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Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

St Irenaeus of Lyons, tr. Robinson, 1920

Chapter 97

By the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ, crucified under Pontius Pilate,¹ there is a separation and division among mankind; and wheresoever any of those who believe on Him shall invoke and call upon Him and do His will, He is near and present, fulfilling the requests of those who with pure hearts call upon Him. Whereby receiving salvation, we continually give thanks to God, who by His great, inscrutable and unsearchable wisdom delivered us, and proclaimed the salvation from heaven — to wit, the visible coming of our Lord, that is, His living as man² —to which we by ourselves could not attain: for the³ things which are impossible with men are possible with God.⁴ Wherefore also Jeremiah saith concerning her (i. e. wisdom): Who hath gone up into⁵ heaven, and taken her, and brought her down from the clouds? Who hath gone over the sea, found her, and will bring her for choice gold? There is none that hath found her way, nor any that comprehendeth her path. But he that knoweth all things knoweth her by his understanding: he that prepareth the earth for evermore, hath filled it with four-footed beasts:⁶ he that sendeth forth the light and it goeth; he called it, and it obeyed him with fear: and the stars shined in their watches, and were glad: he called them, and they said Here we be; they shined with gladness unto him that made them. This is our God: there shall none other be accounted of in comparison with him. He hath found out every way by knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel that is beloved of him. Afterward did he appear upon earth, and was conversant with men. This is the book of the commandments of God, and of the law which endureth for ever. All they that hold it fast (are appointed) to life: but such as leave it shall die. Now by Jacob and Israel he means the Son of God, who received power from the Father over our life, and after having received this brought it down to us who were far off from Him, when He appeared on earth and was conversant with men, mingling and mixing⁷ the Spirit of God the Father with the creature formed by God,⁸ that man might be after the image and likeness of God.⁹

Notes

II, xlix. 3: ᾿Εν τῷ ὀνόματι ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῦ σταυρωθέντος ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πειλάτου. Cf. Just. M. Ap. ii., 6, Dial. 30, 76, 85. These words should be taken with c. 96: see Add. Note on p. 151.
Suggesting the Greek τὴν ἀνθρωπινὴν αὐτοῦ πολιτείαν.
Luke xviii. 27.
So quoted in IV, xxxiv. 5.
Bar. iii. 29-iv. 1.
The Arm. for “beasts” (κτηνῶν) is here “fat (things).”
With the whole of this passage compare IV, xxxiv. 4 ff., especially the words “praedicaverunt ejus secundum carnem adventum, per quem commixtio et communio Dei et hominis secundum placitum Patris facta est; ab initio praenuntiante Verbo Dei quoniam videbitur Deus ab hominibus et conversabitur cum eis super terram et colloqueretur et adfuturus esset suo plasmati”; and “praesignificabant igitur prophetae quoniam videbitur Deus ab hominibus,” words which come again a little further on.
Lit. “with the formation (plasma) of God.”
Cf. c. 32: V, i. 3, ii. 1, xxxvi. 1, and elsewhere.