Against Heresies 4.18.1–4.19.3

Irenaeus of Lyons · Against Heresies · ca. 180–190 · Lyons · 9 passages

Latin text: Harvey 1857 (Latin text: Harvey (1857), transcribed from archive.org OCR of the printed volumes; section numbers checked against Stieren (1853)).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885), Irenaeus, Against Heresies.

BothSource textEnglish

Show only the passage I followed

Against 4, chapter 18

4.18.1Harvey 2:201

Igitur Ecclesiae oblatio, quam Dominus docuit offerri in universo mundo, purum sacrificium reputatum est apud Deum, et acceptum est ei: non quod indigeat a nobis sacrificium, sed quoniam is qui offert, glorificatur ipse in eo quod offert, si acceptetur munus ejus. Per munus enim erga regem, et honos, et affectio ostenditur: quod in omni simplicitate et innocentia Dominus volens nos offerre, predicavit dicens: Cum igitur offers munus tuum ad altare, et recordatus fueris, quoniam frater tuus habet aliquid adversum te, dimitte munus tuum ante altare, et vade primum reconciliari fratri tuo, et tunc reversus offeres munus tuum. Offerre igitur oportet Deo primitias ejus creaturae, sicut et Moyses ait: Non apparebis vacuus ante conspectum Domini Dei tui; ut in quibus gratus exstitit homo, in his gratus eis deputatus, eum qui est ab eo percipiat honorem.

The offering of the Church, then, which the Lord taught to be offered throughout the world, has been reckoned a pure sacrifice before God and is acceptable to him; not that he needs a sacrifice from us, but because he who offers is himself glorified in what he offers, if his gift is accepted. For through a gift to a king both honour and affection are shown; and the Lord, wishing us to offer in all simplicity and innocence, proclaimed: “So when you offer your gift at the altar, and remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to your brother, and then come back and offer your gift.” We must, then, offer to God the firstfruits of his creation, as Moses also says, “You shall not appear empty before the Lord your God,” so that man, reckoned grateful in the things in which he has shown gratitude, may receive the honour that comes from him.

Matt 5:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 23:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 16:16 (quotation, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Church’s offering is a pure sacrifice, not because God needs it, but because the grateful offerer is honoured; it must be offered with a reconciled heart.

Harvey’s chapter title (on sacrifices and offerings, and who offer them in truth) was removed. The offering of the Church: translated as written. Quotations: Matt 5:23–24; Exod 23:15 (Deut 16:16).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; editor's chapter title; small capitals; OCR slip; stray mark; margin reference; stray mark; stray stop): De sacrificiis et oblationibus, et qui sunt qui in veritate uisi. offerunt. Icirur Ecclesie oblatio, quam Dominus doeuit offerri in universo mundo, ' purum → Igitur Ecclesiae oblatio, quam Dominus docuit offerri in universo mundo, purum; offers munus Mate. v.23,. tuum → offers munus tuum; et eade primum → et vade primum; et tunc. reversus → et tunc reversus; tui; ^ut in quibus → tui; ut in quibus.

Topics: Eucharist

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.18.1 (Harvey 2:201; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-18-1/#p-4-18-1).

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-irenaeus-adversus-haereses-4-18-1) · Report an error

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).

4.18.2Harvey 2:201

Et non genus oblationum reprobatum est; oblationes enim et illic, oblationes autem et hic: sacrificia in populo, sacrificia et in Ecclesia: sed species immutata est tantum, quippe cum jam non a servis, sed a liberis offeratur. Unus enim et idem Dominus; proprium autem character servilis oblationis, et proprium liberorum, uti et per oblationes ostendatur indicium libertatis. Nihil enim otiosum, nec sine signo, neque sine argumento apud eum. Et propter hoc illi quidem decimas suorum habebant consecratas: qui autem perceperunt libertatem, omnia quae sunt ipsorum ad dominicos decernunt usus, hilariter et libere dantes ea, non que sunt minora, utpote majorum spem habentes vidua illa et paupere hic totum victum suum mittente in gazophylacium Dei.

And it is not the kind of offerings that has been rejected; for there were offerings there and there are offerings here: sacrifices among the people, and sacrifices in the Church; only the form has been changed, since now the offering is made not by slaves but by the free. For the Lord is one and the same; but the slaves’ offering has its own character and the free have theirs, so that by the offerings too a sign of freedom may be shown. For with him nothing is idle, nothing without a sign or without meaning. And for this reason they had a tenth of their goods consecrated; but those who have received freedom set apart all that is theirs for the Lord’s uses, giving it cheerfully and freely, not the lesser portions, since they have the hope of greater things, as that poor widow here cast her whole living into the treasury of God.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Mark 12:44 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 21:4 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Offerings continue in the Church, but as the free gifts of sons, who give all they have rather than a tenth.

Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Allusions: Mark 12:41–44 (Luke 21:1–4).

Topics: Eucharist

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.18.2 (Harvey 2:201; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-18-1/#p-4-18-2).

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-irenaeus-adversus-haereses-4-18-2) · Report an error

4.18.3Harvey 2:202

Ab initio enim respexit Deus ad munera Abel, quoniam cum simplicitate et justitia offerebat; super sacrificium autem Cain non respexit, quoniam cum zelo et malitia, quae erat adversus fratrem, divisionem habebat in corde, quemadmodum occulta ejus arguens Deus ait: Nonne si recte offeras, recte autem non dividas, peccasti? quiesce: quoniam non sacrificio placatur Deus. Si enim quis solummodo secundum quod videtur, munde et recte et legitime offerre tentaverit; secundum autem suam animam non recte dividat eam que est ad proximum communionem, neque timorem habeat Dei, non per id quod recte foris oblatum est sacrificium, seducit Deum, intus habens peccatum: nec oblatio talis proderit ei aliquid, sed cessatio mali quod est intus conceptum, ne per assimulatam operationem, magis autem peccatum, ipsum sibi homicidam faciat hominem. Propter quod et dicebat Dominus: Vae vobis Scribe et Pharisai hypocrite, quoniam similes estis monumentis dealbatis. A foris enim sepulchrum apparet formosum; intus autem plenum est ossibus mortuorum, et universa immunditia: sic et vos a foris quidem apparetis hominibus quasi justi, intus autem pleni estis malitia et hypocrisi. Cum a foris enim recte offerre putarentur, similem zelum Cain habebant in semetipsis: propter quod et occiderunt justum, pretermittentes consilium Verbi, quemadmodum et Cain. Illi enim ait: Quiesce; et non assensit. Quiescere autem quid est aliud, quam desinere a proposito impetu? Et his similia dicens: Pharisaee, inquit, caece, emunda quod est intus calicis, ut fiat et quod foris est, mundum. Et non audierunt. Ecce, enim ait Hieremias; non sunt oculi tui, nec cor tuum bonum; sed in cupiditate tua, et ad sanguinem justum, ut effundas eum, et ad injustitiam, et ad homicidium, ut facias. Et iterum Esaias: Fecistis, inquit, consilium, non per me, et testamenta, non per spiritum meum. Ut igitur interior eorum voluntas et cogitatio ad manifestum producta, sine culpa et malum non operantem ostendat esse Deum, eum qui absconsa manifestat, sed non eum qui malum operetur, cum minime quiesceret Cain, ait ei, Ad te conversio ejus, et tu dominaberis ejus. Pilato quoque similiter dicebat: Nullam haberes potestatem in me, nisi datum tibi fuisset desuper; concedente Deo semper justum, ut hic quidem ex his quie passus est et sustinuit, probatus recipiatur; qui autem malignatus est ex his quse egit adjudicatus expellatur. Igitur non sacrificia sanctificant hominem; non enim indiget sacrificio Deus: sed conscientia ejus qui offert sanctificat sacrificium, pura exsistens, et prestat acceptare Deum quasi ab amico. Peccator autem, inquit, qui occidit mihi vitulum, quasi occidat canem.

For in the beginning God looked on Abel’s gifts, because he offered with simplicity and justice; but he did not look on Cain’s sacrifice, because he had division in his heart, with the envy and malice he had against his brother, as God says, exposing his hidden thoughts: “If you offer rightly but do not divide rightly, have you not sinned? Be still”; for God is not appeased by sacrifice. For if someone tries to offer only outwardly, cleanly, rightly, and lawfully, but in his soul does not rightly divide the fellowship owed to his neighbour, and has no fear of God, he does not deceive God by the sacrifice rightly offered outwardly while he has sin within; nor will such an offering profit him at all, but only ceasing from the evil conceived within, lest through the feigned act sin should rather make the man his own murderer. For this reason the Lord also said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs. For outwardly the tomb appears beautiful, but within it is full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness; so you too outwardly appear just to people, but within you are full of wickedness and hypocrisy.” For while outwardly they were thought to offer rightly, they had in themselves an envy like Cain’s; for this reason they also killed the Just One, passing over the counsel of the Word, as Cain did. For he was told, “Be still,” and he did not consent. And what is “be still” but to desist from the intended violence? And saying similar things to these men, he says: “Blind Pharisee, cleanse the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.” And they did not listen. “For behold,” says Jeremiah, “your eyes and your heart are not good, but are set on your greed, on innocent blood to shed it, and on injustice and murder to commit them.” And again Isaiah: “You have taken counsel,” he says, “but not through me, and made covenants, but not through my Spirit.” So that, then, their inner will and thought, brought into the open, may show that God is without blame and does no evil, he who reveals hidden things but does not do evil, he said to Cain, when he would not be still: “To you shall be his turning, and you shall rule over him.” Likewise he said to Pilate: “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above”; God always yielding up the just, so that the one, tested by what he suffered and endured, may be accepted, and the one who acted wickedly, judged by what he did, may be cast out. Sacrifices, then, do not sanctify a man, for God does not need sacrifice; but the conscience of the one who offers, when it is pure, sanctifies the sacrifice and moves God to accept it as from a friend. “But the sinner,” he says, “who kills a calf for me is as one who kills a dog.”

Gen 4:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 4:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 4:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 23:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 23:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 23:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 22:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 30:1 (quotation, high confidence) · John 19:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 66:3 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God accepted Abel’s offering and not Cain’s because sacrifice does not sanctify; a pure conscience sanctifies the sacrifice.

Quotations and allusions: Gen 4:4–5, 7 (LXX); Matt 23:27–28; Matt 23:26; Jer 22:17; Isa 30:1; John 19:11; Isa 66:3.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; margin debris; margin debris; stray stop; stray mark; stray marks; hyphenated word): peccasti? ! quiesce → peccasti? quiesce; munde οὐ recte → munde et recte; γα vobis → Vae vobis; wnioersa → universa; ^putarentur → putarentur; et " non assensit → et non assensit; a Sproposito → a proposito; Phariswe, inquit, cece → Pharisaee, inquit, caece; oculi tut → oculi tui; tnjustitiam → injustitiam; '°tes- tamenta → testamenta; sed 118. tv. non eum → sed non eum; ait GR. IV. ei, Ad te conversio ejus, et. tu → ait ei, Ad te conversio ejus, et tu; nisi? datum tibi J'uisset → nisi datum tibi fuisset; Peccafor → Peccator.

Topics: Eucharist, Ethics

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.18.3 (Harvey 2:202; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-18-1/#p-4-18-3).

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-irenaeus-adversus-haereses-4-18-3) · Report an error

4.18.4Harvey 2:202–205

Quoniam igitur cum simplicitate Ecclesia offert, juste munus ejus purum sacrificium apud Deum deputatum est. Quemadmodum et Paulus Philippensibus ait: Repletus sum acceptis ab Epaphrodito, que a vobis missa sunt, odorem suavitatis, hostiam acceptabilem, placentem Deo. Oportet enim nos oblationem Deo facere, et in omnibus gratos inveniri fabricatori Deo, in sententia pura et fide sine hypocrisi, in spe firma, in dilectione ferventi, primitias earum quz sunt ejus, creaturarum offerentes. Et hanc oblationem Ecclesia sola puram offert fabricatori, offerens ei cum gratiarum actione ex creatura ejus. Judaei autem non offerunt: manus enim eorum sanguine plenae sunt: non enim receperunt Verbum, per quod offertur Deo. Sed neque omnes haereticorum synagogae. Alii enim alterum preter fabricatorem dicentes Patrem, ideo quz secundum nos creaturae sunt, offerentes ei, cupidum alieni ostendunt eum, et aliena concupiscentem. Qui vero ex defectione, et ignorantia, et passione dicunt facta ea quz sunt secundum nos, ignorantiae, et passionis, et defectionis fructus offerentes, peccant in Patrem suum, contumeliam facientes magis ei, quam gratias agentes. Quomodo autem constabit eis, eum panem in quo gratiae actae sint, corpus esse Domini sui, et calicem sanguinis ejus, si non ipsum fabricatoris mundi Filium dicant, id est, Verbum ejus, per quod lignum fructificat, et effluunt fontes, et terra dat primum quidem fenum, post deinde spicam, deinde plenum triticum in spica?

Since, then, the Church offers with simplicity, her gift is rightly reckoned a pure sacrifice before God. As Paul also says to the Philippians: “I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus what was sent from you, a fragrant odour, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.” For we ought to make an offering to God, and to be found grateful in all things to God the Maker, with a pure mind and faith without hypocrisy, with firm hope and fervent love, offering the firstfruits of his creatures. And this offering the Church alone offers pure to the Maker, offering to him with thanksgiving from his creation. But the Jews do not offer; for their hands are full of blood; for they did not receive the Word through whom it is offered to God. Nor do any of the assemblies of the heretics. For some, calling the Father another besides the Maker, and therefore offering him what belongs to our creation, show him to be covetous of what is another’s and desirous of what is not his. And those who say that the things around us were made from defect, ignorance, and passion, offering him the fruits of ignorance, passion, and defect, sin against their Father, insulting him rather than giving thanks. And how will they be consistent in saying that the bread over which thanks have been given is the body of their Lord, and the cup his blood, if they do not say that he is the Son of the maker of the world, that is, his Word, through whom the tree bears fruit, the springs flow, and the earth gives first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear?

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Phil 4:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 1:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Mark 4:28 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Church alone offers the pure sacrifice from God’s creation; the heretics cannot consistently call the eucharistic bread and cup the Lord’s body and blood while denying that he is the Creator’s Son.

Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. The polemic against the Jews and the eucharistic argument are translated as written. Quotations and allusions: Phil 4:18; Isa 1:15; Mark 4:28.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line number; margin reference; stray mark): acceptis ab vhi. iv. 18. Epaphrodito → acceptis ab Epaphrodito; primitias ^earum → primitias earum; fabricatori 9offerens → fabricatori, offerens; non enim Baal i. 15. receperunt → non enim receperunt; agentes.? Quomodo → agentes. Quomodo; ejus, ^per quod → ejus, per quod.

Topics: Eucharist, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.18.4 (Harvey 2:202–205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-18-1/#p-4-18-4).

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-irenaeus-adversus-haereses-4-18-4) · Report an error

4.18.5Harvey 2:205

Quomodo autem rursus dicunt carnem in corruptionem devenire, et non percipere vitam, quae a corpore Domini et sanguine alitur? Ergo sententiam mutent, aut abstineant offerendo que predicta sunt. Nostra autem consonans est sententia Eucharistiae, et Eucharistia rursus confirmat sententiam nostram. Offerimus enim ei que sunt ejus, congruenter communicationem et unitatem praedicantes carnis et Spiritus. Quemadmodum enim qui est a terra panis, percipiens invocationem Dei, jam non communis panis est, sed Eucharistia, ex duabus rebus constans, terrena et caelesti: sic et corpora nostra percipientia Eucharistiam, jam non sunt corruptibilia, spem resurrectionis habentia.

How, again, do they say that the flesh, which is nourished by the body and blood of the Lord, goes to corruption and does not partake of life? Let them, then, either change their opinion or abstain from offering the things mentioned. But our opinion agrees with the Eucharist, and the Eucharist in turn confirms our opinion. For we offer to him what is his, fittingly proclaiming the communion and union of flesh and Spirit. For as the bread from the earth, receiving the invocation of God, is no longer common bread but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly, so also our bodies, receiving the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Notes and citation

Summary: As the bread that receives God’s invocation becomes the Eucharist, earthly and heavenly, so our bodies that receive it have the hope of resurrection.

Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition; words of Harvey’s note were removed from the middle. The Eucharist: translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; margin debris; note debris; section number): 4. Quomodo → Quomodo; eniin → enim; percipiens iv. invocationem → percipiens invocationem; sic et corpora inconfusa sunt duo. Sicut enim antequam nostra → sic et corpora nostra; habentia. G. 338. 5. → habentia..

Topics: Eucharist, Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.18.5 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-18-1/#p-4-18-5).

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-irenaeus-adversus-haereses-4-18-5) · Report an error

4.18.6Harvey 2:205

Offerimus autem ei, non quasi indigenti, sed gratias agentes dominationi ejus, et sanctificantes creaturam. Quemadmodum enim Deus non indiget eorum que a nobis sunt, sic nos indigemus offerre aliquid Deo; sicut Salomon ait: Qui miseretur pauperi, feneratur Deo. Qui enim nullius indigens est Deus, in se assumit bonas operationes nostras, ad hoc ut prestet nobis retributionem bonorum suorum; sicut Dominus noster ait: Venite benedicti Patris mei, percipite preparatum vobis regnum. Esurivi enim, et dedistis mihi manducare: sitivi, et potastis me: hospes fui, et collegistis me: nudus, et cooperuistis me: infirmus, et visitastis me: in carcere, et venistis ad me. Sicut igitur non his indigens, vult tamen a nobis propter nos fieri, ne simus infructuosi: ita id ipsum Verbum dedit populo preceptum faciendarum oblationum, quamvis non indigeret eis, ut disceret Deo servire; sic et ideo nos quoque offerre vult munus ad altare frequenter sine intermissione. Est ergo altare in coelis, illuc enim preces nostrae et oblationes nostre diriguntur; et templum, quemadmodum Johannes in Apocalypsi ait: Et apertum est templum Dei; et tabernaculum: Ecce enim, inquit, tabernaculum Dei, in quo habitabit cum hominibus.

We offer to him, not as though he needed it, but giving thanks to his lordship and sanctifying creation. For as God does not need what is ours, so we need to offer something to God; as Solomon says: “He who has pity on the poor lends to God.” For God, who needs nothing, takes our good works to himself so as to give us in return his own good things, as our Lord says: “Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you. For I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; naked and you clothed me; sick and you visited me; in prison and you came to me.” As, then, not needing these things, he nevertheless wants them done by us for our sake, lest we be unfruitful, so the same Word gave the people the precept of making offerings, though he did not need them, so that they might learn to serve God; and so too he wants us to offer our gift at the altar frequently and without ceasing. There is, then, an altar in heaven, for our prayers and offerings are directed there; and a temple, as John says in the Apocalypse: “And the temple of God was opened”; and a tabernacle: “For behold,” he says, “the tabernacle of God, in which he will dwell with men.”

Prov 19:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 25:34 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 25:35 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 25:36 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 11:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 21:3 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: We offer to God not because he needs it but to give thanks and for our own sake; our offerings are directed to the altar in heaven.

Quotations: Prov 19:17; Matt 25:34–36; Rev 11:19; Rev 21:3.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip; stray mark; line number; margin debris; margin debris inside a word; margin reference; margin reference inside a word; note marker; running head; stray Greek; stray Greek): gratias LiB. 1v. agentes ὃ dominationi → gratias agentes dominationi; Quemad6. iv. modum → Quemadmodum; sic nos MABS IV. indigemus → sic nos indigemus; sieut Salomon → sicut Salomon; miseretur τος an w, pauperi → miseretur pauperi; Venite Matt xxv. benedicti → Venite benedicti; Esurivi ὁ enim → Esurivi enim; hospes fut, et. collegistis → hospes fui, et collegistis; $n carcere, et venistis ad me. — Sicut → in carcere, et venistis ad me. Sicut; indigens, 4 vult → indigens, vult; ut 5disceret → ut disceret; ideo 118.. nos → ideo nos; intermisM. 352. xxxi.. 1 GK IV. gione → intermissione; nostre et M459.1V. oblationes → nostrae et oblationes; quemadmodum JoApos zi ih. hannes → quemadmodum Johannes; et taberApoc. xxi 3. naculum → et tabernaculum.

Topics: Eucharist, Prayer

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.18.6 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-18-1/#p-4-18-6).

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-irenaeus-adversus-haereses-4-18-6) · Report an error

Against 4, chapter 19

4.19.1Harvey 2:205

Munera autem et oblationes et sacrificia omnia in typo populus accepit, quemadmodum ostensum est Moysi in monte ab uno et eodem Deo, cujus et nunc in Ecclesia glorificatur nomen in omnibus gentibus, Sed terrena quidem, quae sunt erga nos disposita, congruit typos esse eorum quie sunt coelestia, ab eodem tamen Deo facta. Nec enim aliter poterat assimilare spiritalium imaginem. Quse autem supercaelestia, et spiritalia sunt, et quantum ad nos spectat, invisibilia et inenarrabilia, typos rursus alterorum coelestium dicere, et alterius pleromatis, et Deum alterius patris imaginem esse, et errantium est a veritate, et omnimodo stultorum et hebetum. Cogentur enim hi tales, quemadmodum saepenumero ostendimus, semper typos typorum, et imagines imaginum adinvenire, et nunquam figere animum suum in uno et vero Deo. Supra enim Deum facte sunt cogitationes ipsorum, supergressi cordibus suis ipsum magistrum, suspicione quidem superelati et supergressi, veritate autem declinantes a vero Deo.

The people received the gifts, offerings, and all the sacrifices in a figure, as was shown to Moses on the mountain, from one and the same God, whose name is now glorified in the Church among all the nations. It is fitting that the earthly things arranged around us should be types of the heavenly, both made by the same God; for in no other way could he give a likeness of spiritual things. But to say that the things above the heavens and spiritual, which for us are invisible and unspeakable, are in turn types of other heavenly things and of another Pleroma, and that God is the image of another Father, is the mark of those who stray from the truth and are altogether foolish and dull. For such people, as we have often shown, will be forced always to discover types of types and images of images, and never to fix their minds on the one true God. For their thoughts have gone above God, and they have passed beyond the Master himself in their hearts, lifted up and passing beyond him in imagination, but in truth turning away from the true God.

Exod 25:40 (allusion, high confidence) · Mal 1:11 (allusion, medium confidence) · Heb 8:5 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Earthly offerings are types of heavenly things, but to make heavenly things types of a higher Pleroma leads to endless images and away from the true God.

Allusions: Exod 25:40; Mal 1:11; Heb 8:5.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip; margin debris; note marker): Monera autem et oblationes et sacrificia omnia in typo o. sss. populus → Munera autem et oblationes et sacrificia omnia in typo populus; qus sunt erga nos → quae sunt erga nos; οὐ quantum → et quantum; et 4 omnimodo → et omnimodo; uno Set vero Deo → uno et vero Deo.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.19.1 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-18-1/#p-4-19-1).

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-irenaeus-adversus-haereses-4-19-1) · Report an error

4.19.2Harvey 2:205

Ad quos juste quis dicat, quemadmodum ipse sermo suggerit: Quatenus super Deum extollitis cogitationes vestras, inconsiderate elati? Audistis mensos esse colos in palma; dicite mihi mensuram, et enarrate multitudinem cubitorum innumerabilem, exponite mihi plenitudinem, latitudinem, et longitudinem, et altitudinem, circummensurationis initium et finem, que non intelligit cor hominis, et non comprehendit ea. Vere enim magna sunt thesaurophylacia caelestia: immensurabilis est in corde Deus, et incomprehensibilis in animo, qui comprehendit terram pugillo. Quis respicit mensuram dextre ejus? Digitum quis cognoscit? Aut manum ejus quis intelligit, eam quz mensurat immensa, eam quae extendit mensura sua mensuram caelorum, et constringit pugillo terram cum abyssis, que in se continet latitudinem, et longitudinem, et profundum deorsum, et altitudinem supernam universse conditionis, quze videtur, quze auditur et intelligitur, et quse invisibilis est? Et propter hoc super omne initium, et potestatem, et dominationem, et omne nomen quod nominatur omnium que facta sunt et condita sunt, exsistens Deus. Ipse est qui caelos implet, et perspicit abyssos, qui est etiam cum unoquoque nostrum: Deus enim, inquit, appropinquans ego sum, et non Deus de longinquo. Si absconditur homo in absconsis, et ego eum non videbo? Manus enim ejus apprehendit omnia: et ipsa est que coelos quidem illuminat, illuminat etiam quse sub caelo sunt, et scrutatur renes et corda, et in absconsis inest, et in secretis nostris, et in manifesto alit et conservat nos.

To them one may justly say, as Scripture itself suggests: How far above God do you lift your thoughts, you who are rashly puffed up? You have heard that the heavens are measured in his palm; tell me the measure, and recount the countless multitude of cubits, explain to me the fullness, the breadth, the length, and the height, the beginning and end of the measurement, things which the heart of man does not understand or grasp. For truly the heavenly treasuries are great: God is immeasurable in the heart and incomprehensible in the mind, who holds the earth in his fist. Who perceives the measure of his right hand? Who knows his finger? Or who understands his hand, which measures the immeasurable, which by its own measure stretches out the measure of the heavens and holds the earth with the abysses in its fist, which contains in itself the breadth, the length, the depth below, and the height above of the whole creation, what is seen, what is heard and understood, and what is invisible? And for this reason God is above every principality and power and dominion and every name that is named, of all things that were made and created. He it is who fills the heavens and looks into the abysses, who is also with each one of us. “For I am a God who draws near,” he says, “and not a God from afar. If a man hides in hidden places, shall I not see him?” For his hand grasps all things; and it is the hand that illumines the heavens, and illumines also what is under heaven, and searches the reins and the hearts, is present in hidden places and in our secret thoughts, and openly nourishes and preserves us.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Isa 40:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 3:18 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 2:9 (echo, medium confidence) · Eph 1:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 23:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 23:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 17:10 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: No one can measure God, who holds heaven and earth in his hand and is near to each of us; the heretics vainly place another God above him.

Harvey’s chapter title (how he who made this creation is shown to be unsearchable and incomprehensible) was removed. Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Quotations and allusions: Isa 40:12; Eph 3:18; 1 Cor 2:9; Eph 1:21; Jer 23:23–24; Jer 17:10.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; editor's chapter title; OCR slip; margin debris; margin reference; margin reference; OCR slip): Quemadmodum nvestigabilis et incomprehensibilis osten— xix. s. ditur is, qui hanc que secundum nos est condidit creaturam. Ap quos → Ad quos; dicite mihi xai. x1 19. mensuram → dicite mihi mensuram; mihj → mihi; cireummensurationis → circummensurationis; eam 486 tendit → eam quae extendit; et i. m. dominationem → et dominationem; nostrum: Deua, ser. xxiii. s3. enim inquit, appropinquans ego sum, et mon Deus → nostrum: Deus enim, inquit, appropinquans ego sum, et non Deus.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.19.2 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-18-1/#p-4-19-2).

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-irenaeus-adversus-haereses-4-19-2) · Report an error

4.19.3Harvey 2:205

Si autem plenitudinem et magnitudinem manus ejus non comprehendit homo, quemadmodum poterit quis intelligere aut cognoscere in corde tam magnum Deum? Quem quasi jam mensi sint et perspexerint, et universum eum decurrerint, super eum esse aliud Pleroma Aeonum confingunt, et alterum Patrem; ad Bythum dementiae descendentes: Patrem quidem dicentes suum finiri usque ad ea que sunt extra Pleroma, Demiurgum vero rursum non attingere usque ad Pleroma: et sic neutrum eorum ponunt esse perfectum et comprehendentem omnia. Deerit enim illi quidem universa quie est extra Pleroma, mundi fabricatio; huic autem quise est intra Pleroma, mundi fabricatio, et neuter eorum erit omnium Deus. Quoniam autem magnitudinem Dei ex his quze ab eo facta sunt, nemo enarrare potest, hoc omnibus manifestum est: et quoniam magnitudo ejus non deficit, sed omnia continet, et pervenit usque ad nos, et nobiscum est, omnis quicunque digne Deo sapit, confitebitur.

But if man does not grasp the fullness and greatness of his hand, how can anyone understand or know in his heart so great a God? Yet, as though they had already measured and examined him and run through the whole of him, they invent above him another Pleroma of Aeons and another Father, descending into a Bythus of madness, saying that their Father is bounded at the things outside the Pleroma, while the Demiurge does not reach as far as the Pleroma; and so they make neither of them perfect and comprehending all things. For the first will lack the whole making of the world outside the Pleroma, and the second the making of the world inside the Pleroma, and neither of them will be the God of all. That no one can fully declare the greatness of God from the things he has made is plain to all; and that his greatness does not fail but contains all things, reaches even to us, and is with us, everyone who thinks worthily of God will confess.

Notes and citation

Summary: No one can comprehend God, yet the heretics divide him into a Father and a Demiurge, neither of whom is the God of all.

Harvey’s notes (with a passage of Cyprian) and running head, printed in the middle of the section, were removed. The OCR lost a few words before “a Bythus of madness” (ANF: “certainly not looking up to celestial things, but truly descending into a profound abyss”).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Harvey's notes and running head leaked into the text; OCR slip; margin debris; margin debris; OCR slip): intelligere aut 1 AR. suggeretur. digne estimamus, dum insstimabilem 3 AR. intelliget... comprehendet. dextra ejus digitum quis cognoscit ! CYPR. Ep. 57: Deus 9 ΑΒ, intelliget. initium, ἀρχήν. nec videri potest, visu clarior est: nec 7 sunt, comprehendi, tactu purior est: nec sesti5 et. mari, sensu major est: et ideo sic eum ® AR. comprehendat. 212 IMMENSITAS DEI cognoscere → intelligere aut cognoscere; mensi o. 3$. sint → mensi sint; super eum vi.: esse aliud Pleroma?7Eonum → super eum esse aliud Pleroma Aeonum; ad thum dementie → ad Bythum dementiae; Deerit enim ili quidem → Deerit enim illi quidem; fabrieatio; huie → fabricatio; huic; quieunque → quicunque.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.19.3 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-18-1/#p-4-19-3).

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-irenaeus-adversus-haereses-4-19-3) · Report an error