Against Heresies 2.33.1–3.4.3

Against 2, chapter 33

2.33.1Harvey 1:292

De corpore autem in corpus transmigrationem ipsorum subvertamus ex eo, quod nihil omnino eorum que ante fuerint, meminerint animae. Si enim ob hoc emittebantur, uti in omni fierent operatione, oportebat eas meminisse eorum quae ante facta sunt, uti ea que deerant adimplerent, et non circa eadem semper volutantes continuatim, miserabiliter laborarent. Non enim poterat corporis admixtio in totum universam ipsorum, quie ante habita erant, extinguere memoriam et contemplationem; et maxime ad hoc venientes. Quomodo enim nunc soporati et requiescente corpore, quaecunque anima ipsa apud se videt, et in phantasmate agit, et horum plura reminiscens communicat cum corpore; et est quando et post plurimum temporis, quaecunque per somnium quis vidit, vigilans annuntiat: sic utique reminisceretur et illorum, quze, antequam in hoc corpus veniret, egit. Si enim hoc, quod in brevissimo tempore visum est, vel in phantasmate conceptum est, et ab ea sola per somnium, postquam commixta sit corpori, et in universum membrum dispersa, commemoratur, multo magis illorum reminisceretur, in quibus, temporibus tantis et universo preterite vite saeculo immorata est.

We may overturn their transmigration from body to body by the fact that souls remember nothing at all of what happened before. For if they were sent forth for this purpose, to come to be in every activity, they ought to remember what was done before, in order to fill up what was lacking, and not, turning continually about the same things, labor miserably. For the mingling with a body could not wholly extinguish all their memory and contemplation of what they had had before, especially since they came for this very purpose. For just as now, when the body is asleep and at rest, whatever the soul sees by itself and does in a vision, it remembers many of these things and shares them with the body; and sometimes even after a very long time a person, awake, reports whatever he saw in a dream: so it would surely remember also the things it did before it came into this body. For if what was seen in a very short time, or conceived in a vision, by the soul alone in a dream, is remembered after it has been mingled with the body and spread through every member, much more would it remember the things among which it dwelt for so long a time and through the whole age of its past life.

Notes and citation

Summary: Transmigration is refuted by the fact that souls remember nothing of previous lives, though they remember even dreams.

A fragment of Harvey's footnote inside the text is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; editor's footnote; footnote number; split word; stray marks): subxx vertamus → subvertamus; eorum qu: ante → eorum quae ante; 5Non enim → Non enim; et in Quippe invocationibus Angelicis opponit phantasmate agit → et in phantasmate agit.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.33.1 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-2-33-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.33.2Harvey 1:292

Ad haec Plato vetus ille Atheniensis, qui et primus sententiam hanc introduxit, cum excusare poculum, putans se per hoc aporiam hujusmodi effugere: ostensionem quidem nullam faciens, dogmatice autem respondens, quoniam introeuntes animae in hanc vitam, ab eo qui est super introitum daemone, priusquam in corpora intrent, potantur oblivione. Et latuit semetipsum in alteram majorem incidens aporiam. Si enim oblivionis poculum potest, posteaquam ebibitum est, omnium factorum obliterare memoriam, hoc ipsum unde scis o Plato, cum sit nunc in corpore anima tua, quoniam, priusquam in corpus introeat, a daemone potata est oblivionis medicamentum? Si enim daemonem, et poculum, et introitum reminisceris, et reliqua oportet cognoscas: si autem illa ignoras, neque daemon verus, neque artificiose compositum oblivionis poculum.

In answer to this, Plato, that ancient Athenian, who was also the first to introduce this opinion, tried to account for it by a cup, thinking that by this he escaped such a difficulty. He offered no proof, but answered dogmatically that souls entering this life are made to drink forgetfulness by the demon who presides over the entrance, before they enter bodies. And he did not notice that he had fallen into another, greater difficulty. For if the cup of forgetfulness, once it has been drunk, can blot out the memory of all deeds, how do you know this very thing, O Plato, now that your soul is in the body: that before it entered the body it was given the drug of forgetfulness to drink by the demon? For if you remember the demon, the cup, and the entrance, you ought to know the rest too; but if you do not know the rest, then neither is the demon true, nor the cup of forgetfulness skilfully contrived.

Notes and citation

Summary: Plato's cup of forgetfulness cannot explain why souls forget former lives, since he could not then know of the cup himself.

Harvey's chapter title at the start of the section is removed. The cup of forgetfulness: Plato, Republic 10 (the myth of Er), where souls drink from the river of Lethe. The words “tried to account for it by a cup” translate a damaged phrase by sense.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; editor's chapter title; OCR; stray mark): Ostensio quod, non bibant, secundum Platonem, oblivionis poculum. Ap haec → Ad haec; qui et ' primus → qui et primus; sententiam hane → sententiam hanc; medicamentum ¶ Si → medicamentum? Si; poculum*. → poculum..

Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Resp. 621a (Plato (works); allusion)

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.33.2 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-2-33-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.33.3Harvey 1:292

Adversus autem eos, qui dicunt ipsum corpus esse oblivionis medicamentum, occurret hoc: Quomodo igitur quodcunque per semetipsam anima videt, et in somniis et secundum cogitationem, mentis intentionem, corpore quiescente, ipsa reminiscitur, et renuntiat proximis? Sed ne quidem ea que olim agnita sunt, aut per oculos, aut per auditum, meminisset anima in corpore exsistens, si esset corpus oblivio; sed simul atque ab inspectis abesset oculus, auferretur utique et ea quae esset de his memoria. In ipsa enim oblivione exsistens anima nihil aliud cognoscere poterat, nisi solum illud quod in presenti videbat. Quomodo autem et divina disceret, et meminisset ipsorum exsistens in corpore, quando sit, ut aiunt, ipsum corpus oblivio? Sed et prophetae ipsi cum essent in terra, quaecunque spiritaliter secundum visiones coelestium vident vel audiunt, ipsi quoque meminerunt in hominem conversi, et reliquis annuntiant: et non corpus oblivionem efficit animae eorum que spiritaliter visa sunt; sed anima docet corpus, et participat de spiritali ei facta visione.

Against those who say that the body itself is the drug of forgetfulness, this will be the answer: How, then, does the soul itself remember whatever it sees by itself, both in dreams and in thought or mental intention, while the body is at rest, and report it to those near it? Indeed, the soul existing in the body would not even remember what it once came to know through the eyes or the hearing, if the body were forgetfulness; but as soon as the eye was away from what it had seen, the memory of these things too would surely be taken away. For, existing in forgetfulness itself, the soul could know nothing except only what it saw at the present moment. And how would it learn divine things and remember them while existing in the body, if, as they say, the body itself is forgetfulness? Indeed the prophets too, while they were on earth, themselves remembered, when they had returned to their human state, whatever they saw or heard spiritually in visions of heavenly things, and reported them to others; and the body did not make the soul forget what was seen spiritually, but the soul teaches the body and shares with it the spiritual vision granted to it.

Notes and citation

Summary: The body is not forgetfulness, for the soul remembers dreams and visions, and the prophets reported what they saw in the spirit.

A fragment of Harvey's footnote (references to Augustine) and margin debris inside the text are removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR; margin debris; editor's footnote; joined words; running head; margin debris): Apversus → Adversus; abesset et lib. 1. Retractation. cap. 4. et libro vit. de Genesi ad lit. cap. 9, το, τι, et lib. x. oculus → abesset oculus; ea quze esset → ea quae esset; Inipsa Lis. m enim → In ipsa enim; nisi ¢ 8.1 fst solum → nisi solum; et diving 555 3 disceret → et divina disceret; oblivionem efficit animse → oblivionem efficit animae.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.33.3 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-2-33-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.33.4Harvey 1:292

Non enim est fortius corpus quam anima, quod quidem ab illa spiratur, et vivificatur, et augetur, et articulatur; sed anima possidet et principatur corpori. Tantum autem impeditur a sua velocitate, quantum corpus participat de ejus motione; sed non amittit suam scientiam. Corpus enim organo simile est; anima autem artificis rationem obtinet. Quemadmodum itaque artifex velociter quidem operationem secundum se adinvenit, in organo autem tardius illam perficit, propter rei subjectae immobilitatem, et illius mentis velocitas admixta tarditati organi temperatam perficit operationem: sic et anima participans suo corpori, modicum quidem impeditur, admixta velocitate ejus in corporis tarditate; non amittit autem in totum suas virtutes; sed quasi vitam participans corpori, ipsa vivere non cessat. Sic et de reliquis ei communicans, neque scientiam ipsorum perdit, neque memoriam inspectorum.

For the body is not stronger than the soul, since it is breathed into, given life, increased, and articulated by the soul; rather, the soul possesses and rules the body. The soul is hindered in its swiftness only as far as the body shares in its movement, but it does not lose its knowledge. For the body is like an instrument, while the soul holds the place of the artist's reason. Just as an artist quickly conceives a work by himself, but carries it out more slowly in the instrument because of the immobility of the material, and the swiftness of his mind, mingled with the slowness of the instrument, produces a moderated operation: so the soul too, sharing in its body, is hindered a little, its swiftness being mingled with the body's slowness; but it does not wholly lose its powers. Rather, while sharing its life, as it were, with the body, it does not itself cease to live. So too, sharing other things with the body, it loses neither the knowledge of them nor the memory of what it has seen.

Notes and citation

Summary: The soul rules the body like an artist using an instrument; slowed by it, it does not lose its powers or memory.

Harvey's chapter title at the start and fragments of his footnotes at the end of the section are removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; editor's chapter title; margin debris; editor's footnotes; footnote number; margin debris): Quoniam in corporis communione non amittit suas virtutes anima. 191. Non enim → Non enim; anima 3 possidet → anima possidet; sed non 168. amittit → sed non amittit; partieipans → participans; 1 disceret, Sic scripsit. Mass. neque 2 Ad seipsos ex ecsas reversi. dicit qua auctoritate motus sit. → .

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.33.4 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-2-33-4).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.33.5Harvey 1:292

Si itaque nullius praeteritorum meminit, sed exsistentium scientiam hic percipit, non igitur in aliis corporibus fuit aliquando, neque egit que ne quidem agnoscit, neque novit quae quidem neque videt. Sed quemadmodum unusquisque nostrum suum corpus per artem Dei sumit, sic et suam habet animam. Neque enim sic pauper, neque indigens Deus, ut non unicuique corpori propriam donaret animam, quemadmodum et proprium characterem. Et ideo adimpleto numero, quem ipse apud se ante definiit, omnes quicunque sunt scripti in vitam, resurgent, sua corpora et suas habentes animas, et suos spiritus, in quibus placuerunt Deo. Qui autem poena sunt digni, abibunt in eam, et ipsi suas habentes animas, et sua corpora, in quibus abstiterunt a Dei bonitate. Et cessabunt utrique jam generare, et generari, et ducere uxorem, et nubere; ut commensurata multitudo ante praefinita a Deo generis humani perfectorum compago sive aptatio conservet Patris.

If, then, the soul remembers nothing of what is past but receives here the knowledge of what exists, it was never in other bodies, nor did it do things it does not even recognize, nor did it know things it does not even see. But as each of us receives his own body through the skill of God, so he also has his own soul. For God is not so poor or needy as not to give each body its own soul, as he also gives it its own character. And therefore, when the number which he himself determined beforehand is fulfilled, all who are written down for life will rise, having their own bodies, their own souls, and their own spirits, in which they pleased God. But those who deserve punishment will go away into it, they too having their own souls and their own bodies, in which they stood apart from God's goodness. And both will then cease to beget and to be begotten, to marry and to be given in marriage, so that the full number of the human race, measured out and predetermined by God, the structure or fitting-together of the perfected, may preserve the Father's design.

Luke 20:35 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 20:12 (echo, low confidence) · Matt 25:46 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Each person has his own soul as his own body, and at the resurrection all will rise with their own body, soul, and spirit.

A running head and Harvey's chapter title at the start of the section are removed. The last clause is incomplete in the Latin; “design” is supplied from the sense. References: Luke 20:35; Rev 20:12–15 (written for life).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; editor's footnote; running head; editor's chapter title): original. 380 ANIMAM AC CORPUS Ostensio quod unusquisque nostrum. suam, habet animam, sicut et suum corpus. Si itaque → Si itaque; neque novit qus quidem → neque novit quae quidem.

Topics: Eschatology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.33.5 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-2-33-5).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

Against 2, chapter 34

2.34.1Harvey 1:292

Plenissime autem Dominus docuit, non solum perseverare, non de corpore in corpus transgredientes animas, sed et characterem corporis, in quo etiam adaptantur, custodire eundem: et meminisse eas operum quz egerunt hic, et a quibus cessaverunt, in ea relatione que scribitur de Divite et de Lazaro eo, qui refrigerabat in sinu Abrahae; in qua ait, divitem cognoscere Lazarum post mortem, et Abraham autem similiter, et manere in suo ordine unumquemque ipsorum, et postulare mitti ei ad opem ferendam Lazarum, cui ne quidem de mense suae micis communicabat: et de Abrahae responso, qui non tantum ea que secundum se, sed et quae secundum Divitem essent, sciebat; et praecipiebat Moysi assentire et Prophetis eos, qui non mallent pervenire in illum locum poenae, et recipientes praeconium ejus qui resurrexerit a mortuis. Per haec enim manifestissime declaratum est, et perseverare animas, et non de corpore in corpus transire, et habere hominis figuram, ut etiam cognoscantur, et meminerint eorum que sint hic; et propheticum quoque adesse Ábrahae, et dignam habitationem unamquamque gentem percipere, etiam ante judicium.

The Lord has taught most fully not only that souls continue to exist, and do not pass from body to body, but also that they keep the same character of the body to which they were fitted, and that they remember the deeds they did here and from which they have ceased. He taught it in the account written about the rich man and that Lazarus who was refreshed in the bosom of Abraham; in it he says that the rich man knew Lazarus after death, and Abraham likewise; and that each of them remained in his own station; and that the rich man asked for Lazarus to be sent to help him, Lazarus with whom he had not shared even the crumbs from his table; and in the answer of Abraham, who knew not only what concerned himself but also what concerned the rich man, and who directed those who would not wish to come to that place of punishment to heed Moses and the prophets and to receive the preaching of him who would rise from the dead. For by these things it is most plainly declared that souls continue to exist; that they do not pass from body to body; that they have the shape of a man, so as even to be recognized, and remember the things here; that the prophetic gift too was present to Abraham; and that each kind receives a fitting dwelling even before the judgment.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Luke 16:19–31 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The story of the rich man and Lazarus shows that souls persist, keep their form, remember this life, and await judgment in fitting places.

Harvey's margin reference is removed. Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Reference: Luke 16:19–31. Irenaeus's teaching on the state of souls before the judgment is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; footnote number; stray mark; margin reference; line lost in the OCR): Pienisstmz → Plenissime; scribitur ! de Divite et de Lazaro eo, qui Lue xvi. 19 refrigerabat → scribitur de Divite et de Lazaro eo, qui refrigerabat; mense sux micis → mense suae micis; prsecipiebat → praecipiebat; & mortuis → a mortuis; Per hsc → Per haec; 5propheticum → propheticum.

Topics: Eschatology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.34.1 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-2-34-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.34.2Harvey 1:292

Si qui autem hoc in loco dicant, non posse animas eas, quae paulo ante esse caeperint, in multum temporis perseverare, sed oportere eas aut innascibiles esse, ut sint immortales; vel si generationis initium acceperint, cum ipso corpore mori: discant, quoniam sine initio et sine fine, vere et semper idem et eodem modo se habens, solus est Deus, qui est omnium Dominus. Quae autem sunt ab illo omnia, quaecunque facta sunt, et fiunt, initium quidem suum accipiunt generationis, et per hoc inferiora sunt ab eo qui ea fecit, quoniam non sunt ingenita; perseverant autem et extenduntur in longitudinem saeculorum, secundum voluntatem factoris Dei: ita ut sic initio fierent, et postea, ut sint, eis donat.

If some say at this point that souls which began to exist only a little while ago cannot continue for a long time, but must either be unbegotten in order to be immortal or, if they received a beginning of generation, die with the body itself, let them learn that God alone, who is Lord of all, is without beginning and without end, truly and always the same and existing in the same way. But all things that are from him, whatever have been made and are made, receive their own beginning of generation, and for this reason are inferior to him who made them, since they are not unbegotten; yet they continue and extend into the length of the ages according to the will of God their Maker, so that he grants them both to come to be thus at the beginning and afterwards to exist.

Notes and citation

Summary: Souls had a beginning, but like all creatures they continue to exist as long as God wills.

Harvey's chapter title at the start of the section is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; margin debris; editor's chapter title; footnote mark; margin debris; OCR): Quomodo anima, cum sint. generabiles, in futurum 1n- corruptibiles perseverant. Si qui autem → Si qui autem; animas eas, u.16 quie paulo → animas eas, quae paulo; Quz 0. autem → Quae autem; hoc ! inferiora → hoc inferiora.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.34.2 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-2-34-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.34.3Harvey 1:292

Quemadmodum enim colum quod est super nos, firmamentum, et sol, et luna, et reliquae stelle, et omnia ornamenta ipsorum, cum ante non essent, facta sunt, et multo tempore perseverant secundum voluntatem Dei; sic et de animabus, et de spiritibus, et omnino de omnibus his que facta sunt cogitans quis, minime peccabit: quando omnia que facta sunt, initium quidem facturae suae habeant, perseverant autem quoadusque ea Deus et esse, et perseverare voluerit. Testatur pro his sententiis etiam propheticus spiritus, dicens: Quoniam ipse dixit, et facta sunt; ipse mandavit, et creata sunt. Statuit ea in seculum, et in seculum seculi. Et iterum de salvando homine sic ait: Vitam petiit a te, et tribuisti et longitudinem dierum in saeculum seculi: tanquam Patre omnium donante, et in saeculum saeculi perseverantiam his qui salvi fiunt. Non enim ex nobis, neque ex nostra natura vita est; sed secundum gratiam Dei datur. Et ideo qui servaverit datum vitae, et gratias egerit ei qui praestitit, accipiet et in saeculum saeculi longitudinem dierum. Qui autem abjecerit eam, et ingratus exstiterit factori, ob hoc quod factus est et non cognoverit eum qui praestat, ipse se privat in seculum seculi perseverantia. Et ideo Dominus dicebat ingratis exsistentibus in eum: Si in modico fideles non fuistis, quod magnum est quis dabit vobis? significans, quoniam qui in modica temporali vita ingrati exstiterunt ei qui eam prestitit, juste non percipient ab eo in seculum seculi longitudinem dierum,

For just as the heaven above us, the firmament, the sun, the moon, the other stars, and all their adornments, though they did not exist before, were made and continue for a long time according to the will of God, so anyone who thinks thus about souls and spirits, and indeed about all things that have been made, will not err at all; since all things that have been made have a beginning of their making, but continue as long as God wills them to exist and to continue. The prophetic Spirit also testifies to these views, saying, “For he spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created. He established them for ever, and for ever and ever.” And again, of man who is to be saved, he says, “He asked life of you, and you gave him length of days for ever and ever”: as though the Father of all grants continuance for ever and ever to those who are saved. For life is not from us nor from our nature, but is given according to the grace of God. And therefore he who keeps the gift of life and gives thanks to him who granted it will also receive length of days for ever and ever. But he who casts it away and proves ungrateful to his Maker for having been made, and does not acknowledge him who grants it, deprives himself of continuance for ever and ever. And therefore the Lord said to those who were ungrateful toward him, “If you have not been faithful in what is little, who will give you what is great?” meaning that those who in the brief life of this time were ungrateful to him who granted it will justly not receive from him length of days for ever and ever.

Ps 148:5–6 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 33:9 (32:9 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 21:4 (20:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 16:10–12 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Created things endure by God's will; eternal life is God's gift to the grateful, which the ungrateful forfeit.

The quotations are Ps 148:5–6 (the Latin reads Ps 33:9 and 148:5 together); Ps 21:4 (20:5 LXX); Luke 16:10–12. The digital text has a garbled word for the last “and ever” of the psalm, restored.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR (seculi); margin debris; footnote number; running head; margin debris; margin reference; stray mark): facture sux → facturae suae; propheticus Ps,. spiritus → propheticus spiritus; Quontam → Quoniam; mandavit, " et creata → mandavit, et creata; in seculum βασι. Et.. 4. iterum → in seculum seculi. Et iterum; in saculum → in saeculum; szcculi → saeculi; datum vite, et. gratias → datum vitae, et gratias; sseculi → saeculi; 1 Si in modico fideles non LIB.IL fuistis → Si in modico fideles non fuistis; qui 5 oR. AE fav. in modica → qui in modica; Xni juste → juste; Lue xvi. 1. → .

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.34.3 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-2-34-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.34.4Harvey 1:292

Sicut autem corpus animale ipsum quidem non est anima, participatur autem animam, quoadusque Deus vult: sic et anima ipsa quidem non est vita, participatur autem a Deo sibi praestitam vitam. Unde et propheticus sermo de protoplasto ait: factus est in animam vivam; docens nos, quoniam secundum participationem vitae vivens facta est anima; ita ut separatim quidem anima intelligatur, separatim autem quz erga eam est vita. Deo itaque vitam et perpetuam perseverantiam donante, capit et animas primum non exsistentes dehinc perseverare, cum eas Deus et esse et subsistere voluerit. Principari enim debet in omnibus et dominari voluntas Dei; reliqua autem omnia huic cedere, et subdita esse, et in servitium dedita. Et de factura quidem et perseverantia animae hucusque dictum sit.

And just as the animal body is not itself the soul but shares in the soul as long as God wills, so the soul itself is not life but shares in the life granted to it by God. Hence the prophetic word says of the first-formed man, “He became a living soul,” teaching us that the soul became living by participation in life, so that the soul is understood separately and the life that is in it separately. Since God, then, grants life and perpetual continuance, it is possible for souls which at first did not exist thereafter to continue, since God has willed them both to exist and to subsist. For the will of God must govern and rule in all things, and all other things must yield to it, be subject to it, and be given over to its service. So much, then, has been said about the making and continuance of the soul.

Gen 2:7 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The soul is not life itself but receives life from God, and continues because God wills it.

The quotation is Gen 2:7.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; margin reference): factus est Gen. υ. 1. in animam vivam → factus est in animam vivam; perseverantia anims → perseverantia animae.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.34.4 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-2-34-4).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

Against 2, chapter 35

2.35.1Harvey 1:292

Basilides autem et ipse super haec que dicta sunt cogetur dicere secundum suam regulam, non solum cccLxv secundum successionem alios ab aliis factos, sed immensam quandam et innumerabilem multitudinem caelorum semper factam, et fieri, et futurum ut fiant, et nunquam deficere hujusmodi fabricam coelorum. Si enim ex defluxu prioris secundum factum est coelum ad illius speciem, et ad secundi tertium, et similiter omnes reliqui subsequentes: et [de] hujus quod secundum nos est, quod et novissimum vocat, necesse est ex defluxu aliud factum simile sibi, et ex illo iterum aliud: et nunquam deficere, neque defluxus eorum qui jam facti sunt, neque facturas coelorum; sed in immensum, et non in praefinitum numerum coelorum incidere.

Basilides too, besides what has been said, will be compelled by his own rule to say not only that 365 heavens were made in succession, one from another, but that an immense and innumerable multitude of heavens has always been made, is being made, and will be made, and that such a fabrication of heavens never ceases. For if from the outflow of the first the second heaven was made after its likeness, and from the second the third, and likewise all the rest that follow, then from this one of ours, which he calls the last, another like it must necessarily be made from its outflow, and from that again another; and neither the outflow of those already made nor the making of heavens will ever cease, but they will run into an immense number of heavens, not a predetermined one.

Notes and citation

Summary: On Basilides' own principle the making of heavens could never stop, producing an infinite number.

“From” before “this one of ours” is supplied by Harvey.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; footnote mark; footnote number; split word; OCR): BasiLipEs → Basilides; cceloIm. rum → coelorum; reliqui 1 subsequentes → reliqui subsequentes; et '[de| hujus → et [de] hujus; necesse est ! ex defluxu → necesse est ex defluxu.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.35.1 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-2-35-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.35.2Harvey 1:292

Et reliqui autem qui falso nomine Gnostici dicuntur, qui prophetas ex diversis diis prophetias fecisse dicunt, facile destruentur ex hoc, quod omnes prophetae unum Deum et Dominum praedicaverint, et ipsum factorem coeli et terrae et omnium quse in eis sunt, et quod adventum Filii ejus significaverint, secundum quod ex ipsis demonstrabimus Scripturis in libris consequentibus.

The rest, who are falsely called Gnostics and who say that the prophets uttered their prophecies from different gods, will easily be overthrown by this: that all the prophets proclaimed one God and Lord, the very Maker of heaven and earth and all that is in them, and that they signified the coming of his Son, as we shall show from the Scriptures themselves in the following books.

1 Tim 6:20 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: All the prophets proclaimed one God, the Maker, and foretold the coming of his Son.

Harvey's chapter title at the start of the section is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (editor's chapter title; OCR): Ostensio quoniam. propheta non a variis dus fecerint prophetationes, sed ab uno et eodem: et expositio Er reliqui → Et reliqui.

Topics: Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.35.2 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-2-35-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.35.3Harvey 1:292

Si autem quidam secundum Hebraeam linguam diverse dictiones positas in Scripturis opponant, quale est Sabaoth, et Eloe, et Adonai, et alia quicunque sunt talia, ex his ostendere elaborantes diversas virtutes atque deos: discant quoniam unius et ipsius significationes et nuncupationes sunt omnia hujusmodi. Quod enim dicitur Eloe, secundum Judaicam vocem Deum significat, et Elos verum et Eloeuth secundum Hebraicam linguam, hoc Quod continet omnia, significat. Quod autem ait Adonai, aliquando quidem nominabile et admirabile significat, aliquando autem duplicata litera delta cum aspiratione, ut puta Addonai, Praefinientem et separantem terram ab aqua, nec posteaquam insurgere in eam. Similiter autem et Sabawth per ὦ quidem Graecam in syllaba novissima scribitur, Voluntarium significat: per o autem Graecam, ut puta Sabaoth, primum ccelum manifestat. Jawth, extensa cum aspiratione novissima syllaba, mensuram praefinitam manifestat; cum autem per o Graecam corripitur, ut puta Jaoth, eum qui dat fugam malorum significat. Et caetera omnia unius ejusdemque nuncupationis sunt: sicut (secundum Latinitatem) Dominus virtutum, et Pater omnium, et Deus omnipotens, et Altissimus, et Dominus coelorum, et Creator, et Fabricator, et similia his, non alterius atque alterius haec sunt, sed unius ejusdemque nuncupationes et pronomina, per quae unus Deus et Pater ostenditur, qui continet omnia, et omnibus ut sint praestans.

But if some object the different expressions in the Hebrew language set down in the Scriptures, such as Sabaoth, Eloe, Adonai, and whatever others there are of this kind, laboring to show from them different powers and gods, let them learn that all such terms are significations and titles of one and the same Being. For what is called Eloe means God in the Jewish tongue; and Elos indeed and Eloeuth in the Hebrew language mean “that which contains all things.” Adonai sometimes means “nameable and wonderful,” but sometimes, with the letter delta doubled and with an aspiration, as Addonai, “he who bounds and separates the earth from the water,” so that the water does not afterwards rise over it. Likewise Sabaōth, written with the Greek omega in the last syllable, means “voluntary,” but written with the Greek omicron, as Sabaoth, it signifies the first heaven. Jaōth, with the last syllable long and aspirated, signifies a predetermined measure; but when it is shortened with the Greek omicron, as Jaoth, it means him who puts evils to flight. And all the rest are names of one and the same: as (in Latin) Lord of powers, Father of all, God almighty, Most High, Lord of the heavens, Creator, Fabricator, and the like. These are not titles of one being and another, but names and designations of one and the same, by which the one God and Father is shown, who contains all things and grants to all things that they exist.

Job 38:8–11 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The various Hebrew names of God, such as Sabaoth, Eloe, and Adonai, are titles of the one God, not of different gods.

The meanings given for the Hebrew names are Irenaeus's own and several forms are damaged in the Latin (the older translations read Eloeim for Elos); they are translated as they stand. The bounding of earth and water: Job 38:8–11.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR; stray mark; footnote mark; footnote number; margin debris; footnote number; margin reference; running head; stray marks): secundum? Hebraeam → secundum Hebraeam; 1Eloeuth → Eloeuth; hoc Quod continet LIB TI. omnia → hoc Quod continet omnia; aliquando quidem on IE tm 2nominabile → aliquando quidem nominabile; duplicata — ***" 5. litera → duplicata litera; Praefinientem et Job, xxxvill separantem → Praefinientem et separantem; sieut '(secundum → sicut (secundum; atque alterius hzec sunt → atque alterius haec sunt; per quis unus → per quae unus.

Topics: Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.35.3 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-2-35-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

2.35.4Harvey 1:292

Quoniam autem dictis nostris consonat praedicatio Apostolorum, et Domini magisterium, et Prophetarum annuntiatio, et Apostolorum dictatio, et legislationis ministratio, unum eundemque omnium Deum Patrem laudantium; et non alium atque alium, neque ex diversis diis aut virtutibus substantiam habentem; sed ex uno et eodem Patre omnia, (qui tamen aptat secundum subjacentium naturas et dispositionem) et neque ab Angelis, neque ab alia quadam virtute, sed a solo Deo Patre visibilia atque invisibilia, et omnia omnino quaecunque facta sunt, arbitror quidem sufficienter ostensa, et per haec tanta uno ostenso Deo Patre factore omnium. Sed ne putemur fugere illam que ex Scripturis Dominicis est probationem, ipsis Scripturis multo manifestius et clarius hoc ipsum praedicantibus, his tamen qui non prave intendunt, eis proprium librum, qui sequitur has Scripturas, reddentes, ex Scripturis divinis probationes apponemus in medio omnibus amantibus veritatem.

That the preaching of the apostles, the authoritative teaching of the Lord, the announcement of the prophets, the dictation of the apostles, and the ministry of the lawgiving agree with what we have said — all praising one and the same God and Father of all, and not one and another, nor one who has his substance from different gods or powers; but that all things are from one and the same Father (who nevertheless adapts them to the natures and disposition of the underlying materials), and that things visible and invisible, and absolutely everything that has been made, were made neither by angels nor by any other power, but by God the Father alone — I think has been sufficiently shown, and by these many arguments one God the Father, the Maker of all, has been shown. But lest we be thought to avoid the proof from the Lord's Scriptures, since the Scriptures themselves proclaim this very thing much more plainly and clearly, at least to those who do not attend to them perversely, we shall devote a book of its own to them, following these Scriptures, and set forth proofs from the divine Scriptures before all who love the truth.

Notes and citation

Summary: Irenaeus has shown that apostles, Lord, prophets, and law all proclaim one God; the next book will give the proofs from Scripture.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (margin debris; split word; footnote number): Dominicis 118.11. est probationem → Dominicis est probationem; hoc GR 11. hr ipsum → hoc ipsum; ex Scrip1 turis → ex Scripturis.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 2.35.4 (Harvey 1:292; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-2-35-4).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

Against 3, chapter 0

3.0.1Harvey 2

Tu quidem, dilectissime, praeceperas nobis, ut eas quae a Valentino sunt sententias absconditas ut ipsi putant in manifestum proderem, et ostenderem varietatem ipsorum, et sermonem destruentem eos inferrem. Aggressi sumus autem nos, arguentes eos a Simone patre omnium haereticorum, et doctrinas et successiones manifestare, et omnibus eis contradicere: propter quod cum sit unius operis traductio eorum et destructio in multis, misimus tibi libros, ex quibus primus quidem omnium illorum sententias continet, et consuetudines et characteres ostendit conversationis eorum. In secundo vero destructa et eversa sunt qui ab ipsis male docentur, et nudata et ostensa sunt talia qualia et sunt. In hoc autem tertio ex Scripturis inferemus ostensiones, ut nihil tibi ex his que praeceperas, desit a nobis; sed et, praeterquam opinabaris, ad arguendum et evertendum eos qui quolibet modo male docent, occasiones a nobis accipias. Quae enim est in Deo caritas, dives et sine invidia exsistens, plura donat quam postulet quis ab ea. Memento igitur eorum que diximus in prioribus duobus libris; et haec illis adjungens, plenissimam habebis a nobis adversus omnes haereticos contradictionem, et fiducialiter ac instantissime resistes eis pro sola vera ac vivifica fide, quam ab Apostolis Ecclesia percepit, et distribuit filiis suis. Etenim Dominus omnium dedit Apostolis suis potestatem Evangelii, per quos et veritatem, hoc est Dei Filii doctrinam, cognovimus; quibus et dixit Dominus: Qui vos audit, me audit: et qui vos contemnit, me contemnit, et eum qui me misit.

You directed me, dearest friend, to bring into the open the opinions of the followers of Valentinus, which are hidden, as they themselves suppose, to show their variety, and to compose a refutation of them. So we undertook, refuting them from Simon, the father of all heretics, to make known both their doctrines and their successions and to contradict them all. Therefore, since exposing them and overthrowing them is in many respects one work, we have sent you books, of which the first contains the opinions of all of them and shows the customs and character of their way of life. In the second, the things they wrongly teach have been destroyed and overthrown, and laid bare and shown for what they are. In this third book we shall bring proofs from the Scriptures, so that nothing of what you directed may be lacking on our part; indeed, beyond what you expected, you may receive from us the means of refuting and overthrowing those who teach wrongly in any way. For the love that is in God, being rich and ungrudging, gives more than one asks of it. Remember, then, what we said in the first two books, and adding this to them, you will have from us the fullest refutation of all heretics, and you will resist them confidently and most earnestly on behalf of the only true and life-giving faith, which the church received from the apostles and distributes to her children. For the Lord of all gave his apostles the power of the Gospel, through whom we have also come to know the truth, that is, the teaching of the Son of God; to whom the Lord also said, “Whoever hears you hears me, and whoever despises you despises me and him who sent me.”

Luke 10:16 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Book 3 will prove from the Scriptures the faith the church received from the apostles, to whom the Lord gave the Gospel.

The quotation is Luke 10:16.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; margin reference inside a word): i ΤὌὺυ quidem → Tu quidem; eas αὐτὸ ἃ Valentino → eas quae a Valentino; In hoe autem → In hoc autem; Qure enim → Quae enim; hzec illis → haec illis; omnes h:ereticos → omnes haereticos; me conLue. x. ws. temnit → me contemnit.

Topics: Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.0.1 (Harvey 2; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-3-0-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

Against 3, chapter 1

3.1.1Harvey 2:2–6

Non enim per alios dispositionem salutis nostrae cognovimus, quam per eos per quos Evangelium pervenit ad nos: quod quidem tunc praeconaverunt, postea vero per Dei voluntatem in Scripturis nobis tradiderunt, fundamentum et columnam fidei nostra futurum. Nec enim fas est dicere, quoniam ante predicaverunt quam perfectam haberent agnitionem; sicut quidam audent dicere, gloriantes emendatores se esse Apostolorum. Postea enim quam surrexit Dominus noster a mortuis, et induti sunt supervenientis Spiritus sancti virtutem ex alto, de omnibus adimpleti sunt, et habuerunt perfectam agnitionem; exierunt in fines terrae, ea quae a Deo nobis bona sunt evangelizantes, et coelestem pacem hominibus annuntiantes, qui quidem et omnes pariter et singuli eorum habentes Evangelium Dei. Ita Mattheus in Hebraeis ipsorum lingua scripturam edidit Evangelii, cum Petrus et Paulus Rome evangelizarent, et fundarent Ecclesiam. Post vero horum excessum Marcus, discipulus et interpres Petri, et ipse quae a Petro annuntiata erant, per scripta nobis tradidit. Et Lucas autem sectator Pauli, quod ab illo praedicabatur Evangelium, in libro condidit. Postea et Johannes discipulus Domini, qui et supra pectus ejus recumbebat, et ipse edidit Evangelium, Ephesi Asie commorans.

For we have learned the plan of our salvation from no others than those through whom the Gospel came to us. This they first proclaimed, and afterwards, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the foundation and pillar of our faith. For it is not lawful to say that they preached before they had perfect knowledge, as some dare to say, boasting that they are correctors of the apostles. For after our Lord rose from the dead and they were clothed with the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon them from on high, they were filled with all things and had perfect knowledge; they went out to the ends of the earth, preaching the good things that come to us from God and announcing heavenly peace to men, all of them alike and each one of them having the Gospel of God. So Matthew published a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own language, while Peter and Paul were preaching the Gospel at Rome and founding the church. After their departure Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, himself also handed down to us in writing what Peter had preached. And Luke, the follower of Paul, set down in a book the Gospel preached by Paul. Afterwards John, the disciple of the Lord, who also reclined on his breast, himself also published a Gospel while living at Ephesus in Asia.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Luke 24:49 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 1:8 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Tim 3:15 (echo, medium confidence) · John 13:23 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The apostles, filled with the Spirit, preached and then wrote the Gospel: Matthew, Mark from Peter, Luke from Paul, and John at Ephesus.

Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Irenaeus's account of the origin of the Gospels is translated as written. References: Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; 1 Tim 3:15; John 13:23.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; margin debris): Now enim → Non enim; tune praconaverunt → tunc praeconaverunt; Postea μ. 7 enim → Postea enim; ἃ mortuis → a mortuis; Ssupervenientis → supervenientis; ea quz a Deo → ea quae a Deo.

Topics: Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.1.1 (Harvey 2:2–6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-3-1-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.1.2Harvey 2:6–7

Et omnes isti unum Deum factorem coeli et terre a lege et prophetis annuntiatum, et unum Christum filium Dei tradiderunt nobis: quibus si quis non assentit, spernit quidem participes Domini, spernit autem et ipsum Christum Dominum, spernit vero et Patrem, et est a semetipso damnatus, resistens et repugnans saluti suae: quod faciunt omnes haeretici.

And all these handed down to us one God, the Maker of heaven and earth, proclaimed by the law and the prophets, and one Christ, the Son of God. Whoever does not assent to them despises those who shared the Lord's life; he despises Christ the Lord himself; he despises the Father too, and is condemned by himself, resisting and fighting against his own salvation, as all heretics do.

Titus 3:11 (echo, medium confidence) · Luke 10:16 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The evangelists handed down one God the Creator and one Christ his Son; to reject them is to reject Christ and the Father.

“Condemned by himself” echoes Titus 3:11; compare Luke 10:16.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR): est ἃ semetipso → est a semetipso; saluti suze → saluti suae.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.1.2 (Harvey 2:6–7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-3-1-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

Against 3, chapter 2

3.2.1Harvey 2:7

Cum enim ex Scripturis arguuntur, in accusationem convertuntur ipsarum Scripturarum, quasi non recte habeant, neque sint ex auctoritate, et quia varie sint dictae, et quia non possit ex his inveniri veritas ab his qui nesciant traditionem. Non enim per literas traditam illam, sed per vivam vocem: ob quam causam et Paulum dixisse: Sapientiam autem loquimur inter perfectos: sapientiam autem non mundi hujus. Et hanc sapientiam unusquisque eorum esse dicit, quam a semetipso adinvenit, fictionem videlicet, ut digne secundum eos sit veritas, aliquando quidem in Valentino, aliquando autem in Marcione, aliquando in Cerintho, postea deinde in Basilide fuit, aut et in illo qui contra disputat, qui nihil salutare loqui potuit. Unusquisque enim ipsorum omnimodo perversus, semetipsum regulam veritatis depravans praedicare non confunditur.

For when they are refuted from the Scriptures, they turn to accusing the Scriptures themselves, as though they were not correct nor of authority, saying that they are stated in various ways, and that the truth cannot be found from them by those who do not know the tradition. For, they say, the truth was handed down not through writings but by the living voice; and for this reason Paul too said, “But we speak wisdom among the perfect, but not the wisdom of this world.” And this wisdom each of them says is the one he has invented himself — a fiction, of course; so that by their account the truth properly resided at one time in Valentinus, at another in Marcion, at another in Cerinthus, then afterwards in Basilides, or else in whoever argues against us, who could say nothing that saves. For each of them, wholly perverse, distorting the rule of truth, is not ashamed to preach himself.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

1 Cor 2:6 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: When refuted from Scripture, the heretics appeal to a secret oral tradition, which turns out to be each one's own invention.

Harvey's chapter title at the start of the section is removed. Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. The quotation is 1 Cor 2:6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; editor's chapter title): Quod neque Scripturis neque traditionibus obsequantur hereticr. Cum enim → Cum enim; varie sint dict, → varie sint dictae,; (Mer perfectos → inter perfectos; Et hane sapientiam → Et hanc sapientiam; fietionem → fictionem.

Topics: Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.2.1 (Harvey 2:7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-3-2-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.2.2Harvey 2:7–8

Cum autem ad eam iterum traditionem, que est ab Apostolis, quae per successiones Presbyterorum in Ecclesiis custoditur, provocamus eos, adversantur traditioni, dicentes se non solum Presbyteris, sed etiam Apostolis exsistentes sapientiores, sinceram invenisse veritatem. Apostolos enim admiscuisse ea que sunt legalia Salvatoris verbis: et non solum Apostolos, sed etiam ipsum Dominum, modo quidem a Demiurgo, modo autem a medietate, interdum autem a summitate fecisse sermones: se vero indubitate, et intaminate, et sincere absconditum scire mysterium: quod quidem impudentissime est blasphemare suum factorem. Evenit itaque, neque Scripturis jam, neque traditioni consentire eos.

But when we in turn appeal to that tradition which comes from the apostles and is guarded in the churches through the successions of presbyters, they oppose tradition, saying that they, being wiser not only than the presbyters but even than the apostles, have found the unmixed truth. For the apostles, they say, mixed things of the law with the Savior's words; and not only the apostles but even the Lord himself spoke sometimes from the Demiurge, sometimes from the Middle, and sometimes from the Highest; while they themselves know the hidden mystery indubitably, undefiled, and pure. This is indeed to blaspheme their Maker most shamelessly. So it comes about that they agree neither with the Scriptures nor with tradition.

Notes and citation

Summary: Confronted with the tradition kept by the successions of presbyters, the heretics claim to be wiser than the presbyters and even the apostles.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; footnote mark): quz per successiones → quae per successiones; sermones: ! se vero → sermones: se vero.

Topics: Church office, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.2.2 (Harvey 2:7–8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-3-2-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.2.3Harvey 2:8

Adversus tales certamen nobis est, o dilectissime, more serpentum lubrici undique effugere conantes. Quapropter undique resistendum est illis, si quos ex his retusione confundentes, ad conversionem veritatis adducere possimus. Etenim si non facile est ab errore apprehensam resipiscere animam, sed non omnimodo impossibile est errorem effugere apposita veritate.

Such are the people we must contend with, dearest friend, slippery as serpents, trying to escape on every side. Therefore they must be resisted on every side, in case, by blocking their escape and confounding some of them, we may bring them to turn to the truth. For though it is not easy for a soul seized by error to come to its senses, it is not altogether impossible to escape error when the truth is set beside it.

Notes and citation

Summary: The heretics slip away like serpents, so they must be opposed on every side in hope of their conversion.

Harvey's marginal reading “l. lubrice” after “slippery” is removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (editor's marginal reading; stray mark): lubrici [7. lubrice] undique → lubrici undique; possimus. — Etenim → possimus. Etenim.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.2.3 (Harvey 2:8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-3-2-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

Against 3, chapter 3

3.3.1Harvey 2:8–9

Traditionem itaque Apostolorum in toto mundo manifestatam, in omni Ecclesia adest perspicere omnibus qui vera velint videre, et habemus annumerare eos qui ab Apostolis instituti sunt Episcopi in ecclesiis, et successiones eorum usque ad nos, qui nihil tale docuerunt, neque cognoverunt, quale ab his deliratur. Etenim si recondita mysteria scissent Apostoli, quae seorsim et latenter ab reliquis perfectos docebant, his vel maxime traderent ea quibus etiam ipsas ecclesias committebant. Valde enim perfectos et irreprehensibiles in omnibus eos volebant esse, quos et successores relinquebant, suum ipsorum locum magisterii tradentes: quibus emendate agentibus fieret magna utilitas, lapsis autem summa calamitas.

The tradition of the apostles, then, made manifest in the whole world, can be seen in every church by all who wish to see the truth; and we can enumerate those who were appointed bishops in the churches by the apostles, and their successions down to our own time, who taught nothing like what these people rave about and knew nothing of it. For if the apostles had known hidden mysteries which they taught to the perfect privately and secretly from the rest, they would have handed them down above all to those to whom they were also entrusting the churches themselves. For they wished those whom they were leaving as their successors, handing over to them their own place of teaching authority, to be very perfect and blameless in all things; for if these acted rightly great benefit would result, but if they fell, the greatest disaster.

Notes and citation

Summary: The apostles' tradition is visible in every church through the bishops they appointed and their successors, who knew no secret doctrine.

Harvey's chapter title at the start of the section is removed. The argument from the succession of bishops is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; margin debris; editor's chapter title; OCR; margin debris; split word): De Apostolorum traditione, vel ab Apostolis in ecclesiis Episcoporum successione. Travitionem → Traditionem; ab A postolis instituti → ab Apostolis instituti; qua seorsim et οι. latenter → quae seorsim et latenter; traderent 118. 11. 176. ea → traderent ea.

Topics: Church office, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.3.1 (Harvey 2:8–9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-3-3-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.3.2Harvey 2:9

Sed quoniam valde longum est, in hoc tali volumine omnium ecclesiarum enumerare successiones, maximae, et antiquissima, et omnibus cognitae, a gloriosissimis duobus Apostolis Petro et Paulo Rome fundatae et constitutae ecclesiae, eam quam habet ab Apostolis traditionem, et annuntiatam hominibus fidem, per successiones Episcoporum pervenientem usque ad nos indicantes, confundimus omnes eos, qui quoquo modo vel per sibiplacentiam malam, vel vanam gloriam, vel per caecitatem et malam sententiam, praeterquam oportet colligunt. Ad hanc enim ecclesiam propter potentiorem principalitatem necesse est omnem convenire Ecclesiam, hoc est, eos qui sunt undique fideles, in qua semper ab his, qui sunt undique, conservata est ea quae est ab Apostolis traditio.

But since it would be very long, in a volume such as this, to enumerate the successions of all the churches, we confound all those who in any way, whether through evil self-satisfaction, or vainglory, or blindness and wrong opinion, gather otherwise than they ought, by pointing to the tradition which the greatest, most ancient, and universally known church, founded and established at Rome by the two most glorious apostles Peter and Paul, has from the apostles, and to the faith proclaimed to men, which comes down to us through the successions of bishops. For with this church, because of its more powerful preeminence, every church must agree — that is, the faithful who are everywhere — in which the tradition from the apostles has always been preserved by those who are everywhere.

Notes and citation

Summary: Irenaeus points to the church of Rome, founded by Peter and Paul, whose apostolic tradition and succession of bishops confound the heretics.

The last sentence is much discussed and is translated as closely as the Latin allows: convenire may mean “agree with” or “resort to”; “more powerful preeminence” (potentiorem principalitatem) is variously understood; and “in which” may refer either to the Roman church or to “every church”. The Greek original is lost.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; footnote mark; footnote number; footnote number; OCR): maximx → maximae; Apostolis? Petro → Apostolis Petro; constitutae ecclesise → constitutae ecclesiae; 5sibiplacentiam → sibiplacentiam; excitatem → caecitatem; 9przterquam → praeterquam; Ad hane enim → Ad hanc enim; ea quie est ab → ea quae est ab.

Topics: Church office, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.3.2 (Harvey 2:9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-3-3-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.3.3Harvey 2:10–12

Fundantes igitur et instruentes beati Apostoli Ecclesiam, Lino episcopatum administrandae Ecclesie tradiderunt. Hujus Lini Paulus in his que sunt ad Timotheum epistolis meminit. Succedit autem ei Anacletus: post eum tertio loco ab Apostolis episcopatum sortitur Clemens, qui et vidit ipsos Apostolos, et contulit cum eis, et cum adhuc insonantem praedicationem Apostolorum et traditionem ante oculos haberet, non solus; adhuc enim multi supererant tunc ab Apostolis docti. Sub hoc igitur Clemente, dissensione non modica inter eos qui Corinthi essent fratres facta, scripsit que est Romae Ecclesia potentissimas literas Corinthiis, ad pacem eos congregans, et reparans fidem eorum, et annuntians quam in recenti ab Apostolis acceperat traditionem, annuntiantem unum Deum omnipotentem, factorem caeli et terrae, plasmatorem hominis, qui induxerit cataclysmum, et advocaverit Abraham, qui eduxerit populum de terra Aegypti, qui collocutus sit Moysi, qui legem disposuerit, et prophetas miserit, qui ignem preparaverit diabolo et angelis ejus. Hunc Patrem Domini nostri Jesu Christi ab ecclesiis annuntiari, ex ipsa scriptura, qui velint discere possunt, et apostolicam Ecclesie traditionem intelligere, cum sit vetustior epistola his qui nunc falso docent, et alterum Deum super Demiurgum et factorem horum omnium que sunt commentiuntur. Huic autem Clementi succedit Euaristus, et Euaristo Alexander, ac deinceps sextus ab Apostolis constitutus est Sixtus, et ab hoc Telesphorus, qui etiam gloriosissime martyrium fecit: ac deinceps Hyginus, post Pius, post quem Anicetus. Cum autem successisset Aniceto Soter, nunc duodecimo loco Episcopatum ab Apostolis habet Eleutherius. Hac ordinatione et successione ea que est ab Apostolis in Ecclesia traditio et veritatis praeconatio pervenit usque ad nos. Et est plenissima haec ostensio, unam et eandem vivificatricem fidem esse, que in Ecclesia ab Apostolis usque nunc sit conservata, et tradita in veritate.

The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the church, handed over to Linus the episcopate for administering the church. Paul mentions this Linus in the letters to Timothy. Anacletus succeeds him; after him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement is allotted the episcopate. He had seen the apostles themselves and conferred with them, and had the preaching of the apostles still sounding in his ears and their tradition before his eyes; and he was not alone, for many were still left at that time who had been taught by the apostles. Under this Clement, then, when no small dissension had arisen among the brothers at Corinth, the church at Rome wrote a most powerful letter to the Corinthians, bringing them together in peace, renewing their faith, and proclaiming the tradition it had recently received from the apostles: proclaiming one God almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, Fashioner of man, who brought on the flood and called Abraham, who led the people out of the land of Egypt, who spoke with Moses, who ordained the law and sent the prophets, who prepared fire for the devil and his angels. That this one is proclaimed by the churches as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, those who wish can learn from the writing itself, and can understand the apostolic tradition of the church, since the letter is older than those who now teach falsely and invent another God above the Demiurge and Maker of all that exists. To this Clement succeeds Euaristus, and to Euaristus Alexander; then Sixtus was appointed, sixth from the apostles, and after him Telesphorus, who also bore a most glorious martyrdom; then Hyginus, after him Pius, after whom Anicetus. When Soter had succeeded Anicetus, Eleutherius now holds the episcopate in the twelfth place from the apostles. By this order and succession the tradition in the church from the apostles and the preaching of the truth have come down to us. And this is the fullest proof that it is one and the same life-giving faith which has been preserved in the church from the apostles until now and handed down in truth.

2 Tim 4:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 25:41 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Irenaeus lists the bishops of Rome from Linus to Eleutherius and cites Clement's letter as witness to the apostolic faith.

Linus: 2 Tim 4:21. The letter is 1 Clement (here described in summary, not quoted). Fire for the devil and his angels: Matt 25:41. The list of bishops is translated as written; Irenaeus counts from the apostles, so that Eleutherius is twelfth.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR; margin debris; OCR; stray letter; margin debris; split word; split word; stray number; stray mark; OCR): cum adhue insonantem → cum adhuc insonantem; traditionem, δι. annuntiantem → traditionem, annuntiantem; terrae, 42. 47. plasmatorem → terrae, plasmatorem; terra AX gypti, qui collocutus 17 1x sit → terra Aegypti, qui collocutus sit; Hune Patrem Domini s nostri → Hunc Patrem Domini nostri; intel4 ligere → intelligere; his qui nune falso → his qui nunc falso; ab A postolis constitutus → ab Apostolis constitutus; veritatis ° preeconatio → veritatis praeconatio; plenissima h:ec ostensio → plenissima haec ostensio.

Extrabiblical texts: 1 Clem. 1.1 (1 Clement; allusion)

Topics: Church office, Heresy, Martyrdom

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.3.3 (Harvey 2:10–12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-3-3-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.3.4Harvey 2:12–15

Et Polycarpus autem non solum ab Apostolis edoctus, et conversatus cum multis ex eis qui Dominum nostrum viderunt; sed etiam ab Apostolis in Asia, in ea que est Smyrnis Ecclesia constitutus Episcopus, quem et nos vidimus in prima nostra aetate, multum enim perseveravit, et valde senex gloriosissime et nobilissime martyrium faciens exivit de hac vita, haec docuit semper quae ab Apostolis didicerat, quae et Ecclesiae tradidit, et sola sunt … omnes, et qui usque adhuc successerunt Polycarpo: qui vir multo majoris auctoritatis, et fidelior veritatis est testis, quam Valentinus et Marcion, et reliqui qui sunt perverse sententiae. Is enim est qui sub Aniceto cum advenisset in urbem, multos ex his quos praediximus, haereticos convertit in Ecclesiam Dei, unam et solam hanc veritatem annuntians ab Apostolis percepisse se, quam et Ecclesiae tradidit. Et sunt qui audierunt eum, quoniam Johannes Domini discipulus in Epheso iens lavari, cum vidisset intus Cerinthum, exsilierit de balneo non lotus, dicens, quod timeat ne balneum concidat, cum intus esset Cerinthus inimicus veritatis. Et ipse autem Polycarpus Marcioni aliquando occurrenti sibi, et dicenti, Cognoscis nos? respondit: Cognosco te primogenitum Satanae. Tantum Apostoli et horum discipuli habuerunt timorem, ut neque verbo tenus communicarent alicui eorum qui adulteraverant veritatem, quemadmodum et Paulus ait: Haereticum autem hominem post unam correptionem devita, sciens quoniam perversus est qui est talis, et est a semetipso damnatus. Est autem et epistola Polycarpi ad Philippenses scripta perfectissima, ex qua et characterem fidei ejus, et praedicationem veritatis, qui volunt et curam habent suae salutis, possunt discere. Sed et que est Ephesi ecclesia a Paulo quidem fundata, Johanne autem permanente apud eos usque ad Trajani tempora, testis est verus Apostolorum traditionis.

Polycarp too was not only taught by apostles and lived with many who had seen our Lord, but was also appointed by apostles in Asia as bishop in the church at Smyrna. We too saw him in our early youth, for he lived a long time and, when very old, departed this life by a most glorious and noble martyrdom. He always taught the things he had learned from the apostles, which the church also hands down, and which alone are true. … all, and those who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present; and he was a witness to the truth of much greater weight and more trustworthy than Valentinus and Marcion and the rest who hold perverse opinions. It was he who, coming to Rome under Anicetus, turned many from the heretics we have mentioned to the church of God, proclaiming that he had received from the apostles this one and only truth, which the church also hands down. And there are those who heard him tell that John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus and seeing Cerinthus inside, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, saying that he feared the bath-house would fall in, since Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, was inside. And Polycarp himself, when Marcion once met him and said, “Do you know us?” answered, “I know you, the firstborn of Satan.” Such fear did the apostles and their disciples have of sharing so much as a word with any of those who had corrupted the truth, as Paul too says: “Avoid a heretical man after one admonition, knowing that such a one is perverted and is condemned by himself.” There is also a most excellent letter of Polycarp written to the Philippians, from which those who wish and who care for their salvation can learn both the character of his faith and the preaching of the truth. And the church at Ephesus, founded by Paul, with John remaining among them until the times of Trajan, is a true witness of the tradition of the apostles.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Titus 3:10–11 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Polycarp, taught by apostles and martyred at Smyrna, and the church of Ephesus witness to the apostolic tradition against the heretics.

Part of a line is lost after “alone are true” (the sense is: “To these things all the churches in Asia testify”). The quotation is Titus 3:10–11 (one admonition, as in this text). The stories of John and Cerinthus and of Polycarp and Marcion are reported as Irenaeus tells them.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; footnote number; line lost in the OCR; stray mark): vidiinus → vidimus; perseveravit, οὐ valde → perseveravit, et valde; hzec docuit semper quze → haec docuit semper quae; qu:e et Ecclesie → quae et Ecclesiae; et sola sunt a. omnes → et sola sunt … omnes; solam hane veritatem → solam hanc veritatem; audierunt eum*, → audierunt eum,; inimieus → inimicus; It ipse autem → Et ipse autem; 3ut neque → ut neque; Hareticum → Haereticum; perversus eat → perversus est; perfeetissima → perfectissima; ecclesia ἃ Paulo → ecclesia a Paulo.

Extrabiblical texts: Pol. Phil. 1.1 (To the Philippians; allusion)

Topics: Church office, Heresy, Martyrdom

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.3.4 (Harvey 2:12–15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-3-3-4).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

Against 3, chapter 4

3.4.1Harvey 2:15

Tantae igitur ostensiones cum sint, non oportet adhuc quaerere apud alios veritatem, quam facile est ab Ecclesia sumere; cum Apostoli, quasi in depositorium dives, plenissime in eam contulerint omnia quae sint veritatis: uti omnis quicunque velit, sumat ex ea potum vitae. Hec est enim vite introitus; omnes autem reliqui fures sunt et latrones. Propter quod oportet devitare quidem illos; que autem sunt Ecclesiae, cum summa diligentia diligere, et apprehendere veritatis traditionem. Quid enim? Et si de aliqua modica questione disceptatio esset, nonne oporteret in antiquissimas recurrere ecclesias, in quibus Apostoli conversati sunt, et ab eis de presenti questione sumere quod certum et liquidum est? Quid autem si neque Apostoli quidem Scripturas reliquissent nobis, nonne oportebat ordinem sequi traditionis, quam tradiderunt iis quibus committebant ecclesias?

Since, then, there are such proofs, we must not still seek among others the truth which it is easy to receive from the church; for the apostles, as into a rich storehouse, deposited in her most fully all things that belong to the truth, so that everyone who wishes may draw from her the drink of life. For she is the entrance to life; all the rest are thieves and robbers. Therefore we must avoid them, but love with the greatest diligence the things of the church and lay hold of the tradition of the truth. For what then? If there were a dispute about some minor question, ought we not to have recourse to the most ancient churches, in which the apostles lived, and take from them what is certain and clear about the question at hand? And what if the apostles had not even left us Scriptures? Would it not be necessary to follow the order of the tradition which they handed down to those to whom they entrusted the churches?

John 10:8 (allusion, high confidence) · John 10:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rev 22:17 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The apostles deposited the whole truth in the church; even in a minor dispute, or without Scriptures, one should follow the tradition of the apostolic churches.

Harvey's chapter title at the start of the section and a fragment of his footnote are removed. Thieves and robbers: John 10:1, 8; the drink of life echoes Rev 22:17.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; editor's chapter title; OCR; editor's footnote; stray letters; stray mark): Testificatio eorum qui Apostolos viderunt de pradicatione veritatis. TaNwrx igitur → Tantae igitur; omnia qu sint veritatis → omnia quae sint veritatis; in Mass. ut ne verbo tenus com. Equidem antiquissimas → in antiquissimas; conversati. sunt → conversati sunt; et re liquidum → et liquidum.

Topics: Scripture and canon, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.4.1 (Harvey 2:15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-3-4-1).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.4.2Harvey 2:15–16

Cui ordinationi assentiunt multae gentes barbarorum eorum qui in Christum credunt, sine charta vel atramento scriptam habentes per Spiritum in cordibus suis salutem, et veterem traditionem diligenter custodientes, in unum Deum credentes fabricatorem coeli et terrae, et omnium quae in eis sunt, per Christum Jesum Dei Filium. Qui propter eminentissimam erga figmentum suum dilectionem, eam quae esset ex Virgine generationem sustinuit, ipse per se hominem adunans Deo, et passus sub Pontio Pilato, et resurgens, et in claritate receptus, in gloria venturus Salvator eorum qui salvantur, et judex eorum qui judicantur, et mittens in ignem aeternum transfiguratores veritatis, et contemtores Patris sui et adventus ejus. Hanc fidem qui sine literis crediderunt, quantum ad sermonem nostrum, barbari sunt: quantum autem ad sententiam, et consuetudinem, et conversationem, propter fidem perquam sapientissimi sunt, et placent Deo, conversantes in omni justitia et castitate et sapientia. Quibus si aliquis annuntiaverit ea quae ab haereticis adinventa sunt, proprio sermone eorum colloquens, statim concludentes aures longo longius fugient, ne audire quidem sustinentes blasphemum colloquium. Sic per illam veterem Apostolorum traditionem, ne in conceptionem quidem mentis admittunt, quodcunque eorum portentiloquium est, neque enim congregatio fuit apud eos, neque doctrina instituta.

To this order many nations of barbarians who believe in Christ assent, having salvation written in their hearts by the Spirit without paper or ink, and carefully guarding the ancient tradition: believing in one God, the Fashioner of heaven and earth and all that is in them, through Christ Jesus the Son of God; who, because of his surpassing love for his handiwork, underwent the birth from the Virgin, himself uniting man through himself to God; who suffered under Pontius Pilate, rose again, and was received up in splendor; who will come in glory as the Savior of those who are saved and the Judge of those who are judged, sending into eternal fire those who distort the truth and despise his Father and his coming. Those who have believed this faith without letters are barbarians as far as our language is concerned; but as to their thinking, customs, and way of life they are, because of faith, very wise indeed, and they please God, living in all righteousness, chastity, and wisdom. If anyone were to proclaim to them the inventions of the heretics, speaking to them in their own language, they would at once stop their ears and flee as far away as possible, not enduring even to hear the blasphemous talk. So, through that ancient tradition of the apostles, they do not admit even into the conception of their minds any of the heretics' monstrous talk; for among the heretics no assembly has existed and no teaching has been established.

2 Cor 3:3 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 John 1:12 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Barbarian nations who cannot read keep the apostles' faith written on their hearts and reject the heretics' inventions.

A fragment of Harvey's footnote and a stray Greek word are removed. “Without paper or ink” echoes 2 Cor 3:3 and 2 John 12. The summary of the faith is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; OCR; footnote mark; editor's footnote; footnote mark): mult gentes ! barbarorum → multae gentes barbarorum; coli et terrx, et omnium qu:e → coeli et terrae, et omnium quae; eam qu:e esset → eam quae esset; ignem:eternum → ignem aeternum; Hane fidem → Hanc fidem; ea qu:e ab haereticis → ea quae ab haereticis; colloquens, fabulis cordis carnalibus. S. ΠΈΠΟΝ. statim → colloquens, statim; neque ! enim → neque enim.

Topics: Christology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.4.2 (Harvey 2:15–16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-3-4-2).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).

3.4.3Harvey 2:16–18

Ante Valentinum enim non fuerunt, qui sunt a Valentino; neque ante Marcionem erant, qui sunt à Marcione; neque omnino erant reliqui sensus maligni, quos supra enumeravimus, antequam initiatores et inventores perversitatis eorum fierent. Valentinus enim venit Romam sub Hygino; increvit vero sub Pio, et prorogavit tempus usque ad Anicetum. Cerdon autem qui ante Marcionem, et hic sub Hygino, qui fuit octavus episcopus, saepe in ecclesiam veniens, et exhomologesin faciens, sic consummavit, modo quidem latenter docens, modo vero exhomologesin faciens, modo vero ab aliquibus traductus in his que docebat male, et abstentus est a religiosorum hominum conventu. Marcion autem illi succedens invaluit sub Aniceto, decimum locum episcopatus continente. Reliqui vero qui vocantur Gnostici, a Menandro Simonis discipulo, quemadmodum ostendimus, accipientes initia, unusquisque eorum, cujus participatus est sententie, ejus et pater, et antistes apparuit. Omnes autem hi multo posterius, mediantibus jam Ecclesie temporibus, insurrexerunt in suam apostasiam.

For before Valentinus there were no Valentinians, nor before Marcion were there Marcionites, nor at all did the other malicious minds we listed above exist before the initiators and inventors of their perversity appeared. For Valentinus came to Rome under Hyginus, flourished under Pius, and stayed on until Anicetus. Cerdon, Marcion's predecessor, also came under Hyginus, who was the eighth bishop; often coming into the church and making public confession, he went on in this way, now teaching secretly, now making public confession again, now exposed by some for what he wrongly taught, and he was kept away from the assembly of the devout. Marcion, succeeding him, flourished under Anicetus, who held the tenth place in the episcopate. The rest, who are called Gnostics, took their beginnings from Menander, the disciple of Simon, as we have shown, and each of them appeared as father and high priest of the opinion he had embraced. But all these rose up in their apostasy much later, when the times of the church were already half run.

Notes and citation

Summary: Valentinus, Cerdon, Marcion, and the Gnostics appeared only in the second century, long after the apostolic churches.

A running head and margin debris are removed. The Latin calls Hyginus the eighth bishop (the older translations say ninth, counting Peter). “Public confession” renders exhomologesis.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR; margin debris; OCR; running head; stray marks): fierent. HZERETICORUM PRZESCRIPTIO. Valentinus → fierent. Valentinus; sspe in ecclesiam → saepe in ecclesiam; conventu. LIB. 11Π||ν 8, 8. Marcion → conventu. Marcion; Aniceto, ! decimum MASS 111. loeum → Aniceto, decimum locum; Gnostici, — — — a * Menandro → Gnostici, a Menandro.

Topics: Heresy, Church office

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 3.4.3 (Harvey 2:16–18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/2-33-1/#p-3-4-3).

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from the ancient Latin translation as printed by Harvey (Cambridge, 1857), from the OCR of the printed edition with slips corrected as logged, in Massuet's section numbering; lines lost in the scan supplied from Stieren's edition (1848–53) where noted; each batch compared afterwards with the public-domain translation in ANF 1 (1885).