Library › St Irenaeus of Lyons › Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching
Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching
St Irenaeus of Lyons, tr. Robinson, 1920
Chapter 5
Thus then there is shown forth1 One God, the Father, not made, invisible, creator of all things; above whom there is no other God, and after whom there is no other God. And, since God is rational,2 therefore by (the) Word He created the things that were made;3 and God is Spirit, and by (the) Spirit He adorned all things: as also the prophet says: By the word of the Lord were the heavens4 established, and by his spirit all their power. Since then the Word establishes, that is to say, gives body5 and grants the reality of being, and the Spirit gives order and form to the diversity of the powers; rightly and fittingly is the Word called the Son, and the Spirit the Wisdom of God.6 Well also does Paul His apostle say: One God,7 the Father, who is over all and through all and in us all. For over all is the Father; and through all is the Son, for through Him all things were made by the Father; and in us all is the Spirit, who cries8 Abba Father, and fashions man into the likeness of God.9 Now the Spirit shows forth the Word, and therefore the prophets announced the Son of God; and the Word utters the Spirit, and therefore is Himself the announcer of the prophets, and leads and draws man to the Father.
Notes
- Or “shown to be”: cf. V, xviii. 1: “Et sic unus Deus Pater ostenditur ( = δείκνυται).”
- Cf. Isa. xliii. 10.
- God is λογικός, therefore by λόγος He created the world. The play on the words is given by the Armenian, but cannot be given by the English translation.
- Ps. xxxiii. 6.
- “Gives body:” apparently representing σωματοποιεῖ: cf. I. i. 9, of the Demiurge of Valentinus: ἐξ ἀσωμάτων σωματοποιήσαντα.
- III, xxxviii. 2: “Verbo suo confirmans et Sapientia compingens omnia;” IV, xxxiv. 2: “qui omnia Verbo fecit et Sapientia adornavit;” 4: “qui Verbo et Sapientia fecit et adaptavit omnia.” On this whole section, see Introd. pp. 44 ff.
- Eph. iv. 6.
- Cf. Gal. iv. 6.
- V, xviii. 1: “Super omnia quidem Pater, et ipse est caput Christi; per omnia autem Verbum, et ipse est caput ecclesiae; in omnibus autem nobis Spiritus, et ipse est aqua viva quam praestat Dominus,” etc. Cf. Hippol. c. Noet. 14: ὁ ὢν πατὴρ ἐπὶ πάντων, ὁ δὲ υἱὸς διὰ πάντων, τὸ δὲ ἅγιον πνεῦμα ἐν πᾶσιν.