PG 7 · cols. 971–974

Analysis libri quarti

Editors' preface

modi Matre, et exire a Bytho, et absistere a Vacuo, et Umbram derelinquere: et legitime eos generari, conversos ad Ecclesiam Dei, et formari Christum in eis, et cognoscere eos fabricatorem et factorem hujus universitatis, solum verum Deum, et Dominum omnium. Haec precamur de illis, utilius eos diligentes, quam ipsi semetipsos putant diligere. Quae enim est a nobis dilectio, cum sit vera, salutaris est eis, si quidem eam recipiant. Est enim austero medicamini similis, absumens impropriorem ac superfluam vulneris carnem: elationem enim illorum et inflationem evacuat. Quapropter tentantes omni virtute manum porrigere eis, non taedebit nos. Prorogabimus autem super haec, quae dicta sunt, in sequenti libro Domini sermones inferre, si quos ex his per ipsam Christi doctrinam convincentes, suadere possimus cessare ab ejusmodi errore, et absistere ab ea blasphemia, quae est in fabricatorem ipsorum, qui et solus est Deus, et Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Amen.

a Mother of that sort, and to depart from Bythus, and to withdraw from the Void, and to forsake the Shadow; and that they may be lawfully begotten, converted to the Church of God, and that Christ may be formed in them, and that they may know the Framer and Maker of this universe, the only true God and Lord of all. These things we pray concerning them, loving them more profitably than they themselves think they love themselves. For the love that is from us, since it is true, is salutary for them, if indeed they receive it. For it is like an astringent medicine, consuming the alien and superfluous flesh of the wound; for it empties out their pride and inflation. Wherefore we shall not grow weary in endeavouring with all our might to stretch out a hand to them. And beyond these things that have been spoken, we shall go on in the following book to bring forward the words of the Lord, if by convicting any of them through the very teaching of Christ we may persuade them to cease from error of this sort, and to desist from that blasphemy which is against their own Framer, Who alone is both God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

ANALYSIS LIBRI QUARTI.

Analysis of the Fourth Book.

Quemadmodum auctor noster libro superiore ipsis, ut ille loquitur, apostolorum sententiis, haereticorum confutaverat errores: ita eosdem hoc in libro sermonibus Christi a se denuntiat esse refellendos. Quapropter illud principio firmum fixumque statuit, neminem a Christo, nisi suum Patrem, vocari Deum. Quod quidem, ut non ex novo tantum, sed Veteri etiam Testamento probet, perspicuum primo facit, Moysis litteras verba esse Christi, atque prophetas omnes sacro divini Verbi afflatu sua fudisse oracula, suos scripsisse libros, suasque epistolas, et commentaria. Hinc in apertum demonstrandae veritatis campum excurrit, atque ex Christi ipsius, nec non Moysis etiam et Isaiae verbis probat, unicum esse Deum, totius mundi creatorem. Tum tela quaedam, sed levi brachio ab adversariis ex futuro mundi fine et eversione Hierosolymae vibrata, egregie retundit.

Just as our author in the preceding book had refuted the errors of the heretics by the very sentences of the apostles, as he says, so in this book he declares that the same are to be refuted by him by the words of Christ. Wherefore at the beginning he establishes it as firm and fixed that no one is called God by Christ save His own Father. And in order to prove this not from the New Testament only, but from the Old also, he first makes it clear that the writings of Moses are the words of Christ, and that all the prophets poured forth their oracles and wrote their books, their epistles, and their commentaries by the sacred inspiration of the divine Word. Hence he runs out into the open field of demonstrating the truth, and from the words of Christ Himself, as well as of Moses also and Isaiah, proves that there is one only God, the Creator of the whole world. Then he admirably beats back certain darts hurled, though with a weak arm, by the adversaries from the future end of the world and the overthrow of Jerusalem.

Aliud autem, et quod acrius quidem urget, argumentum inde elicit, quia Christus cum antiquis patriarchis ac prophetis se et videndum praebuit, et cum iis locutus est, manifestam plane eisdem fecerit unius Dei, Patris sui, divinitatem. Nec auctorem nostrum vel minimum morantur objecta ab haereticis Christi verba: Nemo cognoscit Patrem nisi Filius, etc., quibus Patrem ante ejusdem Christi nativitatem omnibus incognitum fuisse causabantur. Etenim veram hujusce loci et lectionem et sensum pro se facere ostendit. Deinde assertionem suam aliis confirmat Christi Domini apparitionibus, quibus a Moyse, et Aarone, ac potissimum Abrahamo visus est. Ex quibus erroris arguit Marcionitas, qui eumdem Abrahamum a salute per Christum impertita excludebant, ostenditque Christum et Abrahae et seminis ejus, fidelium scilicet, vindicem et servatorem exstitisse.

Another argument, moreover, and one which he urges more sharply, he elicits from the fact that since Christ both presented Himself to be seen by the ancient patriarchs and prophets and spoke with them, He plainly made manifest to the same the divinity of the one God, His Father. Nor do the words of Christ objected by the heretics: No one knows the Father except the Son, etc.—whereby they alleged that the Father was unknown to all before the nativity of the same Christ—delay our author even in the least. For he shows that both the true reading and the true sense of this passage make for him. Next he confirms his assertion by other appearances of Christ the Lord, wherein He was seen by Moses, and Aaron, and chiefly by Abraham. From which he convicts of error the Marcionites, who excluded the same Abraham from the salvation imparted through Christ, and shows that Christ was the redeemer and saviour both of Abraham and of his seed, namely the faithful.

Subinde contra eosdem haereticos asserit, Christum Moysis legem implevisse quidem, sed non solvisse; ac Vetus Testamentum, sicut et Novum, unius ejusdemque Dei esse opus. Unde ad propositum suum recte concludit, eumdem esse Patrem, qui in Veteri ac Novo Testamento a Christo per Moysen et prophetas est annuntiatus. Quod sane tum ex eodem utriusque Testamenti scopo et fine, tum ex reprobatis a Christo traditionibus ac moribus Veteri repugnantibus, tum ex statuta in utroque, sed in Novo extensa et ampliata diligendi Dei lege mire confirmat. Cum autem haeretici plura in veteri foedere contraria novo esse objicerent, huic argumento fuse respondet, ostenditque cur Deus Israelitis Mosaicam imposuerit legem, cujus jugum ac vincula deinceps abstulit, atque ab illis voluerit victimas offerri, sicuti a Christianis eucharisticum corporis et sanguinis Christi sacrificium; quod in sola Ecclesia catholica cum simplicitate ac justitia verum ac purum offerri Deo probat.

Next against the same heretics he asserts that Christ fulfilled indeed the law of Moses, but did not destroy it; and that the Old Testament, just like the New, is the work of one and the same God. Whence for his purpose he rightly concludes that He is the same Father Who in the Old and New Testaments was proclaimed by Christ through Moses and the prophets. Which indeed he wonderfully confirms both from the same scope and end of both Testaments, and from the traditions and customs repugnant to the Old which were reprobated by Christ, and from the law of loving God established in both, but extended and amplified in the New. And since the heretics objected that many things in the old covenant were contrary to the new, he answers this argument at length, and shows why God imposed upon the Israelites the Mosaic law, whose yoke and bonds He afterwards took away, and willed that victims should be offered by them, just as by Christians the eucharistic sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ; which he proves is offered to God true and pure with simplicity and righteousness in the Catholic Church alone.

Variis post haec Scripturae sacrae locis absurdum omnino et fatuum esse probat, alium praeter unum Deum investigare aut Bythum, aut Pleroma, vel Aeones. Nam quamvis ille a nobis non possit comprehendi, eum tamen ex creatione mundi, quem per Verbum Spiritumque sanctum condidit, facile cognoscimus. Atque in ejusce veritatis firmamentum adducit Pastoris seu Hermae auctoritatem. At quia haeretici Filium Dei prophetis apparuisse pertinacius negabant; hunc ab iis conspectum triplici, quod ex eorumdem visionibus, verbis et rationibus eruitur, conficit argumento. Imo vero eosdem prophetas illius afflatu locutos esse demonstrat.

After these things, by various passages of Sacred Scripture he proves that it is altogether absurd and foolish to seek after another beside the one God, or a Bythus, or a Pleroma, or Aeons. For although He cannot be comprehended by us, yet we easily know Him from the creation of the world, which He founded through the Word and the Holy Spirit. And in support of this truth he adduces the authority of the Shepherd, or Hermas. And because the heretics more obstinately denied that the Son of God had appeared to the prophets, he establishes that He was beheld by them by a threefold argument drawn from their visions, words, and reasons. Nay more, he demonstrates that the same prophets spoke by His inspiration.

Qua quidem ex doctrina scite colligit, in eorumdem prophetarum vaticiniis fieri de Christo sermonem; unamque et eamdem fuisse Abrahae fidem, et nostram, quam veteres patriarchae et dictis et factis multipliciter praesignificarunt; viam posteris ad Christi fidem munientes. Sed quoniam omnis praedictio, antequam eventum suum sortiatur, obscura est, inde concludit Christum in iis, sicut thesaurum in agro absconditum, delituisse. Quamobrem ut ille cognoscatur, ad seniorum, qui veros Scripturae sensus ab apostolis didicerunt, traditionem recurrendum esse planissime evincit. Prudenter itaque monet iis solis, quibus creditum fuerat fidei Christianae depositum, episcopis, qui successionem ducunt ab apostolis habendam fidem, et cum iis, et ipso cum apostolo suscipiendam ab omnibus publicam unius Dei professionem.

From which doctrine indeed he skilfully gathers that in the prophecies of the same prophets discourse is made concerning Christ, and that the faith of Abraham and ours were one and the same, which the ancient patriarchs in manifold ways prefigured both by words and by deeds, paving the way for posterity to the faith of Christ. Yet since every prediction before it obtains its fulfilment is obscure, he concludes thence that Christ lay hidden in them like a treasure hidden in a field. Wherefore, in order that He may be known, he most plainly proves that recourse must be had to the tradition of the elders, who learned the true senses of Scripture from the apostles. Prudently therefore he warns that credit is to be given to those bishops alone to whom the deposit of the Christian faith was entrusted, who derive their succession from the apostles, and that with them, and with the apostle himself, the public profession of the one God is to be undertaken by all.

Hanc autem variis objectionibus cum impugnarent haeretici, eas singulatim recenset, et solidis senioris

And when the heretics impugned this with various objections, he recounts them one by one, and with the solid

Editors' notes and page, col. 971

Footnotes

(printed under page 494)

(30) ‹anchor: esse refellendos› · call in col 971

Praef.

Preface.

(printed under page 494)

(31) ‹anchor: vocari Deum› · call in col 971

Cap. 1.

Chapter 1.

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(32) ‹anchor: totius mundi creatorem› · call in col 971

Cap. 2 et seq.

Chapter 2 and following.

(printed under page 494)

(33) ‹anchor: egregie retundit› · call in col 971

Cap. 3 et 4.

Chapters 3 and 4.

(printed under page 494)

(34) ‹anchor: Patris sui, divinitatem› · call in col 971

Cap. 5 et seqq.

Chapter 5 and following.

(printed under page 494)

(35) ‹anchor: pro se facere ostendit› · call in col 971

Cap. 6.

Chapter 6.

(printed under page 494)

(36) ‹anchor: Abrahamo visus est› · call in col 971

Cap. 7.

Chapter 7.

(printed under page 494)

(37) ‹anchor: servatorem exstitisse› · call in col 971

Cap. 8.

Chapter 8.

(printed under page 494)

(38) ‹anchor: Dei esse opus› · call in col 971

Ibid. et cap. 9.

Ibid. and chapter 9.

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(39) ‹anchor: prophetas est annuntiatus› · call in col 971

Cap. 10 et seq.

Chapter 10 and following.

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(40) ‹anchor: lege mire confirmat› · call in col 971

Cap. 12 et seq.

Chapter 12 and following.

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(41) ‹anchor: offerri Deo probat› · call in col 971

Ibid. et cap. 14 et seqq.

Ibid. and chapter 14 and following.

(printed under page 494)

(42) ‹anchor: locutos esse demonstrat› · call in col 971

Cap. 19 et seq.

Chapter 19 and following.

(printed under page 494)

(43) ‹anchor: Christi fidem munientes› · call in col 971

Cap. 21 et seqq.

Chapter 21 and following.

(printed under page 494)

(44) ‹anchor: Dei professionem› · call in col 971

Cap. 26.

Chapter 26.

(printed under page 494)

(59) ‹anchor: et absistere› · call in col 971

Absistere. Eras., Gall., Feu. et Merc. 2, abstinere.

Absistere ("to stand off"). Erasmus, Gallasius, Feuardent and Mercerus 2 read abstinere ("to abstain").

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(60) ‹anchor: absumens impropriorem› · call in col 971

Impropriorem. Alii, improbiorem.

Impropriorem ("less fitting"). Others read improbiorem ("more wicked").

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(61) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 971 (call in the right-hand column, not on the column crops)

Prorogabimus. In Feuard. edit. ex vet. cod. ut et in Voss. et Grab., prorogavimus. In aliis pejus, praerogavimus.

Prorogabimus ("we shall extend"). In Feuardent's edition, from an old manuscript, as also in the Vossianus and Grabe, prorogavimus ("we have extended"). In others, worse, praerogavimus.

(printed under page 494)

(62) ‹anchor: not visible (Amen)› · call in col 971 (call in the right-hand column, not on the column crops)

Amen. Hanc vocem addidi ex Clarom., Ottob. et Voss.

Amen. I have added this word from the Claromontanus, Ottobonianus and Vossianus.

(printed under page 494)

Page

running head: 971 S. IRENAEI EPISCOPI LUGDUNENSIS ET MARTYRIS 972
marginal letters: A carnem : elationem
old-edition numerals: 225 before Quemadmodum
other: Latin only, no Greek printed; word split at start of column: modi (from hujus-); editors' matter: ANALYSIS LIBRI QUARTI. Quemadmodum auctor noster (Analysis of Book IV across cols 971-972)
Q1 2026-11-04: para 1 (modi Matre … Amen.) is the end of Book III and is still to be moved to contra_haereses_iii at setup. The column crops cut off the right half of the page: the right-hand column of Book III and the right halves of the Analysis's first eight lines (to "Tum tela quaedam") were not seen and are unverified.

PG 7:972

Editors' notes and page, col. 972

Footnotes

(33) ‹anchor: egregie retundit› · call in col 972

Cap. 3 et 4.

Chapters 3 and 4.

(printed under page 494)

(36) ‹anchor: Abrahamo visus est› · call in col 972

Cap. 7.

Chapter 7.

(printed under page 494)

(37) ‹anchor: servatorem exstitisse› · call in col 972

Cap. 8.

Chapter 8.

(printed under page 494)

(38) ‹anchor: Dei esse opus› · call in col 972

Ibid. et cap. 9.

Same place, and chapter 9.

(printed under page 494)

(40) ‹anchor: lege mire confirmat› · call in col 972

Cap. 12 et seq.

Chapter 12 and following.

(printed under page 494)

(41) ‹anchor: offerri Deo probat› · call in col 972

Ibid. et cap. 14 et seqq.

Same place, and chapter 14 and following.

(printed under page 494)

(43) ‹anchor: Christi fidem munientes› · call in col 972

Cap. 21 et seqq.

Chapter 21 and following.

(printed under page 494)

(62) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 972 (call not on this image; column uncertain)

Amen. Hanc vocem addidi ex Clarom., Ottob. et Voss.

Amen. I have added this word from the Claromontanus, the Ottobonianus and the Vossianus.

(printed under page 494)

Page

other: col 972 is the right-hand number of a full-width page, set whole under col 971 (corpus full_width rule); nothing of its own: pointer only

PG 7:973

cujusdam, qui adversus illos saepius disputaverat, allatis ut plurimum responsionibus, infirmat et penitus diluit. Quae quidem omnia apostolorum corroborat auctoritate, qua duo Testamenta, Vetus et Novum, ab uno et eodem Deo profecta invicte asseruntur. At iis firmam, inquit, fidem qui habuerit, ille certe omnia judicabit, gentes, Judaeos, Marcionitas Christum hominem esse negantes, Valentinianos vana de Pleromate, et de Aeonum suorum emissionibus somniantes: judicabit et Gnosticos, atque Ebionitas, qui Christum merum hominem, et alios qui eum fictum duntaxat et simulatum praedicabant, ac denique pseudoprophetas, et omnes schismaticos atque haereticos.

of a certain [elder], who had often disputed against them, he weakens and utterly washes away, bringing forward for the most part [that elder's] answers. All of which he strengthens by the authority of the apostles, by which the two Testaments, the Old and the New, are invincibly asserted to have proceeded from one and the same God. But whoever has held firm faith in these things, he says, will surely judge all: the gentiles; the Jews; the Marcionites, who deny that Christ is man; the Valentinians, dreaming vain things about the Pleroma and about the emissions of their Aeons; he will judge also the Gnostics, and the Ebionites, who proclaimed Christ a mere man, and the others, who proclaimed Him only feigned and simulated; and finally the false prophets, and all schismatics and heretics.

Vera autem, pergit Irenaeus, doctrinae Christianae cognitio repetenda est ex traditionibus Ecclesiae, quae sola et semper martyres suos habuit. Horum autem typi et figurae sunt antiqui prophetae, ex quibus persecutiones justorum non solum praenuntiatae sunt, sed unus et idem, variis licet modis, praedictus est Christus. Quamobrem Marcionitas aliosque haereticos, ab altero Deo dicentes esse prophetas, non solum corripit, sed vanas radicitus extrahit eorum rationes. Nec minore impetu concutit Valentinianos, qui sacras Scripturas vel a summo, vel a medio Pleromate, vel etiam a mundi conditore, a quo prophetas missos opinabantur, profectas esse contendebant. Catholici vero omnes, addit auctor noster, magno consensu affirmant ab uno et eodem Deo, qui vere prophetas misit, creata esse omnia. Quod quidem non modo ex parabolis, sed ipsis etiam probat Christi Domini verbis.

But the true knowledge of Christian doctrine, Irenaeus continues, is to be sought from the traditions of the Church, which alone and always has had its martyrs. Of these the ancient prophets are types and figures, by whom not only were the persecutions of the just foretold, but one and the same Christ was foretold, though in various ways. For this reason he not only rebukes the Marcionites and other heretics who say that the prophets are from another God, but tears out their empty reasonings by the roots. With no less force he shakes the Valentinians, who contended that the sacred Scriptures proceeded either from the highest or from the middle Pleroma, or even from the maker of the world, by whom they supposed the prophets had been sent. But all Catholics, our author adds, affirm with great consent that all things were created by one and the same God, Who truly sent the prophets. This he proves not only from the parables but also from the very words of Christ the Lord.

Ex quibus opinionem eorum evertit, qui quosdam ex natura sua bonos, malos vero alios asserebant. Argumentis autem illorum ut faciat satis, dilucide explicat cur angeli et homines a creationis suae exordio tantae non fuerint perfectionis, ut amplius peccare non possent. Neque tamen humana, inquit doctus vir, infirmitas in Deum idcirco est refundenda. Nam homo, cum liber sit creatus, ipse sui boni et mali auctor est; atque idcirco aut poenis, aut praemiis a Deo jure merito afficitur. Unus itaque idem ipse Deus est, qui ea omnia, sicuti ex zizaniorum parabola liquet, hominibus decernit. Denique cur impii vocentur filii diaboli, edisserit: et postquam libri sequentis exposuit argumentum, huic libro imponit coronidem.

From these he overturns the opinion of those who asserted that some are good by their own nature, and others evil. And to answer their arguments, he explains clearly why angels and men were not, from the beginning of their creation, of such perfection that they could no longer sin. Yet human weakness, says the learned man, is not on that account to be laid upon God. For man, since he was created free, is himself the author of his own good and evil; and for that reason he is with full justice visited by God either with punishments or with rewards. One and the same God, therefore, is He Who decrees all these things for men, as is plain from the parable of the tares. Finally he explains why the wicked are called sons of the devil; and after setting out the argument of the following book, he puts the finishing stroke to this book.

Editors' notes and page, col. 973

Footnotes

(printed under page 495)

(45) ‹anchor: asseruntur› · call in col 973

Cap. 27 et seqq.

Chapter 27 and following.

(printed under page 495)

(46) ‹anchor: haereticos› · call in col 973

Cap. 33.

Chapter 33.

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(47) ‹anchor: Christus› · call in col 973

Ibid.

In the same place.

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(48) ‹anchor: rationes› · call in col 973

Cap. 34.

Chapter 34.

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(49) ‹anchor: call not seen› · call in col 973 (uncertain)

Cap. 35.

Chapter 35.

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(50) ‹anchor: call not seen› · call in col 973 (uncertain)

Cap. 36.

Chapter 36.

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(51) ‹anchor: call not seen› · call in col 973 (uncertain)

Cap. 37.

Chapter 37.

(printed under page 495)

(52) ‹anchor: refundenda› · call in col 973

Cap. 38.

Chapter 38.

(printed under page 495)

(53) ‹anchor: call not seen› · call in col 973 (uncertain)

Cap. 39 et seq.

Chapter 39 and following.

(printed under page 495)

(54) ‹anchor: call not seen› · call in col 973 (uncertain)

Cap. 41.

Chapter 41.

(printed under page 495)

(63) ‹anchor: Hunc quartum› · call in col 973

Hunc quartum. In Feuard. marg., et Voss. Nunc quartum.

"Hunc quartum" ("this fourth"): Feuardent's margin and the Vossianus read "Nunc quartum" ("now the fourth").

(printed under page 495)

(64) ‹anchor: confirmabimus› · call in col 973

Confirmabimus. Al. confirmavimus.

"Confirmabimus" ("we shall confirm"): other copies read "confirmavimus" ("we have confirmed").

(printed under page 495)

(65) ‹anchor: in erroris procedere› · call in col 973

Procedere. In cod. Arund. et edit. Oxon., procidere. Sed minus convenit cum longius.

"Procedere" ("to go forward"): the Arundel codex and the Oxford edition read "procidere" ("to fall forward"). But that fits less well with "longius" ("further").

(printed under page 495)

(66) ‹anchor: in primo libro tibi› · call in col 973

Tibi. Deest in Voss.

"Tibi" ("to you"): missing in the Vossianus.

(printed under page 495)

(67) ‹anchor: tanquam speculum› · call in col 973

Speculum. In Feuard. marg. spectaculum.

"Speculum" ("mirror"): Feuardent's margin reads "spectaculum" ("spectacle").

(printed under page 495)

Footnotes

(55) ‹anchor: verbi » veritatis› · call in col 974

Luc. I, 2.

Luke 1:2.

(printed under page 495)

(68) ‹anchor: qui hos evertent› · call in col 974

Evertent. Editt., evertunt.

"Evertent" ("will overthrow"): the editions read "evertunt" ("overthrow").

(printed under page 495)

(69) ‹anchor: propter labem emissum› · call in col 974

Propter labem emissum. Ad instaurandam videlicet labem, in quam ex praecipiti, atque temerario cognoscendi Patris studio incurrerant Aeones. Vide lib. I, cap. 11.

"Sent forth on account of the fall": that is, to repair the fall into which the Aeons had run through their headlong and rash eagerness to know the Father. See Book I, chapter 11.

(printed under page 495)

(70) ‹anchor: a labe emissi sunt› · call in col 974

Qui a labe emissi sunt. Id est, quos labes infecit. Neque enim haec plus aequo urgenda, quasi ab ipsa labe seu vitio originem sumpserint Aeones: id quippe repugnat Valentinianorum hypothesi.

"Who were sent forth from the fall": that is, those whom the fall had tainted. These words should not be pressed too far, as if the Aeons took their origin from the fall or fault itself, since that contradicts the Valentinians' hypothesis.

(printed under page 495)

(71) ‹anchor: Spiritu providentes› · call in col 974

Providentes. Pro praevidentes: quo sensu futura providere, providere quid futurum sit scriptum a Cicerone.

"Providentes": it stands for "praevidentes" ("foreseeing"). Cicero wrote "futura providere" and "providere quid futurum sit" in this sense.

(printed under page 495)