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Against Heresies: Book V

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Against Heresies: Book V

by Irenaeus

Chapters

1. Preface.
2. Chapter 1: Only Christ can teach divine matters and redeem us: He, the same, took actual flesh from the Virgin Mary, not just in appearance, but truly, through the workings of the Holy Ghost, to renew us. Criticisms on the notions of Vale.
3. Chapter 2:—When Christ Came to Us Through Grace, He Visited What Was Already His: Furthermore, By Sacrificing His Real Blood for Us and Showing Us His Real Flesh in the Eucharist, He Granted Our Flesh the Possibility of Salvation.
4. Chapter 3: The power and glory of God is revealed in human frailty, as He promises our bodies participation in resurrection and everlasting life, even though He has created us from the earth's dust; He will also provide us the pleasure of eternity.
5. Chapter 4: Those people are mistaken who pretend there is another God the Father apart from the Creator of the world; for he must have been weak and pointless, or else spiteful and full of jealousy, if he is either incapable or unwilling to grant eternal life to our bodies.
6. Chapter 5: The Extended Lifespans of the Ancients, the Physical Transitions of Elijah and Enoch, as well as the Preservation of Jonah, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Extreme Danger, are Clear Proofs that God Can Resurrect.
7. Chapter 6: God Will Grant Salvation to Every Aspect of Humanity, Composed of Body and Soul, Since the Word Has Assumed This Responsibility and Decorated It with the Holy Spirit's Gifts, of whom our Bodies are Seen as, and Referred to as, the Temples.
8. Chapter 7: Given that Christ rose in our physical form, it implies that we too will be resurrected in the same way; because the promised resurrection applies not to naturally immortal spirits, but to naturally mortal bodies.
9. Chapter 8: The gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit ready us for immortality, make us more spiritually minded, and set us apart from worldly men. These two groups are symbolized by the clean and unclean animals in religious laws.
10. Chapter 9: Explaining the Correct Interpretation of the Apostle's Statement, Often Misinterpreted by Heretics, "Flesh and Blood Cannot Inherit the Kingdom of God"
11. Chapter 10: Using an analogy of the wild olive-tree, whose characteristics but not essence is altered by grafting, he proves more significant points; he also indicates that man without the Spirit is unable to produce fruit or inherit.
12. Chapter 11: Discusses the Actions of Physical and Spiritual Individuals; Also, that Spiritual Cleansing Doesn't Refer to the Substance of Our Bodies but to Our Past Lifestyles.
13. Chapter 12: On the Difference between Life and Death; On the Breath of Life and the Enlivening Spirit: Also, How the Substance of Flesh, Once Dead, Can Be Revived.
14. Chapter 13: - The dead, who were raised by Christ, provide the greatest evidence of resurrection; our hearts are demonstrated to be capable of eternal life, because they can now accept God’s Spirit.
15. Chapter 14: If the flesh wasn't meant to be saved, the Word wouldn't have assumed our fleshly form: from this it follows that we wouldn't have been reconciled through Him.
16. Chapter 15: Evidence of Resurrection from Isaiah and Ezekiel; The Same God Who Created Us Will Also Resurrect Us.
17. Chapter 16:—Since our bodies return to the earth, it implies that they are made from it; furthermore, with the arrival of the Word, God's image within us became more apparent.
18. Chapter 17:—There is Only One Lord and God, the Father and Creator of Everything, Who Loved Us Through Christ, Gave Us Commandments, and Forgave Our Sins; Christ, His Son and Word, Demonstrated Himself When He Forgave Our Sins.
19. Chapter 18: God the Father and His Word have created all things using Their own power and wisdom, not out of any deficiency or lack of knowledge. The Son of God, having been given all power by the Father, would never have become human otherwise.
20. Chapter 19: A Comparison is Made Between the Disobedient, Sinful Eve and Her Patroness, the Virgin Mary. Various Contradicting Heresies are Discussed.
21. Chapter 20: We should listen to those religious leaders to whom the apostles entrusted the Churches, who all share the same doctrine of salvation; meanwhile, we should stay away from heretics. We must consider the mysteries of faith with a clear and sober mind.
22. Chapter 21: Christ is the Leader of All Previously Mentioned Things. It was Appropriate for Him to be Sent by God, the Creator of Everything, to Take on Human Form, and to be Tempted by Satan, So He Could Fulfill the Promises, and Achieve a Great Victory
23. Chapter 22: — The law declares the true Lord and the singular God, and Christ His Son reveals Him in the Gospel; He is the only one we should worship, and we should seek all good things from Him, not from Satan.
24. Chapter 23: The devil is highly skilled in lies, through which Adam was misled and sinned on the sixth day of creation, the same day he was also redeemed by Christ.
25. Chapter 24: On the Ever-Present Deceit of the Devil, and the Authorities and Governments of the World, which we should obey as they are God's appointments, not the devil's.
26. Chapter 25: The Deceit, Arrogance, and Despotic Rule of the Antichrist, as Described by Daniel and Paul.
27. Chapter 26: John and Daniel Have Predicted the Fall and Destruction of the Roman Empire, Which Will Lead to the End of the World and the Eternal Reign of Christ. The Gnostics, Satan's Instruments, Who Propose a Different Father, Are Disproved.
28. Chapter 27: The Future Judgment by Christ. Relationship with and Separation from God. The Eternal Punishment of Non-believers.
29. Chapter 28: The Difference Between the Righteous and the Wicked. The Future Defection during the Time of Antichrist, and the End of the World.
30. Chapter 29: Everything was created for the benefit of humanity. The lies, evil, and corrupt power of the Antichrist. This was symbolized in the flood, and later by the persecution of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
31. Chapter 30: Despite certainty regarding the number that represents the Antichrist, we should not hastily decipher the name, because this number can correspond to many names. Explanation for this uncertainty being intentionally left vague by the Holy Spirit.
32. Chapter 31: The preservation of our bodies is assured through Christ's resurrection and ascension: during the intervening time, the souls of the saints wait in anticipation for the moment they will attain their ultimate glorification.
33. Chapter 32: The saints will reap the rewards of their hardships in the very flesh they suffered in, as all of creation awaits this and God promised it to Abraham and his descendants.
34. Chapter 33: Additional Evidence for the Same Statement, Derived from Christ's Promises, When He Said He Would Share the Fruit of the Vine with His Disciples in His Father's Kingdom, and Simultaneously Promised to Reward Them Abundantly
35. Chapter 34: He Supports His Views on The Temporary and Earthly Kingdom of the Saints After Their Resurrection, Using Evidence from Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and Daniel; As Well as the Parable of the Servants Who Watch, Waiting for The Lord.
36. Chapter 35: He argues that the proofs already presented cannot be interpreted symbolically as heavenly blessings, but they will be fulfilled after the arrival of Antichrist and the resurrection, in earthly Jerusalem. To the
37. Chapter 36: People will truly be resurrected; the world will not be destroyed, but there will be different levels of dwelling places for the saints, based on the status each person is given. Everything will be subject to God the Father, and thus, He will be everything to all.
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See 1885 English translation

Chapter 29: Everything was created for the benefit of humanity. The lies, evil, and corrupt power of the Antichrist. This was symbolized in the flood, and later by the persecution of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

IN THE PREVIOUS BOOKS: I have explained the reasons why God allowed these things to be made and pointed out that all such things were created for the benefit of human nature, which is saved and maturing toward immortality through its own free will and power, making it more prepared and suited for eternal subjection to God. Therefore, creation is designed for humanity's needs; humans were not made for the sake of creation, but creation for the sake of humans. However, those nations that did not, of their own accord, lift their eyes to heaven, nor gave thanks to their Maker, nor wished to see the light of truth, are justly regarded by the word “as waste water from a sink, and as the turning-weight of a balance—in fact, as nothing;” useful to the just to the extent that stubble helps wheat grow, and its straw, when burned, is used for working gold. Therefore, when the Church is suddenly taken up at the end, it is said, “There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be.” For this is the final contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome, they are crowned with incorruption.

IN THIS BEAST: when he arrives, all kinds of iniquity and every deceit are gathered, so that all apostate power, flowing into and confined within him, may be cast into the furnace of fire.

Therefore, it is fitting that his name bears the number six hundred and sixty-six, since he embodies all the wickedness that occurred before the flood due to the apostasy of the angels. Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came upon the earth, sweeping away the rebellious world because of that infamous generation in Noah's time.

The Antichrist also embodies every error of false idols since the flood, along with the killing of the prophets and the destruction of the just. The image set up by Nebuchadnezzar was sixty cubits tall and six cubits wide; Ananias, Azarias, and Mishaell, who refused to worship it, were thrown into a furnace of fire, prophetically indicating the wrath against the righteous that will arise towards the end times. That image, in its entirety, prefigured this man’s arrival, decreeing that he alone should be worshipped by all men.

Thus, the six hundred years of Noah, during which the flood occurred because of apostasy, and the dimensions of the image for which these just men were thrown into the fiery furnace, indicate the number of the name of that man in whom the entire apostasy of six thousand years, unrighteousness, wickedness, false prophecy, and deception are concentrated; for these reasons, a cataclysm of fire will also come upon the earth.

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Against Heresies: Book V

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