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Against Heresies
Irenaeus of Lyons
Book 5 · Chapter 15 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 Proofs of the resurrection from Isaiah and Ezekiel; the same God who created us will also raise us up. Section 1 1 . Now , that He who at the
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beginning
created
man
,
did
promise
him
a
second
birth
after
his
dissolution
into
earth
,
Esaias
thus
declares
:
“
The
dead
shall
rise
again
,
and
they
who
are
in
the
tombs
shall
arise
,
and
they
who
are
in
the
earth
shall
rejoice
.
For
the
dew
which
is
from
Thee
is
health
to
them
.
”
And
again
:
“
I
will
comfort
you
,
and
ye
shall
be
comforted
in
Jerusalem
:
and
ye
shall
see
,
and
your
heart
shall
rejoice
,
and
your
bones
shall
flourish
as
the
grass
;
and
the
hand
of
the
Lord
shall
be
known
to
those
who
worship
Him
.
”
And
Ezekiel
speaks
as
follows
:
“
And
the
hand
of
the
Lord
came
upon
me
,
and
the
Lord
led
me
forth
in
the
Spirit
,
and
set
me
down
in
the
midst
of
the
plain
,
and
this
place
was
full
of
bones
.
And
He
caused
me
to
pass
by
them
round
about
:
and
,
behold
,
there
were
many
upon
the
surface
of
the
plain
very
dry
.
And
He
said
unto
me
,
Son
of
man
,
can
these
bones
live
?
And
I
said
,
Lord
,
Thou
who
hast
made
them
dost
know
.
And
He
said
unto
me
,
Prophesy
upon
these
bones
,
and
thou
shalt
say
to
them
,
Ye
dry
bones
,
hear
the
word
of
the
Lord
.
Thus
saith
the
Lord
to
these
bones
,
Behold
,
I
will
cause
the
spirit
of
life
to
come
upon
you
,
and
I
will
lay
sinews
upon
you
,
and
bring
up
flesh
again
upon
you
,
and
I
will
stretch
skin
upon
you
,
and
will
put
my
Spirit
into
you
,
and
ye
shall
live
;
and
ye
shall
know
that
I
am
the
Lord
.
And
I
prophesied
as
the
Lord
had
commanded
me
.
And
it
came
to
pass
,
when
I
was
prophesying
,
that
,
behold
,
an
earthquake
,
and
the
bones
were
drawn
together
,
each
one
to
its
own
articulation
:
and
I
beheld
,
and
,
lo
,
the
sinews
and
flesh
were
produced
upon
them
,
and
the
skins
rose
upon
them
round
about
,
but
there
was
no
breath
in
them
.
And
He
said
unto
me
,
Prophesy
to
the
breath
,
son
of
man
,
and
say
to
the
breath
,
These
things
saith
the
Lord
,
Come
from
the
four
winds
(
spiritibus
)
,
and
breathe
upon
these
dead
,
that
they
may
live
.
So
I
prophesied
as
the
Lord
had
commanded
me
,
and
the
breath
entered
into
them
;
and
they
did
live
,
and
stood
upon
their
feet
,
an
exceeding
great
gathering
.
”
And
again
he
says
,
“
Thus
saith
the
Lord
,
Behold
,
I
will
set
your
graves
open
,
and
cause
you
to
come
out
of
your
graves
,
and
bring
you
into
the
land
of
Israel
;
and
ye
shall
know
that
I
am
the
Lord
,
when
I
shall
open
your
sepulchres
,
that
I
may
bring
my
people
again
out
of
the
sepulchres
:
and
I
will
put
my
Spirit
into
you
,
and
ye
shall
live
;
and
I
will
place
you
in
your
land
,
and
ye
shall
know
that
I
am
the
Lord
.
I
have
said
,
and
I
will
do
,
saith
the
Lord
.
”
As
we
at
once
perceive
that
the
Creator
(
Demiurgo
)
is
in
this
passage
represented
as
vivifying
our
dead
bodies
,
and
promising
resurrection
to
them
,
and
resuscitation
from
their
sepulchres
and
tombs
,
conferring
upon
them
immortality
also
(
He
says
,
“
For
as
the
tree
of
life
,
so
shall
their
days
be
”
)
,
He
is
shown
to
be
the
only
God
who
accomplishes
these
things
,
and
as
Himself
the
good
Father
,
benevolently
conferring
life
upon
those
who
have
not
life
from
themselves
.
Section 2 2 . And for this reason did the Lord most plainly manifest Himself and the Father to His disciples , lest , forsooth , they might seek after another God besides Him who formed man , and who gave him the breath of life ; and that men might not rise to such a pitch of madness as to feign another Father above the Creator . And thus also He healed by a word all the others who were in a weakly condition because of sin ; to whom also He said , “ Behold , thou art made whole , sin no more , lest a worse thing come upon thee : ” pointing out by this , that , because of the sin of disobedience , infirmities have come upon men . To that man , however , who had been blind from his birth , He gave sight , not by means of a word , but by an outward action ; doing this not without a purpose , or because it so happened , but that He might show forth the hand of God , that which at the beginning had moulded man . And therefore , when His disciples asked Him for what cause the man had been born blind , whether for his own or his parents ’ fault , He replied , “ Neither hath this man sinned , nor his parents , but that the works of God should be made manifest in him . ” Now the work of God is the fashioning of man . For , as the Scripture says , He made [ man ] by a kind of process : “ And the Lord took clay from the earth , and formed man . ” Wherefore also the Lord spat on the ground and made clay , and smeared it upon the eyes , pointing out the original fashioning [ of man ] , how it was effected , and manifesting the hand of God to those who can understand by what [ hand ] man was formed out of the dust . For that which the artificer , the Word , had omitted to form in the womb , [ viz . , the blind man’s eyes ] , He then supplied in public , that the works of God might be manifested in him , in order that we might not be seeking out another hand by which man was fashioned , nor another Father ; knowing that this hand of God which formed us at the beginning , and which does form us in the womb , has in the last times sought us out who were lost , winning back His own , and taking up the lost sheep upon His shoulders , and with joy restoring it to the fold of life .
Section 3 3 . Now , that the Word of God forms us in the womb , He says to Jeremiah , “ Before I formed thee in the womb , I knew thee ; and before thou wentest forth from the belly , I sanctified thee , and appointed thee a prophet among the nations . ” And Paul , too , says in like manner , “ But when it pleased God , who separated me from my mother’s womb , that I might declare Him among the nations . ” As , therefore , we are by the Word formed in the womb , this very same Word formed the visual power in him who had been blind from his birth ; showing openly who it is that fashions us in secret , since the Word Himself had been made manifest to men : and declaring the original formation of Adam , and the manner in which he was created , and by what hand he was fashioned , indicating the whole from a part . For the Lord who formed the visual powers is He who made the whole man , carrying out the will of the Father . And inasmuch as man , with respect to that formation which , was after Adam , having fallen into transgression , needed the laver of regeneration , [ the Lord ] said to him [ upon whom He had conferred sight ] , after He had smeared his eyes with the clay , “ Go to Siloam , and wash ; ” thus restoring to him both [ his perfect ] confirmation , and that regeneration which takes place by means of the laver . And for this reason when he was washed he came seeing , that he might both know Him who had fashioned him , and that man might learn [ to know ] Him who has conferred upon him life .
Section 4 4 . All the followers of Valentinus , therefore , lose their case , when they say that man was not fashioned out of this earth , but from a fluid and diffused substance . For , from the earth out of which the Lord formed eyes for that man , from the same earth it is evident that man was also fashioned at the beginning . For it were incompatible that the eyes should indeed be formed from one source and the rest of the body from another ; as neither would it be compatible that one [ being ] fashioned the body , and another the eyes . But He , the very same who formed Adam at the beginning , with whom also the Father spake , [ saying ] , “ Let Us make man after Our image and likeness , ” revealing Himself in these last times to men , formed visual organs ( visionem ) for him who had been blind [ in that body which he had derived ] from Adam . Wherefore also the Scripture , pointing out what should come to pass , says , that when Adam had hid himself because of his disobedience , the Lord came to him at eventide , called him forth , and said , “ Where art thou ? ” That means that in the last times the very same Word of God came to call man , reminding him of his doings , living in which he had been hidden from the Lord . For just as at that time God spake to Adam at eventide , searching him out ; so in the last times , by means of the same voice , searching out his posterity , He has visited them .
