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| Chapter X.—Unity of the faith of the Church throughout the whole world.
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Chapter X.—Unity of the faith of the
Church throughout the whole world.
1. The Church, though
dispersed through our the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has
received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She believes]
in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea,
and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God,
who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who
proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations2786
| 2786 “Of God” is added from the
old Latin | of God, and the advents, and the birth from a
virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the
ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord,
and His [future] manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father
“to gather all things in one,”2787
and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order
that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King, according
to the will of the invisible Father, “every knee should bow, of
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and
that every tongue should confess”2788
to
Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may
send “spiritual wickednesses,”2789
and
the angels who transgressed and became
apostates, together with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and
profane among men, into everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His
grace, confer immortality on the righteous, and holy, and those who have
kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love, some from the
beginning [of their Christian course], and others from [the date of]
their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting glory.
2. As I have already observed, the Church, having
received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the
whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it.
She also believes these points [of doctrine] just as if she had but one
soul, and one and the same heart, and she proclaims them, and teaches
them, and hands them down, with perfect harmony, as if she possessed only
one mouth. For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet
the import of the tradition is one and the same. For the Churches which
have been planted in Germany do not believe or hand down anything
different, nor do those in Spain, nor those in Gaul, nor those in the
East, nor those in Egypt, nor those in Libya, nor those which have been
established in the central regions2790
| 2790 Probably referring to the Churches in Palestine.
| of the world. But as the sun, that creature of God, is one and
the same throughout the whole world, so also the preaching of the truth
shineth everywhere, and enlightens all men that are willing to come to a
knowledge of the truth. Nor will any one of the rulers in the Churches,
however highly gifted he may be in point of eloquence, teach doctrines
different from these (for no one is greater than the Master); nor, on the
other hand, will he who is deficient in power of expression inflict
injury on the tradition. For the faith being ever one and the same,
neither does one who is able at great length to discourse regarding it,
make any addition to it, nor does one, who can say but little diminish
it.
3. It does not follow because men are endowed with
greater and less degrees of intelligence, that they should therefore
change the subject-matter [of the faith] itself, and should conceive of
some other God besides Him who is the Framer, Maker, and Preserver of
this universe, (as if He were not sufficient2791
| 2791 The text here is ἀρκουμένους
τούτους, which is
manifestly corrupt. Various emendations have been proposed: we prefer
reading ἀρκούμενος
τούτοις, and have
translated accordingly. | for them), or of another Christ, or
another Only-begotten. But the fact referred to simply implies this, that
one may [more accurately than another] bring out the meaning of those
things which have been spoken in parables, and accommodate them to the
general scheme of the faith; and explain [with special clearness] the
operation and dispensation of God connected with human salvation; and
show that God manifested longsuffering in regard to the apostasy of the
angels who transgressed, as also with respect to the disobedience of men;
and set forth why it is that one and the same God has made some things
temporal and some eternal, some heavenly and others earthly; and
understand for what reason God, though invisible, manifested Himself to
the prophets not under one form, but differently to different
individuals; and show why it was that more covenants than one were given
to mankind; and teach what was the special character of each of these
covenants; and search out for what reason “God2792
hath concluded every man2793
| 2793 Irenæus here reads πάντα instead of
πάντας, as in
Text. Rec. of New Testament. | in unbelief, that He may have
mercy upon all;” and gratefully2794
| 2794 εὐχαριστεῖν—
this word has been deemed corrupt, as it certainly appears out of keeping
with the other verbs; but it may be rendered as above. |
describe on what account the Word of God became flesh and suffered; and
relate why the advent of the Son of God took place in these last times,
that is, in the end, rather than in the beginning [of the world]; and
unfold what is contained in the Scriptures concerning the end [itself],
and things to come; and not be silent as to how it is that God has made
the Gentiles, whose salvation was despaired of, fellow-heirs, and of the
same body, and partakers with the saints; and discourse how it is that
“this mortal body shall put on immortality, and this corruptible
shall put on incorruption;”2795
and
proclaim in what sense [God] says, “That is a people who was not a
people; and she is beloved who was not beloved;”2796
and in what sense He says
that “more are the children of her that was desolate, than of her
who possessed a husband.”2797
For in reference to these points, and others
of a like nature, the apostle exclaims: “Oh! the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God; how unsearchable are His
judgments, and His ways past finding out!”2798
But [the superior skill spoken of] is not found in this, that any
one should, beyond the Creator and Framer [of the world], conceive of the
Enthymesis of an erring Æon, their mother and his, and should thus
proceed to such a pitch of blasphemy; nor does it consist in this, that
he should again falsely imagine, as being above this [fancied being], a
Pleroma at one time supposed to contain thirty, and at another time an
innumerable tribe of Æons, as these teachers who are destitute of truly
divine wisdom maintain; while the Catholic Church possesses
one and the same faith throughout the whole world, as we have
already said.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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