CHAPTER IV.

ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY TRINITY.

THE Controversy which Irenæus carried on with the Gnostics being directly and explicitly on the subject of the Divine Nature, led him to treat distinctly of the divinity and humanity of Christ and his incarnation, of the providential government of God, and his various manifestations. He is thus led, almost of necessity, to enunciate the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity in various aspects, but most especially in regard to the twofold nature of Christ.

In direct reference to the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity, he describes the agency of the three Persons in the creation of man; the Father willing and commanding, the Son ministering and forming, the Spirit sustaining and nourishing him '. So again he declares that God made all things by his Word

1 IV. xxxviii. 3. Ὁ γεννητὸς καὶ πεπλασμένος ἄνθρωπος κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν τοῦ ἀγεννήτου γίνεται Θεοῦ· τοῦ μὲν Πατρὸς εὐδοκοῦντος καὶ κελεύοντος, τοῦ δὲ Υἱοῦ πράσσοντος καὶ δημιουρ γοῦντος, τοῦ δὲ Πνεύματος τρέφοντος καὶ αὔξοντος.

or Son, and Wisdom or Spirit, using the terms personally; and that this was the same thing as making them by himself 2, because they are his hands. And again, in explaining God's dispensations in regard to man, he affirms that God was seen under the Old Testament by the Spirit of prophecy, that he was seen subsequently by means of the Son, adoptively,

stans.

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'I. xxii. 1. Omnia per ipsum fecit Pater non per angelos, neque per virtutes aliquas abscissas ab ejus sententia (nihil enim indiget omnium Deus), sed et per Verbum et Spiritum suum omnia faciens et disponens et gubernans, et omnibus esse præ-II. xxx. 9. Hic Pater, hic Deus, hic Conditor, hic Factor, hic Fabricator, qui fecit ea per semetipsum, hoc est, per Verbum et per Sapientiam suam, cœlum et terram et maria et omnia quæ in eis sunt.- -IV. vii. 4. Hæc enim Filius, qui est Verbum Dei, ab initio præstruebat; non indigente Patre angelis, uti faceret conditionem et formaret hominem sed habente copiosum et inenarrabile ministerium: ministrat enim ei ad omnia sua progenies et figuratio sua, id est Filius et Spiritus Sanctus, Verbum et Sapientia; quibus serviunt et subjecti sunt omnes angeli.

3 V. i. 3. Sic in fine Verbum Patris et Spiritus Dei, adunitus antiquæ substantiæ plasmationis Adæ, viventem et perfectum effecit hominem, capientem perfectum Patrem non enim effugit aliquando Adam manus Dei, ad quas Pater loquens, dicit: "Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostrum."xxviii. 4. Plasmatus initio homo per manus Dei, id est, Filii et Spiritus, fit secundum imaginem et similitudinem Dei.

IV. xx. 5. Potens est enim in omnibus Deus; visus quidem tunc per Spiritum prophetiæ, visus autem et per Filium adoptive, videbitur autem et in regno cœlorum paternaliter: Spiritu quidem præparante hominem in Filio Dei, Filio autem adducente ad Patrem, Patre autem incorruptelam donante in æternam vitam, quæ unicuique evenit ex eo quod videat Deum.

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i. e. adopting human nature into the divine 5, and that he will be seen in his character of Father in the kingdom of heaven; and that in this way the Spirit in the Son prepares man, and the Son brings him to the Father, and the Father grants to him immortality; and so again in the work of man's redemption, the Spirit operates, the Son supplies, the Father approves, and man is perfected to salvation. He likewise gives two statements of the substance of the Creed, in which the three Persons of the Trinity are

spoken of in the same manner as in the Nicene Creed, both of which will be given in a subsequent chapter.

These are all the passages, so far as I have been able to discover, which speak of the three Persons of the most Holy Trinity together; but the doctrine is implied throughout.

On the twofold nature of Christ, and especially on his divinity, he is more full. Indeed it would take more space than I can spare to introduce all the passages which bear upon the subject.

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III. xix. 1. Εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ Λόγος ἄνθρωπος, et qui Filius Dei est Filius hominis factus est, commixtus Verbo Dei, iva ò ἄνθρωπος (i. e. human nature) τὸν Λόγον χωρήσας, καὶ τὴν υἱοθε σίαν λαβὼν, υἱὸς γένηται Θεοῦ.

6 IV. xx. 6. Per omnia enim hæc Deus Pater ostenditur, Spiritu quidem operante, Filio vero ministrante, Patre vero comprobante, homine vero consummato ad salutem.

Very near the beginning of his treatise, in rehearsing the faith of the Church, he speaks of "Christ Jesus our Lord and God and Saviour and King;” further on he quotes many passages of Scripture to show that he was spoken of absolutely and definitely as God and Lord, and asks the ques

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* I. x. 1. Ἡ μὲν γὰρ Ἐκκλησία, καίπερ καθ ̓ ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμέ νης ἕως περάτων τῆς γῆς διεσπαρμένη, παρὰ δὲ τῶν ̓Αποστόλων, καὶ τῶν ἐκείνων μαθητῶν παραλαβοῦσα τὴν εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν, Πατέρα παντοκράτορα, τὸν πεποιηκότα τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ τὰς θαλάσσας καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς, πίστιν· καὶ εἰς ἕνα Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν, τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὸν σαρκωθέντα ὑπὲρ τῆς ἡμετέρας σωτηρίας· καὶ εἰς Πνεῦμα ἅγιον, τὸ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν κεκηρυχὸς τὰς οἰκονομίας καὶ τὰς ἐλεύσεις, καὶ τὴν ἐκ παρθένου γέννησιν, καὶ τὸ πάθος, καὶ τὴν ἔγερσιν ἐκ νεκρῶν, καὶ τὴν ἔνσαρκον εἰς τοὺς οὐρα νοὺς ἀνάληψιν τοῦ ἠγαπημένου Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐν τῇ δοξῇ τοῦ Πατρὸς παρουσίαν αὐτοῦ, ἐπὶ τὸ ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι τὰ πάντα, καὶ ἀναστῆσαι πᾶσαν σάρκα πάσης ἀνθρωπότητος, ἵνα Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν καὶ Θεῷ καὶ σωτῆρι καὶ βασιλεῖ, κατὰ τὴν εὐδοκίαν τοῦ Πατρὸς τοῦ ἀοράτου, πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθο νίων, καὶ πᾶσα γλώσσα ἐξομολογήσηται αὐτῷ, καὶ κρίσιν δικαίαν ἐν τοῖς πᾶσι ποιήσηται, τὰ μὲν πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας, καὶ ἀγγέ λους παραβεβηκότας καὶ ἐν ἀποστασίᾳ γεγονότας, καὶ τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς καὶ ἀδίκους καὶ ἀνόμους καὶ βλασφήμους τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰς τὸ αἰώνιον πῦρ πέμψῃ· τοῖς δὲ δικαίοις καὶ ὁσίοις καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ τετηρηκόσι, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ αὐτοῦ διαμεμενηκόσι, τοῖς ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, τοῖς δὲ ἐκ μετανοίας, ζωὴν χαρισάμενος, ἀφθαρσίαν δωρήσηται, καὶ δόξαν αιωνίαν περιποιήσῃ.-2. Τοῦτο τὸ κήρυγμα παρειληφυΐα, καὶ ταύτην τὴν πίστιν, ὡς προέφαμεν, ἡ Ἐκκλησία, καίπερ ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ διεσπαρμένη, ἐπιμελῶς φυλάσσει.—A translation of this passage will be found in the chapter on Creeds.

* III. vi. 1. Vere igitur cum Pater sit Dominus, et Filius vere sit Dominus, merito Spiritus Sanctus Domini appellatione signavit eos. Et iterum in eversione Sodomitarum Scriptura ait: "Et

tion, How would men be saved, if He who wrought out their salvation upon earth was not God??

He asserts that the Word was with God from everlasting', and that Jesus was the Son of God before the creation 2, that no man knows the mode of his pluit Dominus super Sodomam et Gomorrham ignem et sulfur a Domino de cœlo." Filium enim hic significat, qui et Abrahæ colloquutus sit, a Patre accepisse potestatem ad judicandum Sodomitas, propter iniquitatem eorum. Similiter habet illud: "Sedes tua, Deus, in æternum; virga directionis, virga regni tui. Dilexisti justitiam, et odisti iniquitatem, propterea unxit te Deus, Deus tuus." Utrosque enim Dei appellatione signavit Spiritus, et eum qui ungitur, Filium, et eum qui ungit, id est, Patrem.— 2. Nemo igitur alius, quemadmodum prædixi, Deus nominatur aut Dominus appellatur, nisi qui est omnium Deus et Dominus, qui et Moysi dixit: "Ego sum qui sum: et sic dices filiis Israel: Qui est, misit me ad vos:" et hujus Filius Jesus Christus Dominus noster, qui filios Dei facit credentes in nomen suum.

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* IV. xxxiii. 4. Πῶς δύνανται σωθῆναι, εἰ μὴ ὁ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ τὴν σωτηρίαν αὐτῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἐργασάμενος ; ἢ πῶς ἄνθρωπος χωρήσει εἰς Θεὸν, εἰ μὴ ὁ Θεὸς ἐχωρήθη εἰς ἄνθρωπον ;

1 II. xxv. 3. Non enim infectus es, O homo, neque semper coëxsistebas Deo, sicut proprium ejus Verbum.-——xxx. 9. Semper autem coëxsistens Filius Patri, olim et ab initio semper revelat Patrem, et angelis et archangelis et potestatibus et virtutibus, et omnibus quibus vult revelare Deus.--III. xviii. 1. Ostenso manifeste, quod in principio Verbum exsistens apud Deum, per quem omnia facta sunt, qui et semper aderat generi humano, hunc in novissimis temporibus secundum præfinitum tempus a Patre, unitum suo plasmati, passibilem hominem factum; exclusa est omnis contradictio dicentium: "Si ergo tunc natus est, non erat ergo ante Christus." Ostendimus enim, quia non tunc cœpit Filius Dei, exsistens semper apud Patrem.

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Frag. xxxvii. Χριστὸς, ὁ πρὸ αἰώνων κληθεὶς Θεοῦ Υἱός.