Against Heresies 4.37.1–4.40.3

Irenaeus of Lyons · Against Heresies · ca. 180–190 · Lyons · 18 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.

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Against 4, chapter 37

4.37.1Harvey 2:205

Illud autem, quod ait: Quoties volui colligere filios tuos, et noluisti? veterem legem libertatis hominis manifestavit, quia liberum eum Deus fecit ab initio, habentem suam potestatem, sicut et suam animam, ad utendum sententia Dei voluntarie, et non coactum a Deo. Vis enim a Deo non fit, sed bona sententia adest illi semper. Et propter hoc consilium quidem bonum dat omnibus. Posuit autem in homine potestatem electionis, quemadmodum et in angelis: (etenim angeli rationabiles:) uti hi quidem qui obedissent juste bonum sint possidentes, datum quidem a Deo, servatum vero ab ipsis. Qui autem non obedierunt, juste non invenientur cum bono, et meritam poenam percipient: quoniam Deus quidem dedit benigne bonum, ipsi vero non custodierunt diligenter illud, neque pretiosum arbitrati sunt, sed supereminentiam bonitatis contemserunt. Abjicientes igitur bonum et quasi respuentes, merito omnes justum judicium incident Dei, quemadmodum et Apostolus Paulus in ea epistola que est ad Romanos, testificatus est, dicens ita: An divitias bonitatis ejus, et patientia, et longantmitatis contemnis, ignorans quoniam bonitas Dei in poenitentiam te adducit? Secundum autem duritiam tuam et cor impoenitens thesaurisas tibimetipsi iram in diem irae et revelationis justi judicit Dei. Gloria autem et honor, inquit, omni operanti bonum. Dedit ergo Deus bonum, quemadmodum et Apostolus testificatur in eadem epistola, et qui operantur quidem illud, gloriam et honorem percipient, quoniam operati sunt bonum cum possint non operari illud; hi autem qui illud non operantur, judicium justum excipient Dei, quoniam non sunt operati bonum cum possint operari illud.

And the saying “How often I wanted to gather your children, and you would not!” made plain the ancient law of human freedom: that God made man free from the beginning, having his own power, as he has his own soul, to use God’s counsel willingly and not under compulsion from God. For force is not found with God, but good counsel is always present with him. And for this reason he gives good counsel to all. But he placed in man the power of choice, as also in the angels (for angels are rational), so that those who obeyed might justly possess the good, given indeed by God but kept by themselves. But those who did not obey will justly not be found with the good, and will receive the punishment they deserve, because God kindly gave the good, but they did not guard it carefully or consider it precious, but despised the surpassing greatness of his goodness. Casting away the good, then, and as it were spitting it out, they will all deservedly fall under the just judgment of God, as the apostle Paul also testified in the letter to the Romans, saying: “Or do you despise the riches of his goodness and patience and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But by your hardness and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and of the revelation of the just judgment of God.” “But glory and honour,” he says, “to everyone who does good.” God, then, gave the good, as the apostle testifies in the same letter, and those who do it will receive glory and honour, because they did the good when they could have not done it; but those who do not do it will receive the just judgment of God, because they did not do the good when they could have done it.

Matt 23:37 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 2:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 2:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 2:10 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God made men and angels free to choose; those who keep the good he gave are rewarded, and those who despise it are justly judged.

Harvey’s chapter title (“Proof that man is free and in his own power, so that he can choose for himself better things and their contraries”) was removed. Quotations: Matt 23:37; Rom 2:4–5, 10.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slips; editor's chapter title; margin reference; OCR slips; margin debris; margin debris inside a word; page number inside a word; OCR slips; running head; stray mark): Ostensio quod homo liber sit et sua potestatis, ad hoc ut a se eligere possit meliora, et contraria. 11,085 autem, quod ait: Quoties volu? colligere filios tuos, ® mate. xxiii. tioluisti? veterem → Illud autem, quod ait: Quoties volui colligere filios tuos, et noluisti? veterem; et non co^ A,, actum → et non coactum; Deus Lin iv. quidem → Deus quidem; diligenter on Iv. illud → diligenter illud; boniMass 1V- tatis → bonitatis; Paulus ! in ea → Paulus in ea; testificatus & est → testificatus est; bonitas Dei ! n pamitentiam te adducit ἢ Secundum → bonitas Dei in poenitentiam te adducit? Secundum; cor tmpenttens Y theΟ. 375 saurisas tibimetipsi tram in diem ra et → cor impoenitens thesaurisas tibimetipsi iram in diem irae et.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.37.1 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-37-1).

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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).

4.37.2Harvey 2:205

Si autem naturaliter quidam boni, quidam vero mali facti fuissent; neque hi laudabiles essent qui boni sunt, tales enim facti fuerant, sed neque illi vituperabiles, et ipsi enim tales fuerant instituti. Sed quoniam omnes ejusdem sunt nature, et potentes retinere et operari bonum, et potentes rursum amittere id et non facere; juste etiam apud homines sensatos (quanto magis apud Deum) alii quidem laudantur, et dignum percipiunt testimonium electionis bon: et perseverantiae; alii vero accusantur, et dignum percipiunt damnum, eo quod justum et bonum reprobaverint. Et ideo prophete bonum quidem hortabantur homines, justitiam agere bonumque operari, sicut per multa ostendimus: quia in nobis sit hoc, et propter multam negligentiam in oblivionem inciderimus, et consilio egeamus bono: propter quod bonus Deus praestavit bonum consilium per prophetas.

But if some had been made good by nature and others evil, neither would those who are good be praiseworthy, for they had been made so, nor would the others be blameworthy, for they too had been constituted so. But since all are of the same nature, able both to hold and to do the good, and able again to lose it and not do it, it is right that even among sensible men (and how much more with God) some are praised and receive the testimony they deserve for their choice of the good and their perseverance, while others are accused and receive the loss they deserve, because they rejected what is just and good. And so the prophets exhorted men to the good, to act justly and to do good, as we have shown by many proofs, because this is in our power, and because through much negligence we had fallen into forgetfulness and needed good counsel; for which reason the good God provided good counsel through the prophets.

Notes and citation

Summary: Since all share the same nature and can choose good or evil, praise and blame are just, and God gave counsel through the prophets.

Harvey’s chapter title (“Proof that some are not good by nature and others evil, but that the good lies in man’s choice”), his reference to John of Damascus’s Parallels (where a Greek fragment of this section survives), and his notes were removed. Where the Latin has “sensible men”, Grabe proposed “men who use good laws”.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Harvey's notes, running head, and page number; OCR slip; editor's chapter title; margin references; OCR slip): Ostensio quod non natura quidam bon? sint, quidam vero mali, sed quod in hominis electione sit bonum. E Parall. 1. Sz autem naturaliter quidam boni, quidam vero mali facti J. Damasc. A...... fuissent → Si autem naturaliter quidam boni, quidam vero mali facti fuissent; (quanto magis apud 3 tales enim facti fuerant, MSS. homines bonis legibus utentes. GRABE. ELECTIO ET REJECTIO. 287 Deum) → (quanto magis apud Deum); Spreestavit → praestavit.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.37.2 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-37-2).

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4.37.3Harvey 2:205

Propter hoc autem et Dominus, Luceat lumen vestrum, dicebat, coram hominibus, ut videant bona facta vestra, et clarificent Patrem vestrum qui in colis est. Et: Attendite vobis, ne forte graventur corda vestra in crapula, et ebrietate, et sollicitudinibus secularibus. Et: Sint lumbi vestri pracincti, et lucerne ardentes, et vos similes hominibus exspectantibus Dominum suum, quando revertatur a nuptiis, ut cum venerit et pulsaverit aperiant ei. Beatus servus ille, quem, cum venerit Dominus ejus, invenerit ita facientem. Et iterum: Servus qui scit voluntatem Domini sui, et non facit, vapulabit multas. Et: Quid mihi dicitis, Domine, Domine, et non facitis que dico? Et iterum: Si autem dicat servus in corde suo, Tardat Dominus, et incipiat caedere conservos, et manducare et bibere et inebriari, veniet Dominus ejus in die qua non sperat, et dividet eum, et partem ejus cum hypocritis ponet. Et omnia talia quze liberum et suze potestatis ostendunt hominem, et quia consilio instruat Deus, adhortans nos ad subjectionem sibi, et avertens ab incredulitate, non tamen de violentia cogens.

For this reason the Lord also said: “Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” And: “Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and worldly cares.” And: “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and you like men waiting for their lord, when he returns from the wedding, so that when he comes and knocks they may open to him. Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he comes, finds doing so.” And again: “The servant who knows his lord’s will and does not do it will be beaten with many blows.” And: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’, and do not do what I say?” And again: “But if the servant says in his heart, ‘My lord is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink and get drunk, his lord will come on a day when he does not expect him, and will cut him in pieces and put his portion with the hypocrites.” All such sayings show man free and in his own power, and that God instructs by counsel, exhorting us to submit to him and turning us away from unbelief, yet not compelling us by force.

Matt 5:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 21:34 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 12:35 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 12:36 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 12:37 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 12:47 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 6:46 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 24:48 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 24:49 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 24:50 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 24:51 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Lord’s many exhortations to watchfulness and obedience show that man is free, and that God counsels but does not compel.

Quotations: Matt 5:16; Luke 21:34; Luke 12:35–37; Luke 12:47; Luke 6:46; Matt 24:48–51 (compare Luke 12:45–46). A line of printer’s debris was removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; margin debris; margin debris; OCR slips; margin reference; margin reference inside a word; OCR slips; margin reference; OCR slips; printer's debris; OCR slip; stray mark): ut mate. v. 16. videant → ut videant; *$n craLac xxi. δὲ. pula, et. ebrietate, οἱ sollicitudinibus → in crapula, et ebrietate, et sollicitudinibus; Sint lumbi Lue 3, vestri → Sint lumbi vestri; hominibus. easpectantibus → hominibus exspectantibus; aperiant ei. — Beatus → aperiant ei. Beatus; ita. facientem, ἘΠῚ iterum: Serous Luc. xit. 47. gut scit → ita facientem. Et iterum: Servus qui scit; vapulabit ^multas → vapulabit multas; Et bus v4 iterum → Et iterum; et S ats wncipiat cedere → et incipiat caedere; σὲ dividet eum, et.?% 5 98 9 £ ×8 ¶8 ِ a = M——Ó— —— — —— M — á a —— partem → et dividet eum, et partem; ponet. — Et omnia → ponet. Et omnia.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.37.3 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-37-3).

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4.37.4Harvey 2:205

Etenim ipsum Evangelium si noluerit quis sequi, licet quidem ei, non tamen expedit. Inobedientia enim Dei et amissio boni est quidem in hominis potestate; lesionem autem et damnum non quamlibet infert. Et propter hoc Paulus ait: Omnia licent, sed non omnia expediunt; et libertatem referens hominis, quapropter et omnia licent, non cogente eum Deo; et id, non expedit, ostendens, ut non ad velamen malitiae abutamur libertate: non enim hoc expedit. Et iterum ait: Loquimini veritatem unusquisque cum proximo suo. Et: Omnis sermo malus de ore vestro non exeat, aut turpitudo, aut caniloquium, aut scurrilitas, quae ad rem non pertinent, sed magis gratiarum actio. Et: Eratis enim aliquando tenebre, nunc autem lumen in Domino: quasi filii lucis honeste ambulate: non in comessationibus, et ebrietatibus, non in cubilibus, in libidinibus, non in ira, et zelo. Et haec quidam fuistis, sed abluti estis, sed sanctificati estis in nomine Domini nostri. Si igitur non in nobis esset facere haec, aut non facere, quam causam habebat Apostolus, et multo prius ipse Dominus, consilium dare, quaedam quidem facere, a quibusdam vero abstinere? Sed quoniam libere sententiae ab initio est homo, et liberae sententiae est Deus cujus ad similitudinem factus est, semper consilium datur ei continere bonum, quod perficitur ex ea que est ad Deum obedientia.

For if someone does not wish to follow the Gospel itself, he may, but it is not expedient. For disobedience to God and the loss of the good are indeed in man’s power, but they bring no small injury and harm. And for this reason Paul says: “All things are lawful, but not all things are expedient”: referring to man’s freedom, which is why “all things are lawful,” since God does not compel him; and with “not expedient” showing that we should not abuse our freedom as a cloak for malice, for this is not expedient. And again he says: “Speak the truth, each of you, with his neighbour.” And: “Let no evil word come out of your mouth, nor shamefulness, nor foolish talk, nor coarse joking, which are not fitting, but rather thanksgiving.” And: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk honourably as children of light, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and lusts, not in anger and jealousy. And such were some of you; but you were washed, you were sanctified in the name of our Lord.” If, then, it were not in our power to do these things or not to do them, what reason had the apostle, and much earlier the Lord himself, to give counsel to do some things and to abstain from others? But since man is of free will from the beginning, and God, in whose likeness he was made, is of free will, counsel is always given him to hold fast the good, which is brought to completion by obedience to God.

1 Cor 6:12 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:23 (quotation, medium confidence) · 1 Pet 2:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 4:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 4:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 5:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 5:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 13:13 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 6:11 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Paul’s “all things are lawful, but not all are expedient” and the apostolic exhortations presuppose free will, given to man in the likeness of a free God.

Quotations and allusions: 1 Cor 6:12 / 10:23; 1 Pet 2:16; Eph 4:25; Eph 4:29 with 5:4; Eph 5:8; Rom 13:13; 1 Cor 6:11 (run together as one quotation).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; line number; OCR slips; margin debris; margin debris inside a word; margin reference; margin reference inside a word; OCR slips; margin reference; OCR slip; margin reference; line number; note marker; running head inside a word): damnum 1C. v.18, non quamlibet → damnum non quamlibet; et id,?»on expedit, 1Peti.16. ostendens → et id, non expedit, ostendens; Loquimtni veritatem unusquisEphes. iv. $9, QUO. Cum proximo → Loquimini veritatem unusquisque cum proximo; que ad rem Rphes iv.8. non pertinent → quae ad rem non pertinent; lucis Bom. xiit.13. 4honeste → lucis honeste; non in 1 cubilibus → non in cubilibus; Et hee 5quidam Suistis → Et haec quidam fuistis; Domini nosLIB. Iv tri. → Domini nostri.; quam — GR: iv causam → quam causam; conMASS! silium → consilium; abstinere $ Sed → abstinere? Sed.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.37.4 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-37-4).

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4.37.5Harvey 2:205

Et non tantum in operibus, sed etiam in fide, liberum et suze potestatis arbitrium hominis servavit Dominus, dicens: Secundum fidem tuam fiat tibi; propriam fidem hominis ostendens, quoniam propriam suam habet sententiam. Et iterum: Omnia possibilia credenti; et, Vade, sicut credidisti, fiat tibi. Et omnia talia suse potestatis secundum fidem ostendunt hominem. Et propter hoc, is qui credit ei habet vitam aeternam: qui autem non credit Filio, non habet vitam eternam, sed ira Dei manebit super ipsum. Secundum hanc igitur rationem, et suum proprium bonum ostendens Dominus, et sui arbitrii ac suze potestatis hominem significans, dicebat ad Hierusalem: Quoties volui congregare filios tuos, quemadmodum gallina pullos suos sub ascellas et noluisti? Quapropter relinquetur vobis domus vestra deserta.

And not only in works but also in faith the Lord preserved man’s choice free and in his own power, saying, “Let it be done to you according to your faith,” showing that faith is man’s own, since he has his own judgment. And again: “All things are possible to one who believes”; and, “Go; as you have believed, let it be done to you.” All such sayings show that man is in his own power as regards faith. And for this reason “whoever believes in him has eternal life; but whoever does not believe the Son does not have eternal life, but the wrath of God will remain on him.” On this principle, then, the Lord, showing his own goodness and indicating that man has his own choice and power, said to Jerusalem: “How often I wanted to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not! Therefore your house will be left to you desolate.”

Matt 9:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Mark 9:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 8:13 (quotation, high confidence) · John 3:36 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 23:37 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 23:38 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Faith too is a free act, as the Lord’s words about believing and his lament over Jerusalem show.

Quotations: Matt 9:29; Mark 9:23; Matt 8:13; John 3:36; Matt 23:37–38.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (line number; margin reference; margin reference; OCR slip; margin reference; OCR slips; note marker; stray mark): possibilia 8 credenti → possibilia credenti; fiat tibi. Mare. tx. 83. Et omnia → fiat tibi. Et omnia; credit e$ habet vitam wternam: qui autem son. ii. se. non credit → credit ei habet vitam aeternam: qui autem non credit; volut * congregare Matt xxiil filios → volui congregare filios; noluisti? ' Quapropter → noluisti? Quapropter; 5deserta → deserta.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.37.5 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-37-5).

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4.37.6Harvey 2:205

Qui autem his contraria dicunt, ipsi impotentem introducunt Dominum, scilicet quasi non potuerit perficere hoc quod voluerit: aut rursum ignorantem natura choicos, ut ipsi dicunt, et eos qui non possunt accipere ejus incorruptelam. Sed oportebat, inquit, eum neque angelos tales fecisse, ut possent transgredi, neque homines qui statim ingrati exsisterent in eum, quoniam rationabiles et examinatores et judiciales facti sunt, et non quemadmodum irrationabilia sive inanimalia, quze sua voluntate nihil possunt agere, sed cum necessitate et vi ad bonum trahuntur, in quibus unus sensus et unus mos, inflexibiles et sine judicio, qui nihil aliud esse possunt, praeterquam quod facti sunt. Sic autem nec suave esset eis, quod est bonum, neque pretiosa communicatio Dei, neque magnopere appetendum bonum, quod sine suo proprio motu et cura et studio provenisset, sed ultro et otiose insitum: ita ut essent nullius momenti boni, eo quod natura magis quam voluntate tales exsisterent, et ultroneum haberent bonum, sed non secundum electionem; et propter hoc nec hoc ipsum intelligentes, quoniam pulchrum sit quod bonum, neque fruentes eo. Quz enim fruitio boni apud eos qui ignorant? Quse autem gloria his qui non studuerunt illud? Quae autem corona his qui non eam, ut victores in certamine, consecuti sunt

Those who say the contrary make the Lord powerless, as though he could not accomplish what he wished; or else ignorant that some are by nature “earthly,” as they say, and unable to receive his incorruption. “But,” he says, “he ought not to have made angels such that they could transgress, nor men who would at once prove ungrateful to him”: because they were made rational, able to examine and to judge, and not like irrational or inanimate things, which can do nothing by their own will but are drawn to the good by necessity and force, in which there is one sense and one way, inflexible and without judgment, which can be nothing other than what they were made. But in that case the good would not be sweet to them, nor communion with God precious, nor the good greatly to be desired, which would have come without their own movement, care, and effort, but implanted of itself and without their concern; so that their goodness would be of no account, because they were such by nature rather than by will, and had the good spontaneously and not by choice; and for this reason they would not even understand that the good is beautiful, nor enjoy it. For what enjoyment of the good is there for those who do not know it? And what glory for those who have not striven for it? And what crown for those who have not won it, like victors in a contest?

Notes and citation

Summary: A goodness imposed by nature without choice would be neither prized nor enjoyed, and would win no crown.

Harvey’s chapter title (“Why man was not made perfect from the beginning”) was removed. “Earthly” renders choicos (Greek χοϊκούς), the Valentinian term for the material class of men; the objection introduced by “he says” is the opponents’.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (editor's chapter title; line number; margin debris; margin debris; OCR slip; running head; stray mark): Que causa fuerit, quod non ab initio perfectus factus est homo. Qui autem → Qui autem; 5choicos → choicos; transgredi, Lis.{v. neque → transgredi, neque; quoniam GE.lV. rationabiles → quoniam rationabiles; et non Mase. ITY. quemadmodum → et non quemadmodum; qui Μ. ses. nihil → qui nihil; natura * magis → natura magis; non c. 577. studuerunt illud Qu: autem → non studuerunt illud? Quae autem.

Topics: Ethics, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.37.6 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-37-6).

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4.37.7Harvey 2:205

Et propter hoc Dominus violentum dixit regnum celorum: et qui vim faciunt, inquit, diripiunt illud; hoc est, qui cum vi et agone vigilantes instanter diripiunt illud. Propter hoc autem et Paulus Apostolus ait Corinthiis: Nescitis, quoniam hi qui in stadio currunt, omnes quidem currunt, sed unus accipit bravium. Sic currite, ut apprehendatis. Omnis autem qui agonisatur, in omnibus continens est: ill quidem ut corruptibilem accipiant coronam, nos autem incorruptibilem. Ego. autem sic curro, non in incertum: sic pugno, non quasi aérem cadens: sed lividum facio corpus meum, et in servitutem redigo, ne forte aliis praedicans, ipse reprobus efficiar. Bonus igitur agonista ad incorruptele agonem adhortatur nos, uti coronemur, et pretiosam arbitremur coronam, videlicet quz per agonem nobis acquiritur, sed non ultro coalitam. Et quanto per agonem nobis advenit, tanto est pretiosior: quanto autem pretiosior, tanto eam semper diligamus. Sed neque similiter diliguntur ea quz ultro adveniunt, quam illa quae cum multa sollicitudine adinveniuntur. Quoniam igitur pro nobis erat, plus diligere Deum, cum agone hoc nobis adinvenire, et Dominus docuit, et Apostolus tradidit. Et alias autem esset videlicet nostrum insensatum bonum, quod esset inexercitatum. Sed et videre non tantum nobis esset desiderabile, nisi cognovissemus quantum esset malum non videre: et bene valere autem male valentis experientia honorabilius efficit; et lucem, tenebrarum comparatio; et vitam, mortis. Sic et coeleste regnum honorabilius est his qui cognoverunt terrenum. Quanto autem honorabilius, tanto magis diligimus illud; et si plus illud dilexerimus, clariores erimus apud Deum. Pro nobis igitur omnia hrec sustinuit Dominus, uti per omnia eruditi, in omnibus in futurum simus cauti, et perseveremus in omni ejus dilectione, rationabiliter edocti diligere Deum: Deo quidem magnanimitatem prestante in apostasia hominis; homine autem erudito per eam, quemadmodum et propheta ait: Emendabit te abscessio tua; preefiniente Deo omnia ad hominis perfectionem, et ad aedificationem, et manifestationem dispositionum; uti et bonitas ostendatur, et justitia perficiatur, et Ecclesia ad figuram imaginis Filii ejus coaptetur, et tandem aliquando maturus fiat homo, in tantis maturescens ad videndum et capiendum Deum.

And for this reason the Lord said that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the violent: “and the violent,” he says, “seize it”; that is, those who, with force and struggle, watchful and intent, seize it. For this reason the apostle Paul also says to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that those who run in the stadium all run, but one receives the prize? Run so that you may obtain it. Everyone who competes is self-controlled in all things: they to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. I, then, run thus, not aimlessly; I box thus, not as one beating the air; but I bruise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps, after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.” The good athlete, then, urges us to the contest for incorruption, so that we may be crowned and regard the crown as precious, namely the one acquired by us through contest and not grown on us of itself. And the more it comes to us through contest, the more precious it is; and the more precious it is, the more we should always love it. Nor are things that come of themselves loved in the same way as those that are found with much care. Since, then, it was for our good to love God more, by finding this through contest, the Lord taught it and the apostle handed it on. Otherwise our good would clearly be without perception, being unexercised. And sight would not be so desirable to us had we not known how great an evil it is not to see; and the experience of illness makes good health more prized; and comparison with darkness, light; and with death, life. So too the heavenly kingdom is more prized by those who have known the earthly. And the more it is prized, the more we love it; and if we love it more, we shall be more glorious with God. So the Lord bore all these things for us, so that, taught through all things, we may be careful in all things in the future, and persevere in all love of him, rationally taught to love God: God showing magnanimity in man’s apostasy, and man being taught through it, as the prophet also says: “Your falling away will correct you.” God determined beforehand all things for man’s perfection, for edification, and for the manifestation of his dispensations, so that goodness might be shown, righteousness brought to completion, the Church fitted to the figure of the image of his Son, and man at last made mature, ripening in such things to see and comprehend God.

Matt 11:12 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 9:24 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 9:25 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 9:26 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 9:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 2:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:29 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The kingdom is won through struggle, and God permitted man’s apostasy so that man, schooled by contrast and contest, might grow to maturity and see God.

Harvey’s long notes (on the reading “Omnis qui agonisatur”) that broke into the quotation, and his chapter title for chapter 38 at the end of the section, were removed. Quotations: Matt 11:12; 1 Cor 9:24–27; Jer 2:19. Allusion: Rom 8:29.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Harvey's notes leaked into the text; OCR slip; OCR slips; editor's chapter title; margin debris; margin debris inside a word; margin reference; margin reference inside a word; note marker; OCR slips; running head; stray mark): vioMatt. xi. 19, lentum → violentum; ef qui vim faciunt, inquit, diripiunt Sud; → et qui vim faciunt, inquit, diripiunt illud;; Corinthiis: 1 ὁ Nescitis, quoniam ht qui → Corinthiis: Nescitis, quoniam hi qui; bravium. | Sic → bravium. Sic; non $n incertum → non in incertum; ne hy8 Qui agonisatur. Grece est ὁ ἀγωνιdered si inanimalia, but copied as siue abet ut Irenaeus, Omnis enim qui agostate copy. illic annotat, omnes Codices suos, uno ex3 facere. cepto, legisse: Omnis qui agonisatur; 3 AR. inflexibilis. Gr. ἄκαμπτοι. quod e hic habebat VETUS noster Codex: 4 magis exstiterint. Codice consentiunt Codd. ARUND. et Sorte aliis praedicans, 4pse reprobus → ne forte aliis praedicans, ipse reprobus; agonista LIB. 1v. ad → agonista ad; et preΟΕ lV. tiosam → et pretiosam; nobis 40817 ' acquiritur → nobis acquiritur; illa 41100 cum → illa quae cum; Emendabit serem. is. 19. te → Emendabit te; Deum. Secundum quid omnia que facta sunt indigent perfecto, et unde est indigentia. → Deum..

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.37.7 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-37-7).

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Against 4, chapter 38

4.38.1Harvey 2:205

Si hoc autem dicat aliquis: Quid enim? Non poterat ab initio Deus perfectum fecisse hominem? Sciat, quoniam Deus quidem cum semper sit idem, et innatus, quantum ad ipsum est, omnia possibilia ei. Que autem facta sunt ab eo, secundum quod postea facturae initium habuerunt, secundum hoc et minora esse oportuit eo qui se fecerit: nec enim poterant infecta esse, quse nuper facta sunt. Propter quod autem non sunt infecta, propter hoc et ideo deficiunt a perfecto. Secundum enim quod sunt posteriora, secundum hoc et infantilia; et secundum quod infantilia, seeundum hoc et insueta, et inexercitata ad perfectam disciplinam. Quemadmodum enim mater potest quidem prestare perfectam escam infanti, ille autem adhuc non potest robustiorem se percipere escam: sic et Deus ipse quidem potens fuit homini praestare perfectionem ab initio, homo autem impotens percipere illam: infans enim fuit. Et propter hoc Dominus noster in novissimis temporibus, recapitulans in seipso omnia, venit ad nos, non quomodo ipse poterat, sed quomodo illum nos videre poteramus. Ipse enim in sua inenarrabili gloria ad nos venire poterat: sed nos magnitudinem glorie ipeius portare non poteramus. Et propter hoc, quasi infantibus, ille qui erat panis perfectus Patris, lac nobis semetipsum praestavit, quod erat secundum hominem ejus adventus, ut quasi a mammilla carnis ejus enutriti, et per talem lactationem assueti manducare et bibere Verbum Dei, et eum qui est immortalitatis panis, qui est Spiritus Patris, in nobis ipsis continere possimus.

But if someone says, “What then? Could God not have made man perfect from the beginning?”, let him know that, since God is always the same and unbegotten, as far as he himself is concerned all things are possible to him. But the things made by him, in that they had a beginning of their making afterwards, must for that reason be less than the one who made them; for things lately made could not be unmade. And because they are not unmade, for that very reason they fall short of the perfect. For in that they are later, in that they are childlike; and in that they are childlike, in that they are unaccustomed and unexercised in perfect discipline. For as a mother can indeed give perfect food to an infant, but he cannot yet take food stronger than himself, so God himself was able to give man perfection from the beginning, but man was unable to receive it, for he was an infant. And for this reason our Lord in the last times, recapitulating all things in himself, came to us, not as he himself could, but as we could see him. For he could have come to us in his ineffable glory, but we could not bear the greatness of his glory. And for this reason he who was the perfect bread of the Father gave himself to us as milk, as to infants, which was his coming as a man, so that, nourished as it were at the breast of his flesh, and by such nursing accustomed to eat and drink the Word of God, we might be able to hold in ourselves the bread of immortality, who is the Spirit of the Father.

1 Cor 3:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 1:10 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Man could not be made perfect at once because created things are childlike; so the Lord came to us as milk, in the flesh, to accustom us to the bread of immortality.

Harvey’s note (that “ideo” is redundant) and page number were removed; the redundant word is left in the text. Allusion: 1 Cor 3:2; Eph 1:10 (recapitulation).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Harvey's note and page number; OCR slips; stray letters): Sri hoe autem → Si hoc autem; homini 4 sdeo evidently redundant. expunged without affecting the sense.. 384. prestare → homini praestare; possimus. am → possimus..

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.38.1 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-38-1).

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4.38.2Harvey 2:205

Et propter hoc Paulus Corinthiis ait: Lac vobis potum dedi non escam: nondum enim poteratis escam percipere; id est, eum quidem adventum Domini, quem secundum hominem, didicistis; nondum autem Patris Spiritus requiescit super vos, propter vestram infirmitatem; Ubi enim sunt zelus, et discordia, ait, in vobis, et dissensiones, nonne carnales estis, et secundum hominem ambulatis? Hoc est, quoniam nondum Spiritus Patris erat cum ipsis, propter imperfectionem eorum et infirmitatem conversationis. Quemadmodum igitur Apostolus poterat dare escam; quibuscunque enim imponebant Apostoli manus, accipiebant Spiritum sanctum, qui est esca vite, illi autem non poterant percipere illud, quoniam infirmum adhuc et inexercitabilem sensum erga Deum conversationis habebant: sic et initio Deus quidem potens fuit dare perfectionem homini; ille autem nune nuper factus, non poterat illud accipere, vel accipiens capere, vel capiens continere. Et propter hoc coinfantiatum est homini Verbum Dei cum esset perfectus, non propter se, sed propter hominis infantiam sic capax effectus, quemadmodum homo illum capere potuit. Non igitur erga Deum impossibile et indigens, sed circa eum qui nunc nuper factus est homo; quoniam non infectus erat.

And for this reason Paul says to the Corinthians: “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, for you were not yet able to take solid food”; that is, you have learned the coming of the Lord according to man, but the Spirit of the Father does not yet rest on you because of your weakness. “For where there are jealousy and discord,” he says, “among you, and dissensions, are you not fleshly, and walking according to man?” That is, the Spirit of the Father was not yet with them, because of their imperfection and the weakness of their conduct. As, then, the apostle could give solid food (for those on whom the apostles laid hands received the Holy Spirit, who is the food of life), but they could not take it, because they still had a weak sense, unexercised in conduct toward God, so too at the beginning God was able to give man perfection, but man, being newly made, could not receive it, or receiving it hold it, or holding it keep it. And for this reason the Word of God, though he was perfect, became an infant together with man, not for his own sake, but for the sake of man’s infancy, being made capable of being held in such a way as man could hold him. So the impossibility and the deficiency were not on God’s side, but on the side of man, who was newly made, because he was not unmade.

1 Cor 3:2 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 8:17 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: As Paul gave the Corinthians milk, the Word became an infant with man because newly made man could not receive perfection at once.

Harvey’s chapter title (“What Paul means by ‘I gave you milk to drink, not solid food’”), his notes, and running head were removed. Quotations: 1 Cor 3:2–3. Allusion: Acts 8:17 (laying on of hands).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Harvey's note, running head, and page number inside a word; OCR slip; editor's chapter title; OCR slip; line number; stray marks inside a word): Quid est quod a Paulo dicitur, Lac vobis potum dedi, non escam. 1 1. Er propter hoc → Et propter hoc; prop..¢ ter → propter; ait, an vobis → ait, in vobis; non poof case can scarcely mark adds sunt. DONA ACCOMMODAT DEUS. 295 terat → non poterat; Serga Deum → erga Deum.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.38.2 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-38-2).

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4.38.3Harvey 2:205

Erga Deum autem virtus simul, et sapientia, et bonitas ostenditur: virtus quidem et bonitas in eo quod ea, quae nondum erant, voluntarie constituerit et fecerit; sapientia vero in eo, quod apta et consonantia, quz sunt, fecerit. Quedam autem propter immensam ejus benignitatem augmentum accipientia, et in multum temporis perseverantia, infecti gloriam referunt, Deo sine invidia donante quod bonum est. Secundum enim id quod facta sunt, non sunt infecta: secundum id vero quod perseverant longis seonibus, virtutem infecti assument, Deo gratuito donante eis sempiternam perseverationem. Et sic principalitatem quidem habebit in omnibus Deus, quoniam et solus infectus, et prior omnium, et omnibus, ut sint, ipse est causa: reliqua vero omnia in subjectione manent Dei. Subjectio autem Dei, incorruptelse perseverantia est: incorruptela autem gloria infecti. Per hanc igitur ordinationem, et hujusmodi convenientiam, et tali ductu, factus et plasmatus homo secundum imaginem et similitudinem constituitur infecti Dei: Patre quidem bene sentiente, et jubente; Filio vero ministrante, et formante; Spiritu vero nutrente, et augente; homine vero paulatim proficiente, et perveniente ad perfectum, id est, proximum infecto fieri. Perfectus enim est infectus: hic autem est Deus. Oportuerat autem hominem primo fieri, et factum augeri, et auctum corroborari, et corroboratum multiplicari, et multiplicatum convalescere, convalescentem vero glorificari, et glorificatum videre suum Dominum. Deus enim est qui habet videri: visio autem Dei efficax est incorruptelse: incorruptela vero proximum facit esse Deo.

But in God power, wisdom, and goodness are shown together: power and goodness in that he willingly established and made things that did not yet exist; wisdom in that he made the things that exist fitting and harmonious. And some things, receiving increase through his boundless kindness and enduring for a long time, reflect the glory of the unmade, as God gives what is good without envy. For in that they were made, they are not unmade; but in that they endure through long ages, they will take on the power of the unmade, God freely giving them everlasting endurance. And so God will have the pre-eminence in all things, since he alone is unmade, and first of all, and himself the cause of all things existing; while all other things remain in subjection to God. And subjection to God is enduring incorruption, and incorruption is the glory of the unmade. By this ordering, then, and such harmonies, and such a course, man, made and formed, is established according to the image and likeness of the unmade God: the Father approving and commanding, the Son serving and forming, the Spirit nourishing and increasing, and man little by little advancing and coming to the perfect, that is, becoming near to the unmade. For the unmade is perfect, and this is God. Man had first to come into being, and having come into being to grow, and having grown to become strong, and having become strong to multiply, and having multiplied to gain strength, and having gained strength to be glorified, and being glorified to see his Lord. For God is the one who is to be seen; and the vision of God brings about incorruption; and incorruption makes one near to God.

Gen 1:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 1:18 (allusion, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Created man grows by stages toward the uncreated God, the Father planning, the Son forming, the Spirit nourishing, until he sees God and receives incorruption.

Harvey’s notes, running head, and page number were removed. “Unmade” renders infectus (Greek ἀγένητος/ἀγέννητος). Allusion: Gen 1:26; Col 1:18 (pre-eminence).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Harvey's notes; Harvey's notes, running head, and page number; OCR slip; line number): ea, 4128 nondum → ea, quae nondum; perseverationem. 3 STIEREN'8 emendation, but a αροκίδια. C£. x. 24, 1. 296 PROFECTUS Et? sic → perseverationem. Et sic; 4quoniam → quoniam; 5tali ductu → tali ductu; esse Deo. 1 1. ἀγεννήτου. Byaslightalteration Compare C. Lxxvi. 3. → esse Deo..

Topics: Trinity

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.38.3 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-38-3).

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4.38.4Harvey 2:205

Irrationabiles igitur omni modo, qui non exspectant tempus augmenti, et suze naturae infirmitatem adscribunt Deo. Neque enim Deum neque semetipsos scientes, insatiabiles et ingrati, nolentes primo esse hoc quod et facti sunt, homines passionum capaces; sed supergredientes legem humani generis, et antequam fiant homines, jam volunt similes esse factori Deo, et nullam esse differentiam infecti Dei et nunc facti hominis, qui plus irrationales sunt quam muta animalia. Hsc enim non imputant Deo, quoniam non homines fecit ea; sed unumquodque eo quod factum est, quoniam factum est, gratias agit. Nos enim imputamus ei, quoniam non ab initio Dii facti sumus, sed primo quidem homines, tunc demum Dii: quamvis Deus secundum simplicitatem bonitatis suze hoc fecerit, ne quis eum putet invidiosum, aut impraestantem. Ego, inquit, dixi, Dii estis, et filii Excelsi omnes; nobis autem potestatem divinitatis bajulare non sustinentibus, Vos autem, inquit, velut homines moriemini; utraque referens, et illud quod est benignum sus donationis, et infirmitatem nostram, et quod essemus nostre potestatis. Secundum enim benignitatem suam bene dedit bonum, et similes sibi suz:e potestatis homines fecit: secundum autem providentiam scivit hominum infirmitatem, et qu:e ventura essent ex ea; secundum autem dilectionem et virtutem vincet factae nature eubstantiam. Oportuerat autem primo naturam apparere, post deinde vinci et absorbi mortale ab immortalitate, et corruptibile ab incorruptibilitate, et fieri hominem secundum imaginem et similitudinem Dei, agnitione accepta boni et mali.

They are altogether irrational, then, who do not wait for the time of growth, and ascribe the weakness of their own nature to God. Knowing neither God nor themselves, insatiable and ungrateful, they are unwilling to be first what they were made, men capable of passions; but overstepping the law of the human race, before they become men they already wish to be like God the maker, and that there should be no difference between the unmade God and man who is now made, being more irrational than the dumb animals. For these do not blame God because he did not make them men, but each gives thanks for what it was made, because it was made. For we blame him because we were not made gods from the beginning, but first men and then at last gods; although God did this in the simplicity of his goodness, so that no one should think him envious or ungenerous. “I have said,” he says, “you are gods, and all sons of the Most High”; but since we could not bear the power of divinity: “But you,” he says, “will die like men”; expressing both, the kindness of his gift, and our weakness, and that we were in our own power. For in his kindness he gave the good well, and made men like himself, in their own power; but in his foreknowledge he knew the weakness of men and what would come of it; yet in his love and power he will conquer the substance of created nature. For nature had first to appear, and after that the mortal be conquered and swallowed up by immortality, and the corruptible by incorruptibility, and man become according to the image and likeness of God, having received the knowledge of good and evil.

Ps 82:6 (81:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 82:7 (81:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:54 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:4 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 1:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:22 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Those who resent not being made gods from the start are ungrateful; God made men first, to make them gods in time, overcoming mortality by immortality.

The words “Subjectio autem” at the start of the section are a stray repetition in the OCR and were removed with the running head; Harvey’s notes at the end were removed. Quotations: Ps 82:6–7 (LXX 81:6–7); 1 Cor 15:53–54 / 2 Cor 5:4. Allusion: Gen 1:26; Gen 3:5, 22. “Gods” is Irenaeus’s own term, taken from the Psalm.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Harvey's notes; OCR slips; margin debris; margin reference inside a word; note marker; OCR slip; stray marks; stray repeated words; running head inside a word): Subjectio autem Irrationabiles igitur omni modo, qui non exspectant temLIB. 1v. pus augmenti → Irrationabiles igitur omni modo, qui non exspectant tempus augmenti; Neque GR1V.ixvv. enim → Neque enim; ingrati, xvliL4 nolentes → ingrati, nolentes; aut 10 imprzestantem → aut impraestantem; dizi, Dit estis, οἱ filii → dixi, Dii estis, et filii; inquit, 11 celut homines → inquit, velut homines; virtutem !? vincet → virtutem vincet; ab imCor. v. 4. mortalitate → ab immortalitate; boni et mali. trare, agere, ἂς. e.g. THUCYD. I. I. ofthe former MS. evidently ὅτι for ὁ. preceding line, autem inquit velut potes5 p. 10s, n. 6. → boni et mali..

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.38.4 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-38-4).

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Against 4, chapter 39

4.39.1Harvey 2:205

Agnitionem autem accepit homo boni et mali. Bonum est autem obedire Deo, et credere ei, et custodire ejus praeceptum; et hoc est vita hominis: quemadmodum non obedire Deo, malum; et hoc est mors ejus. Magnanimitatem igitur prestante Deo, eognovit homo et bonum obedientie et malum inobedientiae, uti oculus mentis utrorumque accipiens experimentum, electionem meliorum cum judicio faciat; et nunquam segnis, neque negligens praecepti fiat Dei, et id quod aufert ab eo vitam, id est non obedire Deo, experimento discens quoniam malum est, neque tentet quidem illud unquam; quod autem conservatorium vite ejus est, obedire Deo, sciens quoniam bonum est, cum omni intentione diligenter custodiat. Propter hoc etiam duplices habuit sensus, utrorumque agnitionem habentes, ut electionem meliorum cum disciplina faciat. Disciplinam autem boni quemadmodum habere potuisset, ignorans quod est contrarium? Firmior est enim et indubitata subjacentium apprehensio, quam ea qus est ex suspicione conjectura. Quemadmodum enim lingua per gustum accipit experimentum dulcis et amari, et oculus per visionem diseernit quod est nigrum ab albo, et auris per auditum differentias sonorum scit; sic et mens per utrorumque experimentum disciplinam boni accipiens, firmior ad conservationem ejus efficitur, obediens Deo: inobedientiam quidem primum respuens per pcenitentiam, quoniam amarum et malum est; deinde ex comprehensione discens, quale sit quod contrarium est bono et dulcedini, ne tentet quidem unquam inobedientiam gustare Dei. Si autem utrorumque eorum cognitionem, et duplices sensus cognitionis quis defugiat, latenter semetipsum occidit hominem.

Man received the knowledge of good and evil. It is good to obey God, to believe him, and to keep his commandment, and this is man’s life; just as not to obey God is evil, and this is his death. Since God, then, showed magnanimity, man came to know both the good of obedience and the evil of disobedience, so that the eye of the mind, receiving experience of both, might make the choice of the better with judgment, and never become slack or neglectful of God’s commandment; and that, learning by experience that what takes life from him, namely not obeying God, is evil, he might never even try it; but that what preserves his life, obeying God, he might keep carefully with all his effort, knowing that it is good. For this reason too he had a twofold sense, having knowledge of both, so that he might make the choice of the better with discipline. For how could he have had the discipline of the good if he were ignorant of its contrary? For the grasp of things present to us is firmer and more certain than a conjecture from supposition. For as the tongue receives experience of sweet and bitter through taste, and the eye distinguishes black from white through sight, and the ear knows the differences of sounds through hearing, so the mind too, receiving the discipline of the good through experience of both, becomes firmer in keeping it, obeying God: first rejecting disobedience through repentance, because it is bitter and evil; then learning by understanding what kind of thing is contrary to the good and to sweetness, so that it may never even try to taste disobedience to God. But if someone flees the knowledge of both of these and the twofold sense of knowledge, he unwittingly destroys the human being in himself.

Gen 2:17 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 3:5 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Man learned good and evil by experience, so that, knowing the bitterness of disobedience, he might choose obedience to God with firm judgment.

Harvey’s chapter title (“What the knowledge of good and evil is, and how, when man had been disobedient, God prevailed to make man better through obedience”) was removed. Allusion: Gen 2:17; 3:5.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; editor's chapter title; OCR slip; stray mark): Que est agnitio boni et mali, et quemadmodum, homo cum indicto audiens fuisset, invaluit Deus, per dicto audientiam meliorem fieri hominem. AeNriTIONEM autem → Agnitionem autem; negligens | praecepti → negligens praecepti; id est ! non obedire → id est non obedire; ebedire Deo, sciens → obedire Deo, sciens; contrarium * Firmior → contrarium? Firmior.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.39.1 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-39-1).

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4.39.2Harvey 2:205

Quemadmodum igitur erit Deus, qui nondum factus est homo? quomodo autem perfectus, nuper effectus? quomodo autem immortalis, qui in natura mortali non obedivit factori? Oportet enim te primo quidem ordinem hominis custodire, tunc deinde participare glorie Dei. Non enim tu Deum facis, sed Deus te facit. Si ergo opera Dei es, manum artificis tui exspecta opportune omnia facientem: opportune autem, quantum ad te attinet, qui efficeris. Praesta ei autem cor tuum molle et tractabile, et custodi figuram qua te figuravit artifex, habens in temetipso humorem, ne induratus amittas vestigia digitorum ejus. Custodiens autem compaginationem ascendes ad perfectum: ab artificio enim Dei absconditur quod est in te lutum. Fabricavit substantiam in te manus ejus: liniet te ab intus et a foris auro puro et argento, et in tantum ornabit te, ut et ipse Rex concupiscat speciem tuam. Si vero statim obduratus respuas artem ejus, et ingratus exsistas in eum, quoniam homo factus es, ingratus Deo factus, simul et artem ejus et vitam amisisti. Facere enim proprium est benignitatis Dei: fieri autem proprium est hominis nature. Si igitur tradideris ei quod est tuum, id est, fidem in eum et subjectionem, recipies ejus artem, et eris perfectum opus Dei.

How, then, will he be God who has not yet been made man? How perfect, who was lately made? How immortal, who in a mortal nature did not obey his maker? For you must first keep the rank of man, and then afterwards share in the glory of God. For you do not make God, but God makes you. If, then, you are God’s work, wait for the hand of your artist, who makes all things at the proper time: at the proper time as far as you are concerned, who are being made. Offer him your heart soft and pliable, and keep the shape in which the artist shaped you, having moisture in yourself, lest you become hard and lose the marks of his fingers. By keeping the framework you will ascend to the perfect; for the clay that is in you is hidden by God’s workmanship. His hand fashioned the substance in you; he will coat you within and without with pure gold and silver, and will adorn you so much that the King himself will desire your beauty. But if you at once harden and reject his art, and prove ungrateful to him because you were made a man, having become ungrateful to God you have lost both his art and life. For to make is proper to God’s kindness; to be made is proper to man’s nature. If, then, you give him what is yours, that is, faith in him and submission, you will receive his art and be a perfect work of God.

Exod 25:11 (allusion, low confidence) · Ps 45:11 (44:12 LXX) (quotation, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Man must first be man before sharing God’s glory, and must stay soft clay in the Maker’s hands to be perfected by him.

Harvey’s note and the running head were removed. Allusions: Exod 25:11 (gold within and without); Ps 45:11 (LXX 44:12).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Harvey's note; margin debris; margin debris inside a word; running head; stray mark): Oportet follows afterwards. esset. enim te → Oportet enim te; tunc deinde LIB. ΤΥ. participare → tunc deinde participare; Deus te di ΤΥ. facit → Deus te facit; exspecta opporM48» I. tune omnia → exspecta opportune omnia; respuas ! artem → respuas artem.

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.39.2 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-39-2).

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4.39.3Harvey 2:205

Si autem non credideris ei, et fugeris manus ejus, erit causa imperfectionis in te qui non obedisti, sed non in illo qui vocavit. Ille enim misit, qui vocarent ad nuptias; qui autem non obedierunt ei, semetipsos privaverunt regia coena. Non igitur ars deficit Dei; potens est enim de lapidibus suscitare filios Abrahae sed ile qui non consequitur eam, sibimet suze imperfectionis est causa. Nec enim lumen deficit propter eos, qui semetipsos excaecaverunt: sed illo perseverante quale et est, exezecati per suam culpam in caligine constituuntur. Neque lumen cum magna necessitate subjiciet sibi quemquam: neque Deus coget eum, qui nolit continere ejus artem. Qui igitur abstiterunt a paterno lumine, et transgressi sunt legem libertatis, per suam abstiterunt culpam, liberi arbitrii et suze potestatis facti.

But if you do not believe him and flee from his hands, the cause of imperfection will be in you who did not obey, not in him who called. For he sent those who would call to the wedding; but those who did not obey him deprived themselves of the royal supper. So God’s art does not fail, for he is able from stones to raise up children to Abraham; but the one who does not attain it is the cause of his own imperfection. Nor does the light fail because of those who have blinded themselves; while it remains as it is, those who are blinded by their own fault are set in darkness. Nor will the light subject anyone to itself by force; nor will God compel the one who does not wish to receive his art. Those, then, who have withdrawn from the Father’s light and transgressed the law of freedom have withdrawn by their own fault, having been made free in choice and in their own power.

Matt 22:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 3:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Jas 1:25 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Those who refuse God’s work are the cause of their own imperfection, as the blind are of their darkness, since God compels no one.

Allusions: Matt 22:3; Matt 3:9; Jas 1:25 (law of freedom).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (margin debris inside a word; margin reference; OCR slip): priuM vaverunt → privaverunt; lapidibus Mat. ut 9, suscitare filios Abrah:: → lapidibus suscitare filios Abrahae.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.39.3 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-39-3).

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4.39.4Harvey 2:205

Deus autem omnia praesciens, utrisque aptas preparavit habitationes: eis quidem qui inquirunt lumen incorruptibilitatis, et ad id recurrunt, benigne donans hoc quod concupiscunt lumen; aliis vero id contemnentibus, et avertentibus se ab eo et id fugientibus, et quasi semetipsos excaecantibus, congruentes lumini adversantibus praeparavit tenebras, et iis qui fugiunt ei esse subjecti, convenienti subdidit poene. Subjectio autem Dei requietio est seterna: ut hi qui fugiunt lumen, dignum fugae suae habeant locum; et qui fugiunt seternam requiem, congruentem fuge suze habeant habitationem. Cum autem apud Deum omnia sint bona, qui ex sua sententia fugiunt Deum, semetipsos ab omnibus fraudant bonis: fraudati autem omnibus erga Deum bonis, consequenter in Dei justum judicium incident. Qui enim fugiunt requiem, juste in poena conversabuntur: et qui fugerunt lumen, juste inhabitabunt tenebras. Quemadmodum autem in hoc temporali lumine, qui fugiunt illud, ipsos se tenebris mancipant; ita ut et ipsi sibi causa fiant, quod destituuntur a lumine et inhabitant tenebras, et non lumen causa est eis hujusmodi conversationis, quemadmodum praediximus: sic seternum Dei qui fugiunt lumen, quod continet in se omnia bona, ipsi sibi causa sunt ut eternas inhabitent tenebras, destituti omnibus bonis, sibimetipsis causa hujusmodi habitationis facti.

But God, foreknowing all things, prepared fitting dwellings for both: to those who seek the light of incorruptibility and run to it he kindly gives the light they desire; but for those who despise it, turn away from it, flee it, and as it were blind themselves, he prepared darkness suited to those who oppose the light, and subjected those who flee from being subject to him to a fitting punishment. And subjection to God is eternal rest; so that those who flee the light have a place worthy of their flight, and those who flee eternal rest have a dwelling suited to their flight. And since all good things are with God, those who by their own decision flee God defraud themselves of all good things; and being defrauded of all the good things that are with God, they consequently fall into God’s just judgment. For those who flee rest will justly live in punishment, and those who fled the light will justly dwell in darkness. And as with this temporal light, those who flee it deliver themselves to darkness, so that they themselves are the cause of their being deprived of light and dwelling in darkness, and the light is not the cause of such a condition for them, as we said before, so those who flee the eternal light of God, which contains in itself all good things, are themselves the cause of their dwelling in eternal darkness, deprived of all good things, having become the cause of such a dwelling for themselves.

Notes and citation

Summary: God prepared light for those who seek it and darkness for those who flee it, so that the lost are the cause of their own punishment.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; margin debris inside a word): et 11118 qui → et iis qui; omo. se nibus → omnibus.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.39.4 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-39-4).

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Against 4, chapter 40

4.40.1Harvey 2:205

Unus igitur et idem Deus Pater, qui quidem concupiscentibus ejus communicationem, et perseverantibus in subjectione ejus, que sunt apud se praeparat bona; principi autem abscessionis diabolo, et qui cum eo abscesserunt angelis, aeternum ignem praeparans: in quem mittentur, inquit Dominus, illi qui in sinistra separati sunt. Et hoc est quod a propheta dictum est: Ego Deus zelans, faciens pacem, et condens mala: in eos quidem qui penitentiam agunt et convertuntur ad eum, faciens pacem et amicitiam, et unitatem componens; super eos vero qui pcenitentiam non agunt, sed refugiunt ejus lumen, ignem seternum et exteriores tenebras praeparans: qus quidem sunt mala his, qui incidunt in ea.

It is one and the same God the Father, then, who prepares the good things that are with him for those who desire communion with him and persevere in subjection to him, and who prepares eternal fire for the devil, the chief of the apostasy, and for the angels who fell away with him, into which, says the Lord, those who have been set apart on the left will be sent. And this is what was said by the prophet: “I am a jealous God, making peace and creating evils”: making peace and friendship and bringing about unity for those who repent and turn to him, but preparing eternal fire and outer darkness for those who do not repent but flee his light; which are indeed evils for those who fall into them.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Matt 25:41 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 25:33 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 45:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 20:5 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The same Father prepares good things for those who seek him and eternal fire for the devil and the impenitent.

Harvey’s chapter title (“What the prophet means by ‘I am a jealous God, making peace and creating evils’”) was removed. Words lost in the scan of Harvey's edition are supplied from Stieren's edition. Quotations and allusions: Matt 25:41, 33; Isa 45:7 combined with Exod 20:5.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (editor's chapter title; line number; margin debris; line lost in the OCR; margin reference): Quid est quod a propheta, dictum est, Ego Deus zelans, τὺ faciens pacem et condens mala. Unus igitur → Unus igitur; in sinistra uat. xxv.at. separati → in sinistra separati; Ego ma. χιν. 7. Deus → Ego Deus; 5refugiunt → refugiunt; his, qui Mass IV. incidunt → his, qui incidunt.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.40.1 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-40-1).

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4.40.2Harvey 2:205

Si autem alius quidem esset qui requiem donat Pater, et alius qui ignem preparavit Deus, fuissent seque differentes eis filii; alius quidem in Patris regnum mittens, alius vero in seternum ignem. Sed quoniam unus et idem Dominus separari demonstravit in judicio omne genus humanum, quemadmodum pastor segregat oves ab hedis; et aliis quidem dicet: Venite benedicti Patris mei, percipite regnum quod paratum est vobis; aliis vero: Discedite a me maledicti in ignem eternum, quem preparavit Pater meus diabolo et angelia ejus; unus et idem Pater manifestissime ostenditur, faciens pacem, et condens mala, praeparans utrisque que sunt apta: quemadmodum et unus judex utrosque in aptum mittens locum; quemadmodum in zizaniorum et tritici parabola manifestavit Dominus, dicens: Quemadmodum colliguntur zizania, et igni comburuntur, sic erit in. consummatione seculi. Mittet Filius Hominis angelos suos, et colligent de regno ejus omnia scandala, et eos qui faciunt iniquitatem, et mittent eos in clibanum ignis: illic erit fletus et stridor dentium. Tunc justi fulgebunt sicut sol in regno Patris ipsorum. Qui ergo regnum preparavit justis Pater, in quod assumsit Filius ejus dignos, hic et caminum ignis praeparavit, in quem dignos mittent ii, qui a Filio Hominis missi sunt angeli, secundum jussum Dei.

But if the Father who gives rest were one and the God who prepared the fire another, their sons would have been equally different: one sending into the Father’s kingdom, the other into eternal fire. But since one and the same Lord showed that the whole human race will be separated at the judgment, “as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,” and that to some he will say, “Come, you blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you,” but to others, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which my Father prepared for the devil and his angels,” one and the same Father is most plainly shown, “making peace and creating evils,” preparing for each what is fitting; just as there is one judge who sends both to a fitting place, as the Lord made plain in the parable of the weeds and the wheat, saying: “As the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the consummation of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of stumbling and those who do iniquity, and will throw them into the furnace of fire: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” The Father, then, who prepared the kingdom for the righteous, into which his Son took up the worthy, is the one who also prepared the furnace of fire, into which the angels sent by the Son of Man will throw those who deserve it, according to God’s command.

Matt 25:32 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 25:34 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 25:41 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 45:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:40 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:41 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:42 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:43 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The separation of sheep and goats and the parable of the weeds show one Father who prepared both the kingdom and the fire.

Harvey’s chapter title (“Proof that the Father who gives rest is not other than the God who prepared the fire, but one and the same”) was removed. Quotations: Matt 25:32, 34, 41 (note “which my Father prepared”, as in some witnesses); Isa 45:7; Matt 13:40–43.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; editor's chapter title; OCR slip; line number; margin reference; margin reference inside a word; margin reference; OCR slip): Ostensio quod non alius est qui requiem dat Pater, alvus autem qui ignem praparavit Deus, sed unus et idem. Sr autem → Si autem; separari demonstra. Matt. xxv.3$, Vit in judicio → separari demonstravit in judicio; segregat Matt. xxv.34. 0068 αὖ hedis → segregat oves ab hedis; Patris mei, Matt. xxv.41. percipite → Patris mei, percipite; ostenditur, Xs. xiv.7. faciens → ostenditur, faciens; manifestavit DoMatt. xii, minus → manifestavit Dominus; ignt comburuntur → igni comburuntur; tlhe erit → illic erit; 5ejus → ejus; Dei. Matt.xitis 2. → Dei..

Topics: Eschatology, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.40.2 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-40-2).

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4.40.3Harvey 2:205

Hic enim in agro suo bonum semen seminavit: Ager autem, inquit, seculum est. Cum autem dormirent homines, venit inimicus, et superseminavit zizania inter frumentum, et abiit. Ex tunc enim apostata est angelus hie, et inimicus, ex quo zelavit plasma Dei, et inimicum illum Deo facere aggressus est. Quapropter et Deus eum quidem, qui a semetipso zizania absconse seminavit, id est, transgressionem quam ipse intulit, separavit a sua conversatione: eum autem, qui negligenter quidem sed male accepit inobedientiam, hominem miseratus est, et retorsit inimicitiam, per quam inimicum Deo facere voluit, in ipsum inimicitiarum auctorem: auferens quidem suam, quz erat adversus hominem, inimicitiam; retorquens autem illam, et remittens illam in serpentem. Quemadmodum et Scriptura ait dixisse serpenti Deum: Et inimicitiam ponam inter te et inter mulierem, et inter semen tuum et inter semen mulieris. Ipse tuum calcabit caput, et tu observabis calcaneum ejus. Et inimicitiam hanc Dominus in semetipsum recapitulavit, de muliere factus homo, et calcans ejus eaput; quemadmodum in eo qui ante hunc est libro ostendimus.

For he sowed good seed in his field: “and the field,” he says, “is the world.” But while men slept, the enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. For from that time this angel was an apostate and an enemy, from the time when he envied God’s handiwork and set about making it an enemy of God. Therefore God separated from his company the one who of his own accord secretly sowed the weeds, that is, who brought in the transgression; but man, who received the disobedience carelessly indeed, but to his harm, he pitied, and turned back the enmity, by which the devil had wished to make him an enemy of God, upon the author of the enmity himself: taking away his own enmity against man, and turning it back and sending it upon the serpent. As the Scripture says God said to the serpent: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and the seed of the woman; he will tread on your head, and you will watch for his heel.” And the Lord recapitulated this enmity in himself, made man from a woman and treading on the serpent’s head, as we showed in the book before this.

Matt 13:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 13:38 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 3:15 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The enemy who sowed the weeds is the apostate angel; God pitied deceived man and turned the enmity back on the serpent, which Christ, born of a woman, crushed.

Harvey’s notes on the Greek fragments (from the catena of Nicetas and other sources) broke into the text and were removed. Quotations: Matt 13:24–25, 38; Gen 3:15. The cross-reference is to 3.23.7.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Harvey's notes leaked into the text; OCR slips; OCR slip; margin reference): venit leis εἰ, ERASM, Corderio edita pag. 489, et altera ManuGALL. e ets, Fru. f.1. differentes filii. — scripta Cod. 1879 in Bibliotheca Regis 4 So I. — Lequien. Atque hac prima quidem verba * Ὁ uéy Κύριος. Hac Greca combi— Niceta Catena, ista solum habentur: Exinimicus, et superseminacit → venit inimicus, et superseminavit; Ef inimicitiam → Et inimicitiam; inter Gen. ut. 15. semen → inter semen.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Irenaeus, Haer. 4.40.3 (Harvey 2:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/irenaeus-adversus-haereses/4-37-1/#p-4-40-3).

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