1

Adversus haereses (libri 12)

OF OUR HOLY FATHER IRENAEUS, BISHOP OF LYONS

FIVE BOOKS OF THE REFUTATION AND OVERTHROW OF THE FALSELY-NAMED KNOWLEDGE.

EP. l. Since certain men, passing over the truth, introduce false words and vain genealogies, which minister questions, as the Apostle says, rather than the edification of God which is in faith; and by means of a cunningly constructed plausibility, they lead astray the minds of the less experienced, and take them captive, corrupting the oracles of the Lord, becoming evil interpreters of what has been well said; and they overthrow many, leading them away by the pretext of knowledge from Him who established and adorned this whole universe, as if having something higher and greater to show than God who made the heaven, and the earth, and all things that are in them; plausibly indeed, by art of words, leading the innocent into the manner of inquiry, but implausibly destroying them by rendering their opinion blasphemous and impious towards the Creator, not even being able to distinguish falsehood from truth; for error is not displayed in itself, lest, being stripped bare, it should be manifest; but being craftily adorned in a plausible covering, it makes itself appear to be truer than truth itself l. makes it appear by its outward appearance to the less experienced; as it has been said by one better than us concerning such things, that glass, being dishonestly made to resemble it by art, insults the precious stone, the emerald, which is very highly prized by some, when there is no one present able to test, and by art Int. to detect by art the cunningly made fraud; and when bronze is mixed with silver, who, being unskilled, Int. being unskilled, will easily be able to test this? Therefore, lest any be snatched away through our fault, as sheep by wolves, not knowing them because of their outward sheep's skin disguise, whom the Lord has commanded us to guard against, who speak alike, but think unlike, I thought it necessary, having met with the commentaries of the disciples of Valentinus, as they call themselves, and having conferred with some of them, and understood their opinion, to disclose to you, beloved, the monstrous and deep mysteries, which not all can contain, since not all have spit out their brain, so that you, having learned them, may make them manifest to all those with you, and advise them to guard against the abyss of folly, and of blasphemy against Christ Int. God. And, as far as we are able, we will report briefly and clearly both the opinion of those who now teach falsely, I mean those of the school of Ptolemy, which is an offshoot of the school of Valentinus, and we will provide, according to our moderate ability, means for overthrowing it, by showing that what is said by them is strange and inconsistent with the truth, we being neither accustomed to writing, nor having practiced the art of rhetoric; but love urging us on to disclose to you and to all those with you the teachings that up to now have been hidden, but have now come to light by the grace of God; for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. But you will not expect from us, who live among the Celts, and are for the most part occupied with a barbarous dialect, an art of words which we have not learned, nor the power of a writer which we have not practiced, nor an elegance of diction, nor a persuasiveness which we do not know; but simply, and truly, and plainly the things written to you with love, you will receive with love, and you yourself will increase them among

1

Adversus haereses (libri 12)

ΤΟΥ ΕΝ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΗΜΩΝ ΕΙΡΗΝΑΙΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΛΟΥΓ∆ΟΥΝΟΥ

ΕΛΕΓΧΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΑΝΑΤΡΟΠΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΨΕΥ∆ΩΝΥΜΟΥ ΓΝΩΣΕΩΣ ΒΙΒΛΙΑ ΠΕΝΤΕ.

ἘΠΙ l. Ἐπεὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν παραπεμπόμενοί τινες, ἐπεισάγουσι λόγους ψευδεῖς καὶ γενεαλογίας ματαίας, αἵτινες ζητήσεις μᾶλλον παρέχουσι, καθὼς ὁ Ἀπόστολός φησιν, ἢ οἰκοδομὴν Θεοῦ τὴν ἐν πίστει· καὶ διὰ τῆς πανούργως συγκεκροτημένης πιθανότητος παράγουσι τὸν νοῦν τῶν ἀπειροτέρων, καὶ αἰχμαλωτίζουσιν αὐτοὺς, ῥᾳδιουργοῦντες τὰ λόγια Κυρίου, ἐξηγηταὶ κακοὶ τῶν καλῶς εἰρημένων γινόμενοι· καὶ πολλοὺς ἀνατρέπουσιν, ἀπάγοντες αὐτοὺς προφάσει γνώσεως ἀπὸ τοῦ τόδε τὸ πᾶν συστησαμένου καὶ κεκοσμηκότος, ὡς ὑψηλότερόν τι καὶ μεῖζον ἔχοντες ἐπιδεῖξαι τοῦ τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς πεποιηκότος Θεοῦ· πιθανῶς μὲν ἐπαγόμενοι διὰ λόγων τέχνης τοὺς ἀκεραίους εἰς τὸν τοῦ ζητεῖν τρόπον, ἀπιθάνως δὲ ἀπολλύντες αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ βλάσφημον καὶ ἀσεβῆ τὴν γνώμην αὐτῶν κατασκευάζειν εἰς τὸν ∆ημιουργὸν, μηδὲ ἐν τῷ διακρίνειν δυναμένων τὸ ψεῦδος ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς· ἡ γὰρ πλάνη καθ' αὑτὴν μὲν οὐκ ἐπιδείκνυται, ἵνα μὴ γυμνωθεῖσα γένηται κατάφωρος· πιθανῷ δὲ περιβλήματι πανούργως κοσμουμένη, καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀληθείας ἀληθεστέραν ἑαυτὴν παρέχειν l. παρέχει φαίνεσθαι διὰ τῆς ἔξωθεν φαντασίας τοῖς ἀπειροτέροις· καθὼς ὑπὸ τοῦ κρείττονος ἡμῶν εἴρηται ἐπὶ τῶν τοιούτων, ὅτι λίθον τὸν τίμιον σμάραγδον ὄντα, καὶ πολυτίμητόν τισιν, ὕαλος ἐνυβρίζει διὰ τέχνης παρομοιουμένη, ὁπόταν μὴ παρῇ ὁ σθένων δοκιμάσαι, καὶ τέχνῃ Int. τέχνην διελέγξαι τὴν πανούργως γενομένην· ὅταν δὲ ἐπιμιγῇ ὁ χαλκὸς εἰς τὸν ἄργυρον, τίς εὐκόλως δυνήσεται τοῦτον ἀκεραίως Int. ἀκέραιος ὤν δοκιμάσαι; ἵνα οὖν μὴ παρὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν αἰτίαν συναρπάζωνταί τινες, ὡς πρόβατα ὑπὸ λύκων, ἀγνοοῦντες αὐτοὺς διὰ τὴν ἔξωθεν τῆς προβατείου δορᾶς ἐπιβουλὴν, οὓς φυλάσσειν παρήγγελκεν ἡμῖν Κύριος, ὅμοια μὲν λαλοῦντας, ἀνόμοια δὲ φρονοῦντας, ἀναγκαῖον ἡγησάμην, ἐντυχὼν τοῖς ὑπομνήμασι τῶν, ὡς αὐτοὶ λέγουσιν, Οὐαλεντίνου μαθητῶν, ἐνίοις δ' αὐτῶν καὶ συμβαλὼν, καὶ καταλαβόμενος τὴν γνώμην αὐτῶν, μηνύσαι σοι, ἀγαπητὲ, τὰ τερατώδη καὶ βαθέα μυστήρια, ἃ οὐ πάντες χωροῦσιν, ἐπεὶ μὴ πάντες τὸν ἐγκέφαλον ἐξεπτύκασιν, ὅπως καὶ σὺ μαθὼν αὐτὰ, πᾶσι τοῖς μετά σου φανερὰ ποιήσῃς, καὶ παραινέσῃς αὐτοῖς φυλάξασθαι τὸν βυθὸν τῆς ἀνοίας, καὶ τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν Int. Θεὸν βλασφημίας. Καὶ, καθὼς δύναμις ἡμῖν, τήν τε γνώμην αὐτῶν τῶν νῦν παραδιδασκόντων, λέγω δὴ τῶν περὶ Πτολεμαῖον, ἀπάνθισμα οὖσαν τῆς Οὐαλεντίνου σχολῆς, συντόμως καὶ σαφῶς ἀπαγγελοῦμεν, καὶ ἀφορμὰς δώσομεν κατὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν μετριότητα, πρὸς τὸ ἀνατρέπειν αὐτὴν, ἀλλόκοτα καὶ ἀνάρμοστα τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἐπιδεικνύντες τὰ ὑπ' αὐτῶν λεγόμενα, μήτε συγγράφειν εἰθισμένοι, μήτε λόγων τέχνην ἠσκηκότες· ἀγάπης δὲ ἡμᾶς προτρεπομένης σοί τε καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς μετά σου μηνύσαι τὰ μέχρι μὲν νῦν κεκρυμμένα, ἤδη δὲ κατὰ τὴν χάριν τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς φανερὸν ἐληλυθότα διδάγματα· οὐδὲν γάρ ἐστι κεκαλυμμένον, ὃ οὐκ ἀποκαλυφθήσεται, καὶ κρυπτὸν, ὃ οὐ γνωσθήσεται. Οὐκ ἐπιζητήσεις δὲ παρ' ἡμῶν τῶν ἐν Κελτοῖς διατριβόντων, καὶ περὶ βάρβαρον διάλεκτον τὸ πλεῖστον ἀσχολουμένων, λόγων τέχνην, ἣν οὐκ ἐμάθομεν, οὔτε δύναμιν συγγραφέως, ἣν οὐκ ἠσκήσαμεν, οὔτε καλλωπισμὸν λέξεων, οὔτε πιθανότητα, ἣν οὐκ οἴδαμεν· ἀλλὰ ἁπλῶς, καὶ ἀληθῶς, καὶ ἰδιωτικῶς τὰ μετὰ ἀγάπης σοι γραφέντα, μετὰ ἀγάπης σὺ προσδέξῃ, καὶ αὐτὸς αὐξήσεις αὐτὰ παρὰ