 'tis said in Gen. 2. 2. On the sixth day God finished all his works, and rested the seventh day. Estenim dies Dominl.Now this is both a narration of what was done before, and also a prophecy of things to come: for one day with the Lord is as a thousand years: in six days the things were finished that were made; and it is manifest that the six thousandth year is the consumma…ion of them.
7. He finds the number of the Beasts name,Irenaeus antiquissimus theologus hoc nomen tanquam valdè consentaneum huic mysterio divinâ sagacitate indagavit. Paraeus Comment. in Apoc. 13. 18 lib. 5. ca. 30. Edit. Feuardent. viz. 666. i… the word foreign: whence he concludes it as very probable that the seat of that beast is the Latin or Roman Kingdom. Take his own words. Sed & Lateinos nomen (habet) sexcentorum sexaginta sex numerum; & valdè verisimile est quoniam novissimum (verissimum. Erasm. edit.) Regnum hoc habet vo…abulum. Latini enim sunt qui nunc regnant: Sed non in hoc nos gloriabimur.
8. Of the four Evangelists he thus writeth: Mathew (saith he) delivered unto the Hebrews the History of the Gospel in their own Tongue.lib. 3. cap. 1. When Peter and Paul preached at Rome, and planted that Church, after their departure. Mark the Disciple and also Interpreter of Peter, delivered unto us in writing such things as he had heard Peter preach. And Luke the companion of Paul comprised in one Volume the Gospel preached of him. After these Iohn the Disciple of our Lord, who also leaned on his breast, published a Gospel, remaining at Ephesus in Asia.
9. When the Hereticks, saith he, are convinced from the Scriptures, they betake them to the accusation of the Scriptures themselves,lib. …. cap. 2. as if they were not right, nor of any Authority,… sunt dictae. and because they are variously spoken, and because from them the truth cannot be found out, by them that know not Tradition.
1. We ought to obey them that are Presbyters in the Church, even those who have succession from the Apostles, as we have shewn, who together with the succession of their Bishoprick,lib. 4. ca. 43. have received the certain gift of truth,Ch…risma. according to the pleasure of the Father.—Succession of Doctrine is the principal, and without that certain gift of truth, it is vain yea impious to boast of personal succession.
11. Of the Translation of the Septuagint, thus.lib. 3. ca 25. Ptolemy willing to have an experiment of them, and fearing le…t perhaps by consent they should through their interpretation hide that truth which was in the Scriptures: he separating them one from another, commanded them all to interpret the same Scripture, and this he did in all the Books: when therefore they come together into one place with Ptolemy, and compared their Interpretations▪ God was glorified, and the Scriptures were believed to be truly divine, all of them reciting the same, both in the same phrases and in the same words from the beginning to the end:foreign. So that even the Gentiles that were present did acknowledge that the Scriptures were Interpreted by the Inspiration of God.
12. Very memorable is that passage of his in an Epistle unto Victor Bishop of Rome, Euseb. lib. 5. cap. 23. foreign. Divini senis verba no…anda. Casaub. exercitat. 13. p. …35.recorded by Eusebius. Although saith he, Christians differed in their Judgements about the manner of Fasting, yet notwithstanding were they at unity one with another, for this variety of fasting commendeth the unity of Faith.
They that were Presbyters before Soter of that Church, whereof now thou art President, Anicetus, I mean, and Pius, and Hyginus, and Telesphorus, and Xystus, neither did so observe it themselves, nor left any such Commandment to their posterity, and yet nevertheless they (not observing it) were at unity with them, who resorted unto them, from those Churches that did observe the same, when yet their observance was contrary to those who observe it not. Neither was any one at any time rejected, (or excommunicated) for such kind of fasting: but those very Presbyters who were thy predecessors, have sent the Eucharist to the Brethren of those Churches who kept it after their own manner. And when Polycarp was at Rome in the time of Anicetus, and they were at variance among themselves about some certain small and trifling matters, they were soon reconciled; but about this particular they had no contention at all. Neither was Anice…us able to perswade Polycarp (mark, the Roman Bishops used not, it seems, to command them as now) that he should not retain that which he had always observed with Iohn the Disciple of our Lord, and the rest of the Apostles with whom he had been conversant: neither did Polycarp perswade Anicetus so to observe it, but told him he ought to observe the Ancient Custom of the Elders, whom he succeeded? And things being at this pass, they held communion one with another: and in the Church Anicetus granted the Eucharist unto Polycarp for the reverence which he bare him; and so they parted from each other in peace, and in the Universal Church, both those that did observe it and those that did not observe it, were at peace one with another.
These and many other the like worthy sayings are to be found in the Books of this Ancient Father, but let it suffice to have given you this tast of them.
§ 6. Yet are there some things observed in him as his blemishes and failings, wherein he is not to be followed, because therein he swerves from that un-erring Rule the word of Truth. Even the most eminent Men in the Church, (after the Apostles) have built some hay and stubble upon the foundation they held, which will not endure the trial of the Fire: Those of this Father are as followeth.
1. Somewhat harsh and to be corrected, iib. 2. ca. 49.is that concerning Christ. Si quis exquirat causam propter quam in omnibus Pater communicans Filio solus scire & horam & diem Domino manifestatus est, neque aptabilem magis neque decentiorem, nec sine periculo alteram quam hanc inveniat in praesenti: quoniam cum solus verax Magister est Dominus, ut discamus per ipsum, super omnia esse Patrem. Etenim Pater, ait major me est, & secundem agnitionem itaqu… praepositus esse Pater annunciatus est à Domino Nostro, ad hoc, ut & nos, in quantum figura hujus mundi-sumus, perfectam Scientiam & tales quaestiones concedamus Deo: Et ne fortè querentes altitudinem Patris investigare, in tantum periculum incidamus, uti quaeramus, an super Deum alter sit Deus.
2. He hath some passages concerning free will, not to be admitted, though again in other places he hath somewhat directly opposite thereunto. E.g. Dedit deus bonum, & qui operantur quidem illud, & gloriam & honore… percipient, quoniam operati sunt bonum, cum possint non operari illud.lib. 4. ca. 71. Hi autem qui illud non operantur, judicium justum recipient Dei, quoniam non sunt operati bonum,lib. 4. ca. 72. cum possint operari illud. Item. Quoniam omnes sunt ejusdem naturae, & potentes retinere & operari bonum & potentes rursum amittere id, & non facere; justè etiam apud homines sensatos, quanto magis apud Deum, alii quidem laudantur, & dignum percipiunt testimonium electionis bonae & perseverantiae: alii verò accusantur, & dignum percipiunt damnum, eò quòd justum & bonum reprobaverint. Adhuc: Quoniam liberae sententiae est Deus,Ibid. eujus ad similitudinem factus est, semper consilium datur ei, continere bonum, quod proficiscitur ex eâ quae est ad Deum obedientiâ: Et non tantum in operibus, sed etiam in fide liberum & suae potestatis arbitrium homini servavit Dominus.
Contrà Dominus pollicitus est mittere se paracletum,lib. 3. ca. 19. qui nos aptaret Deo. Sicut enim de arido tritico massa una fieri non potest sine humore, neque unus panis: Ita nec nos multi unum fieri in Christo Iesu poteramus, sine aquâ, quae de caelo est. Et sicut arida terra, si non percipiat humorem, non fructificat: sic & no… lignum aridum existentes primum nunquam fructificaremus vitam, sine supernâ voluntariâ pluviâ i. e. Spiritu Sancto.
3. His opinion concerning the Age of Christ, is evidently contrary to what may be collected from the History of the Evangelists, for thus saith he: Omnes venit per seipsum salvare,lib. 2. ca. 39. omnes, inquam, qui per …um rena scuntur in Deum, infantes, & parvulos, & pueros, & juvenes & Seniores. Ideò per omnem venit aetatem, & infantibus infans factus, sanctificans infantes: in parvulis parvulus, sanctificans hanc ipsam habentes aetatem, sim… & exemplum illis pietatis effectus, & justitie & subjectionis. Iuvenibus juvenis, exemplu… juvenibus fiens, & sanctificans Domino. Sic & senior in senioribus, ut sit perfectus Magister i… omnibus, non solùm secundum exposition… veritatis, sed secundum aetatem sanctificans simul & seniores, exemplum ipsis quoque fiens, &c.—Quia autem triginta annorum … primae indolis est juvenis,Ibid. & extenditur usque ad quadragesimum annum, omnis quilibet confitebitur, a quadragesimo aut quinquagesimo ann… declinat jam in aetatem senior…m, quam b… bens Dominus noster docebat, sicut Evangeliu… & omnes seniores testantur, qui in Asia apud Ioannem Discipulum Domini convenerunt, id ipsum tradidisse eis Ioannem: permansit autem cum eis usque ad Trajani tempora. Quidem autem eorum non solùm Ioannem, sed & alios Apostolos viderunt, & haec eadem ab ipsis audierunt, & testantur de hujus modi relation…. Non multum aberat a quinquaginta annis, & ideò dicebaut ei,lib. 2. ca. 40. quinquagi…ta annorum nondum es, & Abraham vidisti? Io. 8. 57.
4. Ierom and others ascribe unto him the errour of the Chiliasts or Millenaries,In catalog. Papias. though it be not to be found so expresly in his writings now extant.
All which the impudent Fryar Feuardentius (glad to take, yea to make an occasion, that he might fall foul upon the Lutheran and Calvinian Hereticks, as he calls them) labours after a sort to defend him in, as if they were meer calumnies and causless criminations: Although some chief ones of his own Catholick faction;In argum. in lib. Irenaei. to wit, Baronius and Possevine, as also Erasmus, charge him, with the same as well as others: and who so lists to peruse his books shall find they had just cause so to do. But the Antidotes (as he calls his defence prefixed to his Edition of Irenaeus) of such Mountebanks are no better then poyson;Crit. sac. and, saith the learned Rivet, I would admonish young Students to beware of the Edition of this shameless and faithless Monk, as being in many things corrupted, and defiled with his impious and lying Annotations.
Besides these there are some other things and expressions which fell from the Pen of this worthy Man, that do need the friendly and favourable construction of his Reader: among the rest, is that passage. lib. 3. cap. 21. Propter hoc verbum Dei homo, & qui filius Dei est, filius hominis factus est, Commixtus verbo Dei, ut adoptionem percipiens fiat filius Dei. Also that, lib. 5. cap. 26. Be…è Iustinus dixit, quoniam ante Domini adventum, nunquam a… sus est Satanas blasphemore Deum, quippe nondum sciens suam damnationem. Also that, lib. 4. cap. 30. Henoch sine circumcisione placens Deo, cum esset homo, Dei legatione ad Angelos fungebatur, & translatus est, & conservatur usque nunc testis justi judicii Dei, quoniam Angeli transgressi deciderunt in judicium, homo autem, placens, translatus est in salutem. Lastly that, lib. 5. Discipulorum animae abibunt in invisibilem locum, definitum eis a Deo, & ibi usque ad resurrectionem commorabuntur, susti…entes resurrectionem; post recipientes corpora & perfectè resurgentes, hoc est, corporaliter, qu…madmodum & Dominus resurrexit, sic venient ad conspectum Dei. These and such like, do crave the candour and indulgence of the judicious Reader.
§ 7. As touching his Death and Martyrdom;Commentar. atas. 6. c. 11. Hist. lib. 1. c. 27. ad an. 205. § 28. Ado Bishop of Vienna, Gregory Bishop of Turon, and Baronius do report, that in the persecution under the Emperour Severus, which raged especially about Lyons, by the command of the Emperour, the said City was invironed with Soldiers, who slew with the Sword all the Christians that were found therein, the chief of whom was this Irenaeu… their Bishop, who with the rest received the glorious Crown of Martyrdom: At what time the slaughter was so great, (saith Gregory Turonens.) that the very streets ran with blood. In what year this hapned Historians record,Ad an. 196. § 22. not only Baronius conjectures that the persecution of the Christians under Severus began not until the tenth year of his Reign; and that one of the first places wherein he exercised his cruelty, was this City; of whose constancy he had had such experience; that he knew neither threats nor flatteries would make the Church there under such a Prelate to bend or yield, and therefore determined to destroy them by the Sword. He therefore refers the Martyrdom of Irenaeus Ad. an. D…m. 205. Severi. 11.Baron. ad an. 205. § 28.