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Against Heresies

Irenaeus of Lyons

Book 1 · Chapter 19

About this work

A five-book account and refutation of competing Christian movements that also develops Irenaeus’s positive theology of creation, Scripture, apostolic tradition, incarnation, salvation, and recapitulation in Christ.

Author: Irenaeus of Lyons
Date: c. AD 175–185
Origin: Lyons, Gaul
Genre: Heresiology

Passages of Scripture by which they attempt to prove that the Supreme Father was unknown before the coming of Christ.

Section 1

1. I judge it necessary to add to

‹ Book 1 · Chapter 18 Book 1 · Chapter 20 ›

these

details

also

what

,

by

garbling

passages

of

Scripture

,

they

try

to

persuade

us

concerning

their

Propator

,

who

was

unknown

to

all

before

the

coming

of

Christ

.

Their

object

in

this

is

to

show

that

our

Lord

announced

another

Father

than

the

Maker

of

this

universe

,

whom

,

as

we

said

before

,

they

impiously

declare

to

have

been

the

fruit

of

a

defect

.

For

instance

,

when

the

prophet

Isaiah

says

,

“

But

Israel

hath

not

known

Me

,

and

My

people

have

not

understood

Me

,

”

they

pervert

his

words

to

mean

ignorance

of

the

invisible

Bythus

.

And

that

which

is

spoken

by

Hosea

,

“

There

is

no

truth

in

them

,

nor

the

knowledge

of

God

,

”

they

strive

to

give

the

same

reference

.

And

,

“

There

is

none

that

understandeth

,

or

that

seeketh

after

God

:

they

have

all

gone

out

of

the

way

,

they

are

together

become

unprofitable

,

”

they

maintain

to

be

said

concerning

ignorance

of

Bythus

.

Also

that

which

is

spoken

by

Moses

,

“

No

man

shall

see

God

and

live

,

”

has

,

as

they

would

persuade

us

,

the

same

reference

.

Section 2

2. For they falsely hold, that the Creator was seen by the prophets. But this passage, “No man shall see God and live,” they would interpret as spoken of His greatness unseen and unknown by all; and indeed that these words, “No man shall see God,” are spoken concerning the invisible Father, the Maker of the universe, is evident to us all; but that they are not used concerning that Bythus whom they conjure into existence, but concerning the Creator (and He is the invisible God), shall be shown as we proceed. They maintain that Daniel also set forth the same thing when he begged of the angels explanations of the parables, as being himself ignorant of them. But the angel, hiding from him the great mystery of Bythus, said unto him, “Go thy way quickly, Daniel, for these sayings are closed up until those who have understanding do understand them, and those who are white be made white.” Moreover, they vaunt themselves as being the white and the men of good understanding.

Notes

252
Isa. i. 3.
253
Hos. iv. 1.
254
Rom. iii. 11; Ps. xiv. 3.
255
Ex. xxxiii. 20.
256
Dan. xii. 9, 10. The words in the above quotation not occurring in the Hebrew text of the passage, seem to have been interpolated by these heretics.