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Against Heresies: Book IV

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Against Heresies: Book IV

by Irenaeus

Chapters

1. Preface.
2. Chapter 1: The Lord Recognized Only One God and Father.
3. Chapter 2:—Evidence from the clear statements of Moses, and other Prophets, whose words are the words of Christ, that there is only one God, the creator of the world, whom Our Lord proclaimed, and whom He called His Father.
4. Chapter 3: Response to the Criticisms of the Gnostics. We should not assume that the true God can be altered or cease to exist just because the heavens, which are his throne, and the earth, his footstool, will eventually disappear.
5. Chapter 4: Response to Another Argument, Demonstrating that the Destruction of Jerusalem, the City of the Great King, did not Diminish God's Supreme Majesty and Power, as this Destruction was Enacted by the Most Wise Counsel
6. Chapter 5: The author revisits his previous argument and demonstrates that only one God was proclaimed by the law and prophets, whom Christ recognizes as His Father, and who, through His word, revealed Himself to humanity as one living God with Him in both covenants.
7. Chapter 6:—Interpretation of Christ's Words, "No one knows the Father except the Son," etc.; how these words are misconstrued by heretics. Evidence that the Father has always been known through the revelation of the Son and the Son's revelation.
8. Chapter 7: Summary of the Previous Argument, Demonstrating that Abraham, Through the Revelation of the Word, Knew the Father, and the Arrival of the Son of God. For this Reason, He Was Delighted to Witness the Day of Christ, When the Promises Made to Him Would Be Fulfilled.
9. Chapter 8: Futile Efforts of Marcion and His Followers, Who Exclude Abraham from the Salvation Provided by Christ, Who Delivered Not Only Abraham, But Also Abraham's Descendants, by Upholding Rather Than Abolishing the Law When He Healed on the Sabbath-day.
10. Chapter 9: There is only one author and one purpose for both agreements.
11. Chapter 10: The Old Testament Scriptures, Especially Those Written by Moses, Frequently Refer to the Son of God and Predict His Arrival and Sacrifice. Therefore, They Must Have Been Inspired by the Same God.
12. Chapter 11:—The ancient prophets and virtuous individuals anticipated the arrival of Christ and yearned to see and hear Him. The Holy Ghost revealed Him in the Scriptures, and He continuously enriched humanity without changing Himself.
13. Chapter 12: - It is evident that the author of both the old and new law was the same, as indicated by Christ's condemnation of traditions and customs that contradicted the former, while affirming its most important rules, and expressing that He was Himself.
14. Chapter 13: — Christ did not nullify the natural laws, but rather fulfilled and expanded them. He eliminated the burden and slavery of the old law, so that humanity, now liberated, might serve God with the faithful devotion appropriate for children.
15. Chapter 14: If God requires obedience from humans, if He created them, summoned them and placed them under laws, it was purely for the benefit of humans; not because God needed humans, but because He generously bestowed upon them His blessings in every possible way.
16. Chapter 15: Initially, God thought it was enough to engrave natural law, or the Ten Commandments, in the hearts of men; however, He later found it essential to control the desires of the Jews, who were misusing their freedom, through the restrictions of the Mosaic law.
17. Chapter 16: Perfect righteousness was neither bestowed through circumcision nor by any other legal rites. The Ten Commandments, however, were not negated by Christ, but always remain in effect: individuals were never liberated from its obligations.
18. Chapter 17: Evidence that God did not establish the Levitical order for His own benefit or because He needed such service; indeed, He requires nothing from humans.
19. Chapter 18: About sacrifices and offerings, and those who genuinely give them.
20. Chapter 19: Earthly Things Can Represent Heavenly Things, But the Latter Can't Represent Higher Unknown Entities; Nor Can We, Without Being Utterly Insane, Insist That God is Only Known to Us as the Representation of an Unknown Superior Being.
21. Chapter 20: The belief that one God shaped everything in the world through the Word and the Holy Spirit: and although He is invisible and beyond understanding in our current life, He isn't unknown; His actions reveal Him, and His Word.
22. Chapter 21: Abraham's faith was the same as ours; this faith was foreshadowed by the words and actions of the ancient patriarchs.
23. Chapter 22: Christ didn't come just for the people of one era, but for everyone who, living a righteous and godly life, had faith in Him; and also for those who will believe in the future.
24. Chapter 23: The patriarchs and prophets, by predicting the arrival of Christ, strengthened the path of future generations towards faith in Christ, thereby easing the work of the apostles, who reaped the fruits of their labor.
25. Chapter 24: The Conversion of Non-Jews was More Challenging than Converting Jews; Hence, the Apostles Who Tackled the Former Task Experienced More Difficulty Than Those Who Focused on the Latter.
26. Chapter 25: Both agreements were symbolized in Abraham, and in Tamar's effort; however, there was only one and the same God for each agreement.
27. Chapter 26: The Hidden Treasure in the Scriptures is Christ; The True Interpretation of the Scriptures is Only Found in the Church.
28. Chapter 27 - The wrongdoings of men in ancient times, which angered God, were, through His foresight, written down so that we could learn from them and not become arrogant. Thus, we should not assume there was another...
29. Chapter 28:—Those people show themselves as foolish who overemphasize Christ's mercy, yet say nothing about judgement, focusing solely on the New Testament's abundant grace; but, they forget about the higher level of perfection it requires.
30. Chapter 29: - Refuting the Arguments of the Marcionites, Who Tried to Prove God as the Author of Sin, Because He Blinded Pharaoh and His Servants.
31. Chapter 30: Refuting another argument made by the Marcionites, that God instructed the Hebrews to plunder the Egyptians.
32. Chapter 31:—We shouldn't quickly judge as sins, the actions of ancient people that the Scripture has not condemned, but should instead search for the symbolic representation of future events in them: this is exemplified in the incest acted upon by Lot.
33. Chapter 32: Confirmation from an Apostle-Trained Presbyter that One God Authored Both Testaments
34. Chapter 33: Whoever acknowledges that one God is the author of both Testaments, and carefully reads the Scriptures along with the elders of the Church, is a true spiritual student; and he will properly understand and interpret all that the prophet says.
35. Chapter 34: Evidence Against the Marcionites, that the Prophets Referred to Our Christ in All Their Predictions.
36. Chapter 35: A Rebuttal of Those Who Claim That the Prophets Made Some Predictions Under the Inspiration of the Supreme Being and Others from the Creator. Conflicts Among the Valentinians About These Same Predictions.
37. Chapter 36: The Prophets and the Son Were Sent by the Same Father
38. Chapter 37: People have free will and the ability to make choices. Therefore, it is incorrect to say that some people are naturally good and others are naturally bad.
39. Chapter 38: Why Man Was Not Made Perfect From the Beginning.
40. Chapter 39: Humans are gifted with the ability to discern between good and evil; thus, without coercion, they have the freedom to obey God's commandments through their own will and actions, thereby avoiding the punishments reserved for those who rebel.
41. Chapter 40: The Same God, the Father, Punishes the Wicked and Rewards the Chosen Ones.
42. Chapter 41: Those People who Don't Believe in God and Disobey are Devil's Angels and Sons, Not by Nature, but by Imitation. End of this Book and Purpose of the Next.
🎧 Against Heresies: Book IV
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Chapter 16: Perfect righteousness was neither bestowed through circumcision nor by any other legal rites. The Ten Commandments, however, were not negated by Christ, but always remain in effect: individuals were never liberated from its obligations.

FURTHERMORE: we learn from Scripture itself that God gave circumcision not as the fulfillment of righteousness but as a sign so that the descendants of Abraham might remain identifiable. It states: "God said to Abraham, 'Every male among you shall be circumcised, and you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins as a sign of the covenant between Me and you.'" The prophet Ezekiel speaks similarly about the Sabbaths: "I also gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, so they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them." In Exodus, God says to Moses: "You shall observe My Sabbaths because it shall be a sign between Me and you for your generations." These things were given as signs, and the signs were not without symbolism—neither meaningless nor purposeless—since they were given by a wise Creator.

The circumcision of the flesh symbolized the circumcision of the Spirit. For "we," says the apostle, "have been circumcised with a circumcision made without hands." The prophet declares, "Circumcise the hardness of your heart." The Sabbaths taught that we should continue in God’s service every day. "For we have been counted," says the Apostle Paul, "all day long as sheep for the slaughter," meaning consecrated to God, continually ministering to our faith, persevering in it, abstaining from all greed, and not acquiring or possessing treasures on earth.

Moreover, the Sabbath of God, that is, the kingdom, was foreshadowed by creation. In this kingdom, the person who perseveres in serving God will, in a state of rest, share in God’s table.

AND THAT MAN WAS NOT JUSTIFIED BY THESE THINGS: but they were given as a sign to the people, as shown by the fact that Abraham, without circumcision and without observance of Sabbaths, "believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness; and he was called the friend of God." Similarly, Lot, without circumcision, was brought out from Sodom, receiving salvation from God. Likewise, Noah, pleasing God despite being uncircumcised, received the dimensions of the ark, the world of the second race of men. Enoch, too, pleased God without circumcision and served as God's messenger to the angels even though he was human, and he was taken up and is preserved until now as a witness of the just judgment of God, because the angels who sinned fell to the earth for judgment, but the man who pleased God was taken up for salvation. Moreover, all the other righteous people who lived before Abraham and the patriarchs who came before Moses were justified independently of the aforementioned things and without the law of Moses. As Moses himself says to the people in Deuteronomy: "The Lord your God made a covenant with you at Horeb. He did not make this covenant with your ancestors, but with you."

3. Why, then, did the Lord not establish the covenant for the ancestors? Because “the law was not made for righteous people.” But the righteous ancestors had the meaning of the Decalogue written in their hearts and souls, meaning they loved the God who created them and did no harm to their neighbor. Therefore, there was no need for them to be warned by prohibitory mandates, because they already possessed the righteousness of the law within themselves. However, when this righteousness and love for God were forgotten and disappeared in Egypt, God, due to His great goodwill towards humanity, needed to reveal Himself through a voice and lead the people powerfully out of Egypt so that humanity might once again become disciples and followers of God. He afflicted the disobedient so they would not disregard their Creator, and He fed them with manna so that they might receive sustenance for their souls, as Moses also says in Deuteronomy: “And fed you with manna, which your ancestors did not know, that you might know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God proceeding out of His mouth does man live.” It commanded love for God and taught fairness towards our neighbor, that we should neither be unjust nor unworthy of God, who prepares people for His friendship through the Decalogue and for harmony with their neighbor—matters that certainly benefit humanity; God, however, needs nothing from people.

AND THEREFORE: the Scripture says, "These words the Lord spoke to all the assembly of the children of Israel on the mount, and He added no more;" for, as I have already noted, He needed nothing from them. And again Moses says: "And now Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul?" These things indeed made man glorious by providing him with what he was lacking, namely, the friendship of God; but they did not benefit God, for God does not need man's love. The glory of God was lacking in man, which he could gain only by serving God. Therefore, Moses says to them again: "Choose life, that you may live, and your descendants, to love the Lord your God, to hear His voice, to hold fast to Him; for this is your life, and the length of your days." Preparing man for this life, the Lord Himself spoke directly to all with the words of the Decalogue; and so, in the same way, they remain with us permanently, receiving extension and increase through His coming in the flesh, but not being abolished.

THE LAWS OF BONDAGE WERE GIVEN ONE BY ONE TO THE PEOPLE BY MOSES: suited for their instruction or punishment, as Moses himself declared: “And He commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments.” Therefore, the things given for bondage, and as a sign to them, He canceled by the new covenant of freedom.

But He has expanded and widened those laws which are natural, noble, and common to all, granting to people generously and without grudging, through adoption, to know God the Father, to love Him with all their heart, and to follow His word unswervingly, while they abstain not only from evil actions but even from the desire for them.

He has also increased the sense of reverence; for sons should have more veneration than slaves, and greater love for their father.

Therefore, the Lord says, “For every idle word that people have spoken, they shall render an account for it on the day of judgment.” And, “he who looks at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart;” and, “he who is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of judgment.” All this is declared so that we may know that we shall account to God not only for deeds, as slaves, but also for words and thoughts, as those who have truly received the power of freedom, in which condition a person is more severely tested, whether they will reverence, and fear, and love the Lord.

For this reason, Peter says, “that we have not freedom as a cloak of maliciousness,” but as a means of testing and proving faith.

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Against Heresies: Book IV

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