Irenæus, presbyter of Pothinus, who was bishop of the 'church of Lyons in Gaul, carried a letter from the mar'tyrs of that city concerning some disputes of the church to Eleutherus, bishop of Rome, in which letter he is honourably mentioned. Afterwards, Pothinus having ob'tained the crown of martyrdom, when he was almost ninety years of age, he was substituted in his room. It ' is certain, he was a disciple of Polycarp, bishop and martyr. He wrote five books against heresies;' and divers others, which Jerom there mentions agreeable to Eusebius. He concludes: He flourished chiefly under the emperor Commodus, who succeeded M. Antoninus Verus.' 6 Though then it is not in our power at present to determine exactly the time, either of the birth or death of Irenæus; we have good reason to believe he was a disciple of St. Polycarp, presbyter in the church of Lyons under Pothinus, whose martyrdom happened in the year 177, and that he succeeded Pothinus in the bishopric of that church. His antiquity is farther confirmed, from the frequent mention he makes of a presbyter who had conversed with the immediate successors of the apostles. But who this was, cannot be determined; whether Papias, whom he has quoted by name, or Pothinus, or some other. Eusebius, who also has particularly taken notice of this, says: Irenæus" has mentioned the sayings of a certain apostolical presbyter, without telling us his name, and puts down his expositions of the divine scriptures.' W As for the time of writing his five books against heresies, it is the opinion of divers learned men, that they were not written and published all together, but rather at some distance of time. In his very first book he gives an account of the heresies of Tatian, who is not supposed to have left the Catholic church before the year 172. In his third book he expressly mentions Eleutherus, as being then the twelfth bishop of Rome. He also speaks of the translation of Theodotion, which is generally allowed to have been published in the reign of Commodus. These are some notes of time that are commonly insisted on: but I shall not attempt to settle exactly the year in which this work was completed. It seems to me however most probable, that it was not written till some time after he was bishop. Quemadmodum audivi a quodam presbytero, qui audierat ab his qui apostolos viderant, et ab his qui didicerant. Adv. H. 1. iv. c. 27. sect. 1. Massuet, [al. c. 45. in.] et alibi. Eus. H. E. 1. v. c 8. p. 173. C. L. 3. cap. 3. ▾ L. i. cap. 31. al. 28. That he may stand near those christians to whom he was particularly related, I shall place him in the year 178; though I am rather inclined to think his five books, Against Heresies, were not published quite so soon. It is commonly said, that Irenæus died a martyr: but from the silence of Tertullian, and Eusebius, and others, concerning this matter, it is justly argued by Cave, and Basnage, and Dodwell, that there is no good ground for that supposition. There is nothing now remaining of Irenæus, beside his five books Against Heresies, and fragments of some other pieces; and those five books, which were written by him in Greek, are extant only in an ancient Latin version, excepting some fragments preserved by Eusebius, and other Greek writers who have quoted them. He Irenæus has shown himself, in this large work, Against Heresies, well acquainted with the heathen authors, and the absurd and intricate notions of heretics, as well as with the scriptures of the Old and New Testament. was at the same time a very humble, modest man, and, agreeable to his name, a lover of peace; as appears from his letter to Victor, on occasion of the controversy about the time of keeping Easter. Photius indeed says of him, that in some of his writings he weakens the certain truth of the doctrines of the church by false reasonings. However, he at the same time calls him the divined Irenæus: but I shall not now offer a particular apology for any of those reasonings to which Photius may be supposed to refer. Irenæus, though his writings may not be free from imperfections, has given such proofs of learning, integrity, and good sense in the main, that all good judges must esteem him, (as doubtless Photius did,) an ornament to the sect he was of. II. I shall now show particularly how the books of the New Testament are quoted by him. 1. The first will be a long passage concerning the four gospels, the writers of them, their ability and fitness for the work having been first filled with the knowledge of the doctrine of the gospel by the Spirit; and, having first preached that doctrine, then set it down in writing. c • Fore we have not received,' says he, the knowledge of Hist. Lit. in Irenæ. a Vid. Diss. iii. in Iren. cap. 21. 2 Annal. 194 sect. 4. b Eus. H. E. 1. v. c. 24. e Adv. Hær. lib. iii. cap. 1. Ει και εν τισιν αυτών ή της κατά τα εκκλησιασικά δόγματα αλήθειας ακρίβεια νόθοις λογισμοις κιβδηλευεται. Cod. 120. d Το θεσπέσιο Ειρηναι8. the way of our salvation by any others than those by whom the gospel has been brought to us; which gospel they first preached, and afterwards by the will of God committed to writing, that it might be for time to come the foundation and pillar of our faith.- For after that our Lord rose from the dead, and they [the apostles] were endued from above with the power of the Holy Ghost coming down upon them, they received a perfect knowledge of all things. They then went forth to all the ends of the earth, declaring to men the blessing of heavenly peace, having all of them, and every one alike, the gospel of God. Matthew then, among the Jews, wrote a gospel in their own language, while Peter and Paul were preaching the gospel at Rome, and founding a church there. And after their exit, [death,] or departure, Mark also, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, delivered to us in writing the things that had been preached by Peter and Luke, the companion of Paul, put down in a book the gospel preached by him [Paul]. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned upon his breast, he likewise published a gospel while he dwelt at Ephesus in Asia. And all these have delivered to us, that there is one God, the Maker of the heaven and the earth, declared by the law and the prophets, and one Christ, the Son of God. And he who does not assent to them, despiseths indeed those who knew the mind of the Lord: but he despiseth also Christ himself the Lord, and he despiseth likewise the Father, and is selfcondemned, resisting and opposing his own salvation, as all heretics do.' That part of this passage, which particularly concerns the four evangelists severally, is cited by Eusebius: the rest is only in the old Latin version. 2. Nor can there be more or fewer gospels than these. For as there are four regions of the world in which we live, and four catholic spirits, and the church is spread all over the earth, and the gospel is the pillar and foundation of the church, and the spirit of life; in like manner was it fit it should have four pillars, breathing on all sides incorruption, and refreshing mankind. Whence it is manifest, that the Word, the former of all things, who sits upon the * Μετα δε την τετων εξοδον, Μάρκος ὁ μαθητης και ἑρμηνευτης Πετρε, και αυτος τα ύπο Πετρα κηρυσσόμενα εγγράφως ήμιν παραδεδωκε και Λεκας δε ὁ ακόλεθος Παύλε, το υπ' εκείνε κηρυσσόμενον ευαγγελιον εν βιβλιῳ κατέθετο. Spernit quidem participes Domino. h H. E. l. v. c. 8. 1 Neque autem plura numero quam hæc sunt, neque pauciora, capit esse evangelia, &c. Lib. 3. cap. xi. sect. 8. [Apud Grabe, p. 221.1 cherubim, and upholds all things, having appeared to men, has given us a gospel of a fourfold character, but joined in one spirit.The gospel according to John declares his primary and glorious generation from the Father: “In the beginning was the Word."But the gospel according to Luke, being of a priestly character, begins with Zacharias the priest offering incense to God.Matthew relates his generation, which is according to man: book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.". -Mark begins from the prophetic Spirit, which came down from above to men, saying: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in Esaias the prophet. 999 "The In these passages we see the number of gospels owned by Irenæus, and the names of the writers of them, and sufficient particulars concerning them, to satisfy us, he means the very same books of the gospels which we now have. Nevertheless, I shall take a passage or two more concerning each of these gospels. 3. The first passage will relate to Matthew's gospel from a fragment of Irenæus. The gospel according to Matthew was written to the Jews; for they earnestly desired a Messiah of the seed of David and Matthew having also the same desire to a yet greater degree, strove by all means to give them full satisfaction, that Christ was of the seed of David; wherefore he began with his genealogy.' 6 4. Wherefore also Mark, the interpreter and follower of Peter, makes this the beginning of his evangelic writing: "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God." And in the end of the [his] gospel Mark says: "So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God." 5. But if any one rejects Luke, as if he did not know the truth, he will be convicted of throwing away the gospel, of which he professeth to be a disciple. For there are many, and those very necessary parts of the gospel, Though Irenæus does not in this account of St. Luke's gospel mention his genealogy of our Lord, which is in ch. iii. 23, to the end; he owned it, and has particularly observed, that St. Luke carried up our Saviour's genealogy to Adam. L. 3. cap. 22. sect. 3. [al. cap. 33.] p. 471. E. Possini Catena Patrum in Matthæum; apud Massuet, p. 347. Grabe, m L. 3. c. x. sect. 6. [ed. Grabe, p. 217.] " L. 3. c. 14. sect. 3. [Grabe, p. 235.] Because the heretics, with whom Irenæus there disputes, owned the whole, or part at least, of that gospel. which we know by his means: as, Luke i. ii. iii; the birth of John, the history of Zacharias, and the visit of the angel to Mary, and the descent of the angels to the shepherds, and the things said by them, and the testimony of Anna and Simeon to Christ, and that at the age of twelve years he was left behind at Jerusalem, and the baptism of John, and the age of our Lord when he was baptized, and that this was done in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Cæsar, and what he said in his sermon to the rich: "Woe unto you that are rich, for ye receive your consolation," Luke vi. 24, 25, 26.- All these things we know from Luke only. And we have learned from him many actions of our Lord, which all receive: as the great multitude of fishes which they who were with Peter inclosed, when at the command of the Lord they cast their nets; and the woman with the infirmity of eighteen years, who was cured on the sabbathday, ch. xiii. 11; and the man with the dropsy, whom the Lord healed on the sabbath-day, xiv. 2, 3; and how he defended his healing on that day; and how he taught his disciples not to covet the chief seats; and that we ought to invite the poor and infirm, who cannot recompense us again, 7-13; and of him who knocked at the door in the night time for bread, and obtained it, because of his importunity, xi. 8; and that, sitting at table at the house of a pharisee, a woman that was a sinner kissed his feet, and anointed him with ointment, vii. 36; and all that, for her sake, the Lord said concerning two debtors; and the parable of the rich man that hoarded up his increase, xií. 16; to whom also it was said, "This night shall thy soul be required of thee: then whose shall these things be, which thou hast provided?" As also the parable of the rich man, that was clothed in purple, and fared sumptuously, and the beggar Lazarus, xvi. 19; and the answer which he made his disciples, when they said to him, "Increase our faith," xvii. 5; and the conversation with Zaccheus the publican, xix. 1; and concerning the pharisee and the publican who worshipped together at the temple, xviii. 10; and the ten lepers whom he healed at the same time in the way, xvii. 12; and that he commanded the lame and the blind to be brought to the wedding from the streets and the lanes, xiv. 21; and the parable of the judge who feared not God, whom the widow's importunity compelled to avenge her, xviii. 1; and of the fig-tree in the vineyard, which bore no fruit, xiii. 6. And many other things there are to P That is, parts of his gospel received by all, heretics as well as catholics Et plurimos actus Domini per hunc didicimus, quibus omnes utuntur.' |