CHAPTER V.

THE ORIGIN OF EVIL.

THIS being the subject out of which the Gnostic theories appear to have arisen (they being so many attempts to account for it, without in any wise bringing it into connexion with the Supreme Being), it might, perhaps, have been expected that Irenæus should have endeavoured to throw some light upon it. He has, however, taken a much wiser course. He has altogether declined making it clear, and thereby escaped the danger of inventing another heresy.

He grants, indeed, that there is sufficient ground for inquiring why God has allowed evil and imperfection to exist; but he declares that all things were intended by the Almighty to be created in the very state and with the very qualities with which they were created'. He will not allow that subsequent

1 II. iv. 1. Causa igitur quærenda est hujusmodi dispositionis Dei, sed non fabricatio mundi alteri adscribenda: et ante præ

dispensations were really intended to remedy the imperfections of prior ones, because that would be to accuse God himself of not understanding at first the effects of his works 2.

He asserts, moreover, that supposing angels and men to have a proper voluntary agency, to be endued with reason and the power of examining and deciding upon examination, they must, in the very nature of things, be capable of transgressing; and that, indeed, otherwise excellence would not have been either pleasant or an object of desire, because they would not have known its value, neither would it have been capable of reward, or of being enjoyed when attained; nor would intercourse with God have been valued, because it would have come without any impulse, choice, care, or endeavour of their own. This is the only approach to a solution of

parata omnia dicenda sunt a Deo, ut fierent, quemadmodum et facta sunt.-2. Qui enim postea emendat labem, et velut maculam emundat labem, multo prius poterat observare, ne initio in suis fieri talem maculam.--Et si ideo quod benignus sit, in novissimis temporibus misertus est hominum, et perfectum eis dat; illorum primo misereri debuit, qui fuerunt hominum factores (he alludes to the Gnostic notion that man was made by inferior beings) et dare eis perfectum. Sic utique et homines miserationem percepissent, de perfectis perfecti facti.

3

2 Ibid. 2.

IV. xxxvii. 6. Sed oportebat, inquit, eum neque Angelos tales fecisse, ut possent transgredi, neque homines qui statim ingrati exsisterent in eum ; quoniam rationabiles, et examinatores,

the difficulty which all the study of philosophers and divines has ever discovered.

But when we come to inquire why some of God's creatures transgressed, and some continued in obedience, this, he says, is a mystery which God has reserved to himself, and which it is presumption for us to inquire into; and that we ought to consider what it has pleased him to reveal as a favour, and leave to him that which he has not thought proper to make known 1.

et judiciales facti sunt, et non (quemadmodum irrationabilia, sive inanimalia, quæ sua voluntate nihil possunt facere, sed cum necessitate et vi ad bonum trahuntur, in quibus unus sensus, et unus mos,) inflexibiles, et sine judicio, qui nihil aliud esse possunt, præterquam 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. Quæ enim fruitio boni apud eos qui ignorant? Quæ autem gloria his qui non studuerunt illud? Quæ autem corona his qui non eam, ut victores in certamine, consequuti sunt?

4 II. xxviii. 7. Similiter autem et causam propter quam, cum omnia a Deo facta sint, quædam quidem transgressa sunt, et abscesserunt a Dei subjectione, quædam autem, immo plurima, perseveraverunt et perseverant in subjectione ejus qui fecit; et cujus naturæ sunt quæ transgressa sunt, cujus autem naturæ quæ perseverant; cedere oportet Deo et Verbo ejus.-Ipsam autem causam naturæ transgredientium neque Scriptura aliqua retulit, nec

He notwithstanding suggests this practical good arising out of the existence of evil, that the love of God will be more earnestly cherished for ever by those who have known by experience the evil of sin, and have obtained their deliverance from it not without their own exertion; and therefore that this may be regarded as a reason why God permitted evil".

The sobriety of these views is so obvious, that it appears unnecessary to dwell further upon them.

apostolus dixit, nec Dominus docuit. Dimittere itaque oportet agnitionem hanc Deo, quemadmodum et Dominus horæ et diei: nec in tantum periclitari, uti Deo quidem concedamus nihil, et hæc ex parte accipientes gratiam.

' IV. xxxvii. 7. Bonus igitur agonista ad incorruptelæ agonem adhortatur nos; uti coronemur, et pretiosam arbitremur coronam ; videlicet quæ 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 οὐχ ὁμοίως ἀγαπᾶται τὰ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτομάτου προσγινόμενα τοῖς μετά . . . . . σπουδῆς εὐρισκομένοις. Quoniam igitur pro nobis erat plus diligere Deum, cum labore hoc nobis adinvenire Dominus docuit et apostolus tradidit.- -Pro nobis igitur omnia hæc sustinuit Dominus (i. e. he endured the existence of evil) uti per omnia eruditi, in omnibus in futurum simus cauti et perseveremus in omni ejus dilectione, rationabiliter edocti diligere Deum.

CHAPTER VI.

THE EVIL SPIRITS.

ALTHOUGH Irenæus does not think proper to discuss the subject of the origin of evil, properly so called, he speaks agreeably to the Scriptures as to its introduction into this lower world, and in some degree fills up their outline. Thus he describes Satan as having been originally one of the angels who had power over the air1. He attributes the beginning of his overt acts of rebellion to his envy towards man2, because he had been made in the image of

1

V. xxiv. 4. Sic etiam diabolus, cum sit unus ex angelis his, qui super spiritum aëris præpositi sunt, quemadmodum Paulus apostolus in ea quæ est ad Ephesios manifestavit, invidens homini, apostata a divina factus est lege; invidia enim aliena est a Deo. Et quoniam per hominem traducta est apostasia ejus, et examinatio sententiæ ejus homo factus est, ad hoc magis magisque semetipsum contrarium constituit homini, invidens vitæ ejus, et in sua potestate apostatica volens concludere eum.

2 IV. xl. 3. Εκ τότε γὰρ ἀποστάτης ὁ ἄγγελος αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐχθρὸς, ἀφ' ὅτε ἐζήλωσε τὸ πλάσμα τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἐχθροποιῆσαι αὐτὸ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐπεχείρησε.-V. xxiv. 4. supra.

Tertullian, Cyprian, and Cyril of Jerusalem, were of the same opinion. I subjoin the passages.-Tertullian de Pati