Canon and the Rule of Truth

1. The Church , though dispersed throughout 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 dispensations 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, Ephesians 1:10 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 Philippians 2:10-11 to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may send spiritual wickednesses, Ephesians 6:12 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 perse

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 regions 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 shines 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 litt

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 sufficient 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 God Romans 11:32 has concluded every man in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all; and gratefully describe on what account the Word of God became flesh and suffered; and relate why the adve

Against Heresies, III.11 (St. Irenaeus) Search: Home Fathers Bible Library H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z SEARCH Fathers Bible Library --> Home > Fathers of the Church > Against Heresies (St. Irenaeus) > Book III, Chapter 11 Against Heresies (Book III, Chapter 11) Proofs in continuation, extracted from St. John's Gospel. The Gospels are four in number, neither more nor less. Mystic reasons for this.

1. John, the disciple of the Lord, preaches this faith , and seeks, by the proclamation of the Gospel , to remove that error which by Cerinthus had been disseminated among men , and a long time previously by those termed Nicolaitans , who are an offset of that knowledge falsely so called, that he might confound them, and persuade them that there is but one God , who made all things by His Word; and not, as they allege, that the Creator was one, but the Father of the Lord another; and that the Son of the Creator was, forsooth, one, but the Christ from above another, who also continued impassible, descending upon Jesus , the Son of the Creator, and flew back again into His Pleroma; and that Monogenes was the beginning, but Logos was the true son of Monogenes; and that this creation to which we belong was not made by the primary God , but by some power lying far below Him, and shut off from communion with the things invisible and ineffable. The disciple of the Lord therefore desiring to put an end to all such doctrines, and to establish the rule of truth in the Church , that there is one Almighty God , who made all things by His Word, both visible and invisible; showing at the same time, that by the Word, through whom God made the creation, He also bestowed salvation on the men included in the creation; thus commenced His teaching in the Gospel : In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God , and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God . All things w

2. John, however, does himself put this matter beyond all controversy on our part, when he says, He was in this world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own [things], and His own [people] received Him not. John 1:10-11 But according to Marcion , and those like him, neither was the world made by Him; nor did He come to His own things, but to those of another. And, according to certain of the Gnostics , this world was made by angels , and not by the Word of God . But according to the followers of Valentinus , the world was not made by Him, but by the Demiurge . For he (Soter) caused such similitudes to be made, after the pattern of things above, as they allege; but the Demiurge accomplished the work of creation. For they say that he, the Lord and Creator of the plan of creation, by whom they hold that this world was made, was produced from the Mother; while the Gospel affirms plainly, that by the Word, which was in the beginning with God , all things were made, which Word, he says, was made flesh, and dwelt among us. John 1:14

3. But, according to these men, neither was the Word made flesh, nor Christ, nor the Saviour (Soter), who was produced from [the joint contributions of] all [the Æons ]. For they will have it, that the Word and Christ never came into this world; that the Saviour , too, never became incarnate, nor suffered, but that He descended like a dove upon the dispensational Jesus; and that, as soon as He had declared the unknown Father, He did again ascend into the Pleroma. Some, however, make the assertion, that this dispensational Jesus did become incarnate, and suffered, whom they represent as having passed through Mary just as water through a tube; but others allege him to be the Son of the Demiurge , upon whom the dispensational Jesus descended; while others, again, say that Jesus was born from Joseph and Mary , and that the Christ from above descended upon him, being without flesh, and impassible. But according to the opinion of no one of the heretics was the Word of God made flesh. For if anyone carefully examines the systems of them all, he will find that the Word of God is brought in by all of them as not having become incarnate ( sine carne ) and impassible, as is also the Christ from above. Others consider Him to have been manifested as a transfigured man; but they maintain Him to have been neither born nor to have become incarnate; while others [hold] that He did not assume a human form at all, but that, as a dove, He did descend upon that Jesus who was born from Mary. There

Against Heresies, III.1 (St. Irenaeus) Search: Home Fathers Bible Library H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z SEARCH Fathers Bible Library --> Home > Fathers of the Church > Against Heresies (St. Irenaeus) > Book III, Chapter 1 Against Heresies (Book III, Chapter 1) The apostles did not commence to preach the Gospel, or to place anything on record until they were endowed with the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit. They preached one God alone, Maker of heaven and earth.

1. We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation , than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God , handed down to us in the Scriptures , to be the ground and pillar of our faith . For it is unlawful to assert that they preached before they possessed perfect knowledge , as some do even venture to say, boasting themselves as improvers of the apostles . For, after our Lord rose from the dead, [the apostles ] were invested with power from on high when the Holy Spirit came down [upon them], were filled from all [His gifts], and had perfect knowledge : they departed to the ends of the earth, preaching the glad tidings of the good things [sent] from God to us, and proclaiming the peace of heaven to men , who indeed do all equally and individually possess the Gospel of God . Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome , and laying the foundations of the Church . After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul , recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.

2. These have all declared to us that there is one God , Creator of heaven and earth, announced by the law and the prophets ; and one Christ the Son of God . If any one do not agree to these truths, he despises the companions of the Lord; nay more, he despises Christ Himself the Lord; yea, he despises the Father also, and stands self-condemned, resisting and opposing his own salvation , as is the case with all heretics .

Against Heresies, III.2 (St. Irenaeus) Search: Home Fathers Bible Library H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z SEARCH Fathers Bible Library --> Home > Fathers of the Church > Against Heresies (St. Irenaeus) > Book III, Chapter 2 Against Heresies (Book III, Chapter 2) The heretics follow neither Scripture nor tradition.

1. When, however, they are confuted from the Scriptures , they turn round and accuse these same Scriptures, as if they were not correct, nor of authority, and [assert] that they are ambiguous, and that the truth cannot be extracted from them by those who are ignorant of tradition. For [they allege] that the truth was not delivered by means of written documents, but vivâ voce: wherefore also Paul declared, But we speak wisdom among those that are perfect, but not the wisdom of this world. 1 Corinthians 2:6 And this wisdom each one of them alleges to be the fiction of his own inventing, forsooth; so that, according to their idea, the truth properly resides at one time in Valentinus , at another in Marcion , at another in Cerinthus , then afterwards in Basilides , or has even been indifferently in any other opponent, who could speak nothing pertaining to salvation . For every one of these men, being altogether of a perverse disposition, depraving the system of truth , is not ashamed to preach himself.

2. But, again, when we refer them to that tradition which originates from the apostles , [and] which is preserved by means of the succession of presbyters in the Churches , they object to tradition, saying that they themselves are wiser not merely than the presbyters , but even than the apostles , because they have discovered the unadulterated truth . For [they maintain] that the apostles intermingled the things of the law with the words of the Saviour; and that not the apostles alone, but even the Lord Himself, spoke as at one time from the Demiurge , at another from the intermediate place, and yet again from the Pleroma, but that they themselves, indubitably, unsulliedly, and purely, have knowledge of the hidden mystery : this is, indeed, to blaspheme their Creator after a most impudent manner! It comes to this, therefore, that these men do now consent neither to Scripture nor to tradition.

3. Such are the adversaries with whom we have to deal, my very dear friend, endeavouring like slippery serpents to escape at all points. Where-fore they must be opposed at all points, if per-chance, by cutting off their retreat, we may succeed in turning them back to the truth . For, though it is not an easy thing for a soul under the influence of error to repent, yet, on the other hand, it is not altogether impossible to escape from error when the truth is brought alongside it.

1. The Church , though dispersed throughout 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 dispensations 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, Ephesians 1:10 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 Philippians 2:10-11 to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may send spiritual wickednesses, Ephesians 6:12 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…

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 regions 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 shines 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…

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 sufficient 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 God Romans 11:32 has concluded every man in unbelief, that He may have mercy upon all; and gratefully describe on what account the Word of God became flesh and suffered; and relate why the…

1. John, the disciple of the Lord, preaches this faith , and seeks, by the proclamation of the Gospel , to remove that error which by Cerinthus had been disseminated among men , and a long time previously by those termed Nicolaitans , who are an offset of that knowledge falsely so called, that he might confound them, and persuade them that there is but one God , who made all things by His Word; and not, as they allege, that the Creator was one, but the Father of the Lord another; and that the Son of the Creator was, forsooth, one, but the Christ from above another, who also continued impassible, descending upon Jesus , the Son of the Creator, and flew back again into His Pleroma; and that Monogenes was the beginning, but Logos was the true son of Monogenes; and that this creation to which we belong was not made by the primary God , but by some power lying far below Him, and shut off from communion with the things invisible and ineffable. The disciple of the Lord therefore desiring to put an end to all such doctrines, and to establish the rule of truth in the Church , that there is one Almighty God , who made all things by His Word, both visible and invisible; showing at the same time, that by the Word, through whom God made the creation, He also bestowed salvation on the men included in the creation; thus commenced His teaching in the Gospel : In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God , and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God . All things…

2. John, however, does himself put this matter beyond all controversy on our part, when he says, He was in this world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own [things], and His own [people] received Him not. John 1:10-11 But according to Marcion , and those like him, neither was the world made by Him; nor did He come to His own things, but to those of another. And, according to certain of the Gnostics , this world was made by angels , and not by the Word of God . But according to the followers of Valentinus , the world was not made by Him, but by the Demiurge . For he (Soter) caused such similitudes to be made, after the pattern of things above, as they allege; but the Demiurge accomplished the work of creation. For they say that he, the Lord and Creator of the plan of creation, by whom they hold that this world was made, was produced from the Mother; while the Gospel affirms plainly, that by the Word, which was in the beginning with God , all things were made, which Word, he says, was made flesh, and dwelt among us. John 1:14

3. But, according to these men, neither was the Word made flesh, nor Christ, nor the Saviour (Soter), who was produced from [the joint contributions of] all [the Æons ]. For they will have it, that the Word and Christ never came into this world; that the Saviour , too, never became incarnate, nor suffered, but that He descended like a dove upon the dispensational Jesus; and that, as soon as He had declared the unknown Father, He did again ascend into the Pleroma. Some, however, make the assertion, that this dispensational Jesus did become incarnate, and suffered, whom they represent as having passed through Mary just as water through a tube; but others allege him to be the Son of the Demiurge , upon whom the dispensational Jesus descended; while others, again, say that Jesus was born from Joseph and Mary , and that the Christ from above descended upon him, being without flesh, and impassible. But according to the opinion of no one of the heretics was the Word of God made flesh. For if anyone carefully examines the systems of them all, he will find that the Word of God is brought in by all of them as not having become incarnate ( sine carne ) and impassible, as is also the Christ from above. Others consider Him to have been manifested as a transfigured man; but they maintain Him to have been neither born nor to have become incarnate; while others [hold] that He did not assume a human form at all, but that, as a dove, He did descend upon that Jesus who was born from Mary.…

4. And that we may not have to ask, Of what God was the Word made flesh? He does himself previously teach us, saying, There was a man sent from God , whose name was John. The same came as a witness , that he might bear witness of that Light. He was not that Light, but [came] that he might testify of the Light. John 1:6 By what God , then, was John, the forerunner, who testifies of the Light, sent [into the world]? Truly it was by Him, of whom Gabriel is the angel , who also announced the glad tidings of his birth: [that God] who also had promised by the prophets that He would send His messenger before the face of His Son, Malachi 3:1 who should prepare His way, that is, that he should bear witness of that Light in the spirit and power of Elias. Luke 1:17 But, again, of what God was Elias the servant and the prophet ? Of Him who made heaven and earth, as he does himself confess. John, therefore, having been sent by the founder and maker of this world, how could he testify of that Light, which came down from things unspeakable and invisible? For all the heretics have decided that the Demiurge was ignorant of that Power above him, whose witness and herald John is found to be. Wherefore the Lord said that He deemed him more than a prophet . Matthew 11:9 ; Luke 7:26 For all the other prophets preached the advent of the paternal Light, and desired to be worthy of seeing Him whom they preached; but John did both announce [the advent] beforehand, in a like manner as did the others,…

We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation , than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God , handed down to us in the Scriptures , to be the ground and pillar of our faith . For it is unlawful to assert that they preached before they possessed perfect knowledge , as some do even venture to say, boasting themselves as improvers of the apostles . For, after our Lord rose from the dead, [the apostles ] were invested with power from on high when the Holy Spirit came down [upon them], were filled from all [His gifts], and had perfect knowledge : they departed to the ends of the earth, preaching the glad tidings of the good things [sent] from God to us, and proclaiming the peace of heaven to men , who indeed do all equally and individually possess the Gospel of God . Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome , and laying the foundations of the Church . After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul , recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.

2. These have all declared to us that there is one God , Creator of heaven and earth, announced by the law and the prophets ; and one Christ the Son of God . If any one do not agree to these truths, he despises the companions of the Lord; nay more, he despises Christ Himself the Lord; yea, he despises the Father also, and stands self-condemned, resisting and opposing his own salvation , as is the case with all heretics .

When, however, they are confuted from the Scriptures , they turn round and accuse these same Scriptures, as if they were not correct, nor of authority, and [assert] that they are ambiguous, and that the truth cannot be extracted from them by those who are ignorant of tradition. For [they allege] that the truth was not delivered by means of written documents, but vivâ voce: wherefore also Paul declared, But we speak wisdom among those that are perfect, but not the wisdom of this world. 1 Corinthians 2:6 And this wisdom each one of them alleges to be the fiction of his own inventing, forsooth; so that, according to their idea, the truth properly resides at one time in Valentinus , at another in Marcion , at another in Cerinthus , then afterwards in Basilides , or has even been indifferently in any other opponent, who could speak nothing pertaining to salvation . For every one of these men, being altogether of a perverse disposition, depraving the system of truth , is not ashamed to preach himself.

2. But, again, when we refer them to that tradition which originates from the apostles , [and] which is preserved by means of the succession of presbyters in the Churches , they object to tradition, saying that they themselves are wiser not merely than the presbyters , but even than the apostles , because they have discovered the unadulterated truth . For [they maintain] that the apostles intermingled the things of the law with the words of the Saviour; and that not the apostles alone, but even the Lord Himself, spoke as at one time from the Demiurge , at another from the intermediate place, and yet again from the Pleroma, but that they themselves, indubitably, unsulliedly, and purely, have knowledge of the hidden mystery : this is, indeed, to blaspheme their Creator after a most impudent manner! It comes to this, therefore, that these men do now consent neither to Scripture nor to tradition.

3. Such are the adversaries with whom we have to deal, my very dear friend, endeavouring like slippery serpents to escape at all points. Where-fore they must be opposed at all points, if per-chance, by cutting off their retreat, we may succeed in turning them back to the truth . For, though it is not an easy thing for a soul under the influence of error to repent, yet, on the other hand, it is not altogether impossible to escape from error when the truth is brought alongside it.

It is within the power of all, therefore, in every Church , who may wish to see the truth , to contemplate clearly the tradition of the apostles manifested throughout the whole world; and we are in a position to reckon up those who were by the apostles instituted bishops in the Churches , and [to demonstrate] the succession of these men to our own times; those who neither taught nor knew of anything like what these [ heretics ] rave about. For if the apostles had known hidden mysteries , which they were in the habit of imparting to the perfect apart and privily from the rest, they would have delivered them especially to those to whom they were also committing the Churches themselves. For they were desirous that these men should be very perfect and blameless in all things, whom also they were leaving behind as their successors, delivering up their own place of government to these men; which men, if they discharged their functions honestly, would be a great boon [to the Church ], but if they should fall away, the direst calamity.

2. Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the Churches , we do put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion, assemble in unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I say,] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles , of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles , Peter and Paul ; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men , which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops . For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church , on account of its preeminent authority [potiorem principalitatem] .

3. The blessed apostles , then, having founded and built up the Church , committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate . Of this Linus, Paul makes mention in the Epistles to Timothy. To him succeeded Anacletus; and after him, in the third place from the apostles , Clement was allotted the bishopric . This man, as he had seen the blessed apostles , and had been conversant with them, might be said to have the preaching of the apostles still echoing [in his ears], and their traditions before his eyes. Nor was he alone [in this], for there were many still remaining who had received instructions from the apostles . In the time of this Clement, no small dissension having occurred among the brethren at Corinth , the Church in Rome dispatched a most powerful letter to the Corinthians, exhorting them to peace, renewing their faith , and declaring the tradition which it had lately received from the apostles , proclaiming the one God , omnipotent , the Maker of heaven and earth, the Creator of man , who brought on the deluge, and called Abraham , who led the people from the land of Egypt , spoke with Moses , set forth the law, sent the prophets , and who has prepared fire for the devil and his angels . From this document, whosoever chooses to do so, may learn that He, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ , was preached by the Churches , and may also understand the apostolic tradition of the Church , since this Epistle is of older date than these men who are now…

4. But Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles , and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna , whom I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried [on earth] a very long time, and, when a very old man, gloriously and most nobly suffering martyrdom , departed this life, having always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles , and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are true . To these things all the Asiatic Churches testify, as do also those men who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present time — a man who was of much greater weight, and a more steadfast witness of truth , than Valentinus , and Marcion , and the rest of the heretics . He it was who, coming to Rome in the time of Anicetus caused many to turn away from the aforesaid heretics to the Church of God , proclaiming that he had received this one and sole truth from the apostles — that, namely, which is handed down by the Church . There are also those who heard from him that John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus , and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus , the enemy of the truth , is within. And Polycarp himself replied to Marcion , who met him on one occasion, and said, Do you know me? I do know you, the first-born of Satan . Such was the horror which the apostles and…

Since therefore we have such proofs , it is not necessary to seek the truth among others which it is easy to obtain from the Church ; since the apostles , like a rich man [depositing his money] in a bank, lodged in her hands most copiously all things pertaining to the truth : so that every man, whosoever will, can draw from her the water of life. Revelation 22:17 For she is the entrance to life; all others are thieves and robbers . On this account are we bound to avoid them , but to make choice of the thing pertaining to the Church with the utmost diligence, and to lay hold of the tradition of the truth . For how stands the case? Suppose there arise a dispute relative to some important question among us, should we not have recourse to the most ancient Churches with which the apostles held constant intercourse, and learn from them what is certain and clear in regard to the present question? For how should it be if the apostles themselves had not left us writings? Would it not be necessary, [in that case,] to follow the course of the tradition which they handed down to those to whom they did commit the Churches?

2. To which course many nations of those barbarians who believe in Christ do assent, having salvation written in their hearts by the Spirit , without paper or ink, and, carefully preserving the ancient tradition, believing in one God , the Creator of heaven and earth, and all things therein, by means of Christ Jesus , the Son of God ; who, because of His surpassing love towards His creation, condescended to be born of the virgin, He Himself uniting man through Himself to God , and having suffered under Pontius Pilate , and rising again, and having been received up in splendour, shall come in glory , the Saviour of those who are saved, and the Judge of those who are judged, and sending into eternal fire those who transform the truth , and despise His Father and His advent. Those who, in the absence of written documents, have believed this faith , are barbarians, so far as regards our language; but as regards doctrine, manner, and tenor of life, they are, because of faith , very wise indeed; and they do please God , ordering their conversation in all righteousness, chastity , and wisdom. If any one were to preach to these men the inventions of the heretics , speaking to them in their own language, they would at once stop their ears, and flee as far off as possible, not enduring even to listen to the blasphemous address. Thus, by means of that ancient tradition of the apostles , they do not suffer their mind to conceive anything of the [doctrines suggested by the] portentous…

3. For, prior to Valentinus , those who follow Valentinus had no existence ; nor did those from Marcion exist before Marcion ; nor, in short, had any of those malignant-minded people, whom I have above enumerated, any being previous to the initiators and inventors of their perversity. For Valentinus came to Rome in the time of Hyginus , flourished under Pius , and remained until Anicetus . Cerdon, too, Marcion's predecessor, himself arrived in the time of Hyginus , who was the ninth bishop . Coming frequently into the Church , and making public confession, he thus remained, one time teaching in secret, and then again making public confession; but at last, having been denounced for corrupt teaching, he was excommunicated from the assembly of the brethren. Marcion , then, succeeding him, flourished under Anicetus , who held the tenth place of the episcopate . But the rest, who are called Gnostics , take rise from Menander, Simon's disciple , as I have shown; and each one of them appeared to be both the father and the high priest of that doctrine into which he has been initiated. But all these (the Marcosians) broke out into their apostasy much later, even during the intermediate period of the Church .

Now, with regard to this rule of faith — that we may from this point acknowledge what it is which we defend — it is, you must know , that which prescribes the belief that there is one only God , and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son, and , under the name of God , was seen in diverse manners by the patriarchs, heard at all times in the prophets , at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary , was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, went forth as Jesus Christ ; thenceforth He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven , worked miracles ; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; (then) having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Ghost to lead such as believe ; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire , after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh.

This rule, as it will be proved , was taught by Christ, and raises among ourselves no other questions than those which heresies introduce, and which make men heretics .

We are therefore come to (the gist of) our position; for at this point we were aiming, and for this we were preparing in the preamble of our address (which we have just completed) — so that we may now join issue on the contention to which our adversaries challenge us. They put forward the Scriptures , and by this insolence of theirs they at once influence some. In the encounter itself, however, they weary the strong, they catch the weak, and dismiss waverers with a doubt . Accordingly, we oppose to them this step above all others, of not admitting them to any discussion of the Scriptures . If in these lie their resources, before they can use them, it ought to be clearly seen to whom belongs the possession of the Scriptures , that none may be admitted to the use thereof who has no title at all to the privilege.

Our appeal, therefore, must not be made to the Scriptures ; nor must controversy be admitted on points in which victory will either be impossible, or uncertain, or not certain enough. But even if a discussion from the Scriptures should not turn out in such a way as to place both sides on a par, (yet) the natural order of things would require that this point should be first proposed, which is now the only one which we must discuss: With whom lies that very faith to which the Scriptures belong. From what and through whom, and when, and to whom, has been handed down that rule, by which men become Christians ? For wherever it shall be manifest that the true Christian rule and faith shall be, there will likewise be the true Scriptures and expositions thereof, and all the Christian traditions.

Grant, then, that all have erred; that the apostle was mistaken in giving his testimony; that the Holy Ghost had no such respect to any one (church) as to lead it into truth , although sent with this view by Christ, John 14:26 and for this asked of the Father that He might be the teacher of truth ; John 15:26 grant, also, that He, the Steward of God , the Vicar of Christ , neglected His office, permitting the churches for a time to understand differently, (and) to believe differently, what He Himself was preaching by the apostles — is it likely that so many churches, and they so great, should have gone astray into one and the same faith ? No casualty distributed among many men issues in one and the same result. Error of doctrine in the churches must necessarily have produced various issues.

When, however, that which is deposited among many is found to be one and the same, it is not the result of error , but of tradition. Can any one, then, be reckless enough to say that they were in error who handed on the tradition?

Come now, you who would indulge a better curiosity, if you would apply it to the business of your salvation , run over the apostolic churches , in which the very thrones of the apostles are still pre-eminent in their places, in which their own authentic writings are read, uttering the voice and representing the face of each of them severally. Achaia is very near you, (in which) you find Corinth . Since you are not far from Macedonia, you have Philippi; (and there too) you have the Thessalonians. Since you are able to cross to Asia, you get Ephesus. Since, moreover, you are close upon Italy , you have Rome, from which there comes even into our own hands the very authority (of apostles themselves). How happy is its church, on which apostles poured forth all their doctrine along with their blood! Where Peter endures a passion like his Lord's!

Where Paul wins his crown in a death like John's where the Apostle John was first plunged, unhurt, into boiling oil, and thence remitted to his island-exile! See what she has learned, what taught, what fellowship has had with even (our) churches in Africa! One Lord God does she acknowledge, the Creator of the universe , and Christ Jesus (born) of the Virgin Mary , the Son of God the Creator; and the Resurrection of the flesh; the law and the prophets she unites in one volume with the writings of evangelists and apostles , from which she drinks in her faith . This she seals with the water (of baptism ), arrays with the Holy Ghost, feeds with the Eucharist , cheers with martyrdom , and against such a discipline thus (maintained) she admits no gainsayer.

This is the discipline which I no longer say foretold that heresies should come, but from which they proceeded. However, they were not of her, because they were opposed to her. Even the rough wild-olive arises from the germ of the fruitful, rich, and genuine olive; also from the seed of the mellowest and sweetest fig there springs the empty and useless wild-fig. In the same way heresies , too, come from our plant, although not of our kind; (they come) from the grain of truth , but, owing to their falsehood , they have only wild leaves to show.

Since this is the case, in order that the truth may be adjudged to belong to us, as many as walk according to the rule, which the church has handed down from the apostles , the apostles from Christ, and Christ from God , the reason of our position is clear, when it determines that heretics ought not to be allowed to challenge an appeal to the Scriptures , since we, without the Scriptures , prove that they have nothing to do with the Scriptures . For as they are heretics , they cannot be true Christians , because it is not from Christ that they get that which they pursue of their own mere choice, and from the pursuit incur and admit the name of heretics . Thus, not being Christians , they have acquired no right to the Christian Scriptures; and it may be very fairly said to them, Who are you? When and whence did you come?

As you are none of mine, what have you to do with that which is mine? Indeed, Marcion , by what right do you hew my wood? By whose permission, Valentinus , are you diverting the streams of my fountain? By what power, Apelles , are you removing my landmarks? This is my property. Why are you, the rest, sowing and feeding here at your own pleasure? This (I say) is my property. I have long possessed it; I possessed it before you. I hold sure title- deeds from the original owners themselves, to whom the estate belonged. I am the heir of the apostles . Just as they carefully prepared their will and testament, and committed it to a trust, and adjured (the trustees to be faithful to their charge), even so do I hold it. As for you, they have, it is certain, always held you as disinherited, and rejected you as strangers — as enemies.

But on what ground are heretics strangers and enemies to the apostles , if it be not from the difference of their teaching, which each individual of his own mere will has either advanced or received in opposition to the apostles ?

Where diversity of doctrine is found, there , then, must the corruption both of the Scriptures and the expositions thereof be regarded as existing. On those whose purpose it was to teach differently, lay the necessity of differently arranging the instruments of doctrine. They could not possibly have effected their diversity of teaching in any other way than by having a difference in the means whereby they taught. As in their case, corruption in doctrine could not possibly have succeeded without a corruption also of its instruments, so to ourselves also integrity of doctrine could not have accrued, without integrity in those means by which doctrine is managed. Now, what is there in our Scriptures which is contrary to us?

What of our own have we introduced, that we should have to take it away again, or else add to it, or alter it, in order to restore to its natural soundness anything which is contrary to it, and contained in the Scriptures ? What we are ourselves, that also the Scriptures are (and have been) from the beginning. Of them we have our being, before there was any other way, before they were interpolated by you.

Now, inasmuch as all interpolation must be believed to be a later process, for the express reason that it proceeds from rivalry which is never in any case previous to nor home-born with that which it emulates, it is as incredible to every man of sense that we should seem to have introduced any corrupt text into the Scriptures , existing, as we have been, from the very first, and being the first, as it is that they have not in fact introduced it who are both later in date and opposed (to the Scriptures ). One man perverts the Scriptures with his hand, another their meaning by his exposition. For although Valentinus seems to use the entire volume, he has none the less laid violent hands on the truth only with a more cunning mind and skill than Marcion .

Marcion expressly and openly used the knife, not the pen, since he made such an excision of the Scriptures as suited his own subject-matter. Valentinus , however, abstained from such excision, because he did not invent Scriptures to square with his own subject-matter, but adapted his matter to the Scriptures ; and yet he took away more, and added more, by removing the proper meaning of every particular word, and adding fantastic arrangements of things which have no real existence .

Christ Jesus our Lord (may He bear with me a moment in thus expressing myself!), whoever He is, of whatever God He is the Son , of whatever substance He is man and God , of whatever faith He is the teacher, of whatever reward He is the Promiser, did, while He lived on earth, Himself declare what He was, what He had been, what the Father's will was which He was administering, what the duty of man was which He was prescribing; (and this declaration He made,) either openly to the people, or privately to His disciples , of whom He had chosen the twelve chief ones to be at His side, Mark 4:34 and whom He destined to be the teachers of the nations. Accordingly, after one of these had been struck off, He commanded the eleven others, on His departure to the Father , to go and teach all nations, who were to be baptized into the Father , and into the Son , and into the Holy Ghost . Matthew 28:19 Immediately, therefore, so did the apostles , whom this designation indicates as the sent . Having, on the authority of a prophecy , which occurs in a psalm of David, chosen Matthias by lot as the twelfth, into the place of Judas, they obtained the promised power of the Holy Ghost for the gift of miracles and of utterance; and after first bearing witness to the faith in Jesus Christ throughout Judæa, and founding churches (there), they next went forth into the world and preached the same doctrine of the same faith to the nations. They then in like manner founded churches in every city, from whi

21. All Doctrine True Which Comes Through the Church from the Apostles, Who Were Taught by God Through Christ. All Opinion Which Has No Such Divine Origin and Apostolic Tradition to Show, is Ipso Facto False. From this, therefore, do we draw up our rule. Since the Lord Jesus Christ sent the apostles to preach, (our rule is) that no others ought to be received as preachers than those whom Christ appointed; for no man knows the Father save the Son , and he to whomever the Son will reveal Him. Matthew 11:27 Nor does the Son seem to have revealed Him to any other than the apostles , whom He sent forth to preach — that, of course, which He revealed to them. Now, what that was which they preached — in other words, what it was which Christ revealed to them — can, as I must here likewise prescribe, properly be proved in no other way than by those very churches which the apostles founded in person, by declaring the gospel to them directly themselves, both vivâ voce , as the phrase is, and subsequently by their epistles. If, then, these things are so, it is in the same degree manifest that all doctrine which agrees with the apostolic churches — those moulds and original sources of the faith must be reckoned for truth , as undoubtedly containing that which the (said) churches received from the apostles , the apostles from Christ, Christ from God . Whereas all doctrine must be prejudged as false which savours of contrariety to the truth of the churches and apostles of Christ and God. It

But here is, as we have said, the same madness , in their allowing indeed that the apostles were ignorant of nothing, and preached not any (doctrines) which contradicted one another, but at the same time insisting that they did not reveal all to all men , for that they proclaimed some openly and to all the world, while they disclosed others (only) in secret and to a few, because Paul addressed even this expression to Timothy: O Timothy, guard that which is entrusted to you; 1 Timothy 6:20 and again: That good thing which was committed unto you keep. 2 Timothy 1:14 What is this deposit? Is it so secret as to be supposed to characterize a new doctrine? Or is it a part of that charge of which he says, This charge I commit unto you, son Timothy?

1 Timothy 1:18 and also of that precept of which he says, I charge you in the sight of God , who quickens all things, and before Jesus Christ who witnessed a good confession under Pontius Pilate , that you keep this commandment? 1 Timothy 6:13 Now, what is (this) commandment and what is (this) charge? From the preceding and the succeeding contexts, it will be manifest that there is no mysterious hint darkly suggested in this expression about (some) far-fetched doctrine, but that a warning is rather given against receiving any other (doctrine) than that which Timothy had heard from himself, as I take it publicly: Before many witnesses is his phrase. 2 Timothy 2:2 Now, if they refuse to allow that the church is meant by these many witnesses, it matters nothing, since nothing could have been secret which was produced before many witnesses.

Nor, again, must the circumstance of his having wished him to commit these things to faithful men, who should be able to teach others also, 2 Timothy 2:2 be construed into a proof of there being some occult gospel. For, when he says these things, he refers to the things of which he is writing at the moment. In reference, however, to occult subjects, he would have called them, as being absent, those things , not these things , to one who had a joint knowledge of them with himself.

Besides which, it must have followed, that, for the man to whom he committed the ministration of the gospel, he would add the injunction that it be not ministered in all places, and without respect to persons , in accordance with the Lord's saying, Not to cast one's pearls before swine, nor that which is holy unto dogs. Matthew 7:6 Openly did the Lord speak, John 18:20 without any intimation of a hidden mystery . He had Himself commanded that, whatsoever they had heard in darkness and in secret, they should declare in the light and on the house-tops. Matthew 10:27 He had Himself foreshown, by means of a parable , that they should not keep back in secret, fruitless of interest, Luke 19:20-24 a single pound, that is, one word of His.

He used Himself to tell them that a candle was not usually pushed away under a bushel, but placed on a candlestick, in order to give light to all who are in the house. Matthew 5:15 These things the apostles either neglected, or failed to understand, if they fulfilled them not, by concealing any portion of the light, that is, of the word of God and the mystery of Christ . Of no man, I am quite sure, were they afraid, — neither of Jews nor of Gentiles in their violence ; with all the greater freedom, then, would they certainly preach in the church, who held not their tongue in synagogues and public places. Indeed they would have found it impossible either to convert Jews or to bring in Gentiles , unless they set forth in order Luke 1:1 that which they would have them believe .

Much less, when churches were advanced in the faith , would they have withdrawn from them anything for the purpose of committing it separately to some few others.

Although, even supposing that among intimate friends [ domesticos ], so to speak, they did hold certain discussions, yet it is incredible that these could have been such as to bring in some other rule of faith , differing from and contrary to that which they were proclaiming through the Catholic churches, — as if they spoke of one God in the Church , (and) another at home, and described one substance of Christ , publicly, (and) another secretly, and announced one hope of the resurrection before all men , (and) another before the few; although they themselves, in their epistles, besought men that they would all speak one and the same thing, and that there should be no divisions and dissensions in the church, 1 Corinthians 1:10 seeing that they, whether Paul or others, preached the same things.

Where was Marcion then , that shipmaster of Pontus , the zealous student of Stoicism? Where was Valentinus then , the disciple of Platonism? For it is evident that those men lived not so long ago — in the reign of Antoninus for the most part, — and that they at first were believers in the doctrine of the Catholic Church , in the church of Rome under the episcopate of the blessed Eleutherus , until on account of their ever restless curiosity, with which they even infected the brethren, they were more than once expelled. Marcion , indeed, [went] with the two hundred sesterces which he had brought into the church, and, when banished at last to a permanent excommunication , they scattered abroad the poisons of their doctrines.

Afterwards, it is true , Marcion professed repentance, and agreed to the conditions granted to him — that he should receive reconciliation if he restored to the church all the others whom he had been training for perdition: he was prevented, however, by death. It was indeed necessary that there should be heresies ; 1 Corinthians 11:19 and yet it does not follow from that necessity, that heresies are a good thing. As if it has not been necessary also that there should be evil ! It was even necessary that the Lord should be betrayed; but woe to the traitor! Mark 14:21 So that no man may from this defend heresies .

If we must likewise touch the descent of Apelles , he is far from being one of the old school, like his instructor and moulder, Marcion ; he rather forsook the continence of Marcion , by resorting to the company of a woman , and withdrew to Alexandria , out of sight of his most abstemious master. Returning therefrom, after some years, unimproved, except that he was no longer a Marcionite, he clave to another woman , the maiden Philumene (whom we have already mentioned), who herself afterwards became an enormous prostitute. Having been imposed on by her vigorous spirit, he committed to writing the revelations which he had learned of her. Persons are still living who remember them — their own actual disciples and successors — who cannot therefore deny the lateness of their date.

But, in fact, by their own works they are convicted, even as the Lord said. Matthew 7:16 For since Marcion separated the New Testament from the Old, he is (necessarily) subsequent to that which he separated, inasmuch as it was only in his power to separate what was (previously) united. Having then been united previous to its separation, the fact of its subsequent separation proves the subsequence also of the man who effected the separation. In like manner Valentinus , by his different expositions and acknowledged emendations, makes these changes on the express ground of previous faultiness, and therefore demonstrates the difference of the documents. These corrupters of the truth we mention as being more notorious and more public than others.

But if there be any ( heresies ) which are bold enough to plant themselves in the midst of the apostolic age, that they may thereby seem to have been handed down by the apostles , because they existed in the time of the apostles , we can say: Let them produce the original records of their churches; let them unfold the roll of their bishops , running down in due succession from the beginning in such a manner that [that first bishop of theirs ] bishop shall be able to show for his ordainer and predecessor some one of the apostles or of apostolic men, — a man , moreover, who continued steadfast with the apostles .

For this is the manner in which the apostolic churches transmit their registers: as the church of Smyrna, which records that Polycarp was placed therein by John; as also the church of Rome , which makes Clement to have been ordained in like manner by Peter. In exactly the same way the other churches likewise exhibit (their several worthies), whom, as having been appointed to their episcopal places by apostles , they regard as transmitters of the apostolic seed. Let the heretics contrive something of the same kind. For after their blasphemy , what is there that is unlawful for them (to attempt)? But should they even effect the contrivance, they will not advance a step.

For their very doctrine, after comparison with that of the apostles , will declare, by its own diversity and contrariety, that it had for its author neither an apostle nor an apostolic man; because, as the apostles would never have taught things which were self-contradictory, so the apostolic men would not have inculcated teaching different from the apostles , unless they who received their instruction from the apostles went and preached in a contrary manner. To this test, therefore will they be submitted for proof by those churches, who, although they derive not their founder from apostles or apostolic men (as being of much later date, for they are in fact being founded daily), yet, since they agree in the same faith , they are accounted as not less apostolic because they are akin in doctrine.

Then let all the heresies , when challenged to these two tests by our apostolic church, offer their proof of how they deem themselves to be apostolic. But in truth they neither are so, nor are they able to prove themselves to be what they are not. Nor are they admitted to peaceful relations and communion by such churches as are in any way connected with apostles , inasmuch as they are in no sense themselves apostolic because of their diversity as to the mysteries of the faith .

1. All who believe and are assured that grace and truth were obtained through Jesus Christ , and who know Christ to be the truth , agreeably to His own declaration, I am the truth , derive the knowledge which incites men to a good and happy life from no other source than from the very words and teaching of Christ . And by the words of Christ we do not mean those only which He spoke when He became man and tabernacled in the flesh; for before that time, Christ, the Word of God , was in Moses and the prophets . For without the Word of God , how could they have been able to prophesy of Christ? And were it not our purpose to confine the present treatise within the limits of all attainable brevity, it would not be difficult to show, in proof of this statement, out of the Holy Scriptures , how Moses or the prophets both spoke and performed all they did through being filled with the Spirit of Christ . And therefore I think it sufficient to quote this one testimony of Paul from the Epistle to the Hebrews, in which he says: By faith Moses , when he had come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God , than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of the Egyptians . Moreover, that after His ascension into heaven He spoke in His apostles , is shown by Paul in these words: Or do you seek a proof of Christ who speaks in me?

2. Since many, however, of those who profess to believe in Christ differ from each other, not only in small and trifling matters, but also on subjects of the highest importance, as, e.g., regarding God , or the Lord Jesus Christ , or the Holy Spirit ; and not only regarding these, but also regarding others which are created existences, viz., the powers and the holy virtues ; it seems on that account necessary first of all to fix a definite limit and to lay down an unmistakable rule regarding each one of these, and then to pass to the investigation of other points. For as we ceased to seek for truth (notwithstanding the professions of many among Greeks and Barbarians to make it known ) among all who claimed it for erroneous opinions, after we had come to believe that Christ was the Son of God , and were persuaded that we must learn it from Himself; so, seeing there are many who think they hold the opinions of Christ , and yet some of these think differently from their predecessors, yet as the teaching of the Church , transmitted in orderly succession from the apostles , and remaining in the Churches to the present day, is still preserved, that alone is to be accepted as truth which differs in no respect from ecclesiastical and apostolic tradition.

3. Now it ought to be known that the holy apostles , in preaching the faith of Christ , delivered themselves with the utmost clearness on certain points which they believed to be necessary to every one, even to those who seemed somewhat dull in the investigation of divine knowledge ; leaving, however, the grounds of their statements to be examined into by those who should deserve the excellent gifts of the Spirit , and who, especially by means of the Holy Spirit Himself, should obtain the gift of language, of wisdom, and of knowledge : while on other subjects they merely stated the fact that things were so, keeping silence as to the manner or origin of their existence ; clearly in order that the more zealous of their successors, who should be lovers of wisdom, might have a subject of exercise on which to display the fruit of their talents — those persons , I mean, who should prepare themselves to be fit and worthy receivers of wisdom.

4. The particular points clearly delivered in the teaching of the apostles are as follow:— First , That there is one God , who created and arranged all things, and who, when nothing existed , called all things into being — God from the first creation and foundation of the world — the God of all just men, of Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, Enoch , Noe, Sere, Abraham , Isaac, Jacob, the twelve patriarchs, Moses , and the prophets ; and that this God in the last days, as He had announced beforehand by His prophets , sent our Lord Jesus Christ to call in the first place Israel to Himself, and in the second place the Gentiles , after the unfaithfulness of the people of Israel . This just and good God , the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ , Himself gave the law and the prophets , and the Gospels , being also the God of the apostles and of the Old and New Testaments. Secondly , That Jesus Christ Himself, who came (into the world), was born of the Father before all creatures; that, after He had been the servant of the Father in the creation of all things — For by Him were all things made — He in the last times, divesting Himself (of His glory ), became a man , and was incarnate although God , and while made a man remained the God which He was; that He assumed a body like to our own, differing in this respect only, that it was born of a virgin and of the Holy Spirit : that this Jesus Christ was truly born, and did truly suffer, and did not endure this death common (to man) in appearance…

Treatise 1 (Cyprian of Carthage) Home > Fathers of the Church > Treatises (Cyprian of Carthage) > Treatise 1 Treatise 1 On the Unity of the Church. Argument.— On the Occasion of the Schism of Novatian , to Keep Back from Him the Carthaginians, Who Already Were Not Averse to Him, on Account of Novatus and Some Other Presbyters of His Church, Who Had Originated the Whole Disturbance, Cyprian Wrote This Treatise. And First of All, Fortifying Them Against the Deceits of These, He Exhorts Them to Constancy, and Instructs Them that Heresies Exist Because Christ, the Head of the Church , is Not Looked To, that the Common Commission First Entrusted to Peter is Contemned, and the One Church and the One Episcopate are Deserted. Then He Proves, as Well by the Scriptures as by the Figures of the Old and New Testament , the Unity of the Church .

1. Since the Lord warns us, saying, You are the salt of the earth, Matthew 5:13 and since He bids us to be simple to harmlessness, and yet with our simplicity to be prudent , what else, beloved brethren, befits us, than to use foresight and watching with an anxious heart, both to perceive and to beware of the wiles of the crafty foe, that we, who have put on Christ the wisdom of God the Father , may not seem to be wanting in wisdom in the matter of providing for our salvation ? For it is not persecution alone that is to be feared; nor those things which advance by open attack to overwhelm and cast down the servants of God . Caution is more easy where danger is manifest, and the mind is prepared beforehand for the contest when the adversary avows himself. The enemy is more to be feared and to be guarded against, when he creeps on us secretly; when, deceiving by the appearance of peace, he steals forward by hidden approaches, whence also he has received the name of the Serpent. That is always his subtlety; that is his dark and stealthy artifice for circumventing man. Thus from the very beginning of the world he deceived; and flattering with lying words, he misled inexperienced souls by an incautious credulity. Thus he endeavoured to tempt the Lord Himself: he secretly approached Him, as if he would creep on Him again, and deceive; yet he was understood, and beaten back, and therefore prostrated, because he was recognised and detected.

2. From which an example is given us to avoid the way of the old man, to stand in the footsteps of a conquering Christ, that we may not again be incautiously turned back into the nets of death, but, foreseeing our danger, may possess the immortality that we have received. But how can we possess immortality , unless we keep those commands of Christ whereby death is driven out and overcome, when He Himself warns us, and says, If you will enter into life, keep the commandments? Matthew 19:17 And again: If you do the things that I command you, henceforth I call you not servants, but friends. John 15:14-15 Finally, these persons He calls strong and steadfast; these He declares to be founded in robust security upon the rock, established with immoveable and unshaken firmness, in opposition to all the tempests and hurricanes of the world. Whosoever, says He, hears my words, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, that built his house upon a rock: the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. Matthew 7:24 We ought therefore to stand fast on His words, to learn and do whatever He both taught and did. But how can a man say that he believes in Christ , who does not do what Christ commanded him to do? Or whence shall he attain to the reward of faith , who will not keep the faith of the commandment? He must of necessity waver and wander, and, caught away by a spirit of error , like dust which is…

3. But, beloved brethren, not only must we beware of what is open and manifest, but also of what deceives by the craft of subtle fraud. And what can be more crafty, or what more subtle, than for this enemy, detected and cast down by the advent of Christ , after light has come to the nations , and saving rays have shone for the preservation of men , that the deaf might receive the hearing of spiritual grace , the blind might open their eyes to God , the weak might grow strong again with eternal health, the lame might run to the church, the dumb might pray with clear voices and prayers — seeing his idols forsaken, and his lanes and his temples deserted by the numerous concourse of believers — to devise a new fraud, and under the very title of the Christian name to deceive the incautious? He has invented heresies and schisms, whereby he might subvert the faith , might corrupt the truth , might divide the unity. Those whom he cannot keep in the darkness of the old way, he circumvents and deceives by the error of a new way. He snatches men from the Church itself; and while they seem to themselves to have already approached to the light, and to have escaped the night of the world, he pours over them again, in their unconsciousness, new darkness; so that, although they do not stand firm with the Gospel of Christ , and with the observation and law of Christ , they still call themselves Christians , and, walking in darkness, they think that they have the light, while the adversary is…

1. This writer has left us a great many monuments of a mind educated and practiced in divine things, which are replete with profitable matter of every kind. To them we shall refer the studious, noting as we proceed those that have come to our knowledge .

2. There is a certain discourse of his in defense of our doctrine addressed to Antoninus surnamed the Pious , and to his sons, and to the Roman senate. Another work contains his second Apology in behalf of our faith , which he offered to him who was the successor of the emperor mentioned and who bore the same name, Antoninus Verus , the one whose times we are now recording.

3. Also another work against the Greeks, in which he discourses at length upon most of the questions at issue between us and the Greek philosophers , and discusses the nature of demons . It is not necessary for me to add any of these things here.

4. And still another work of his against the Greeks has come down to us, to which he gave the title Refutation. And besides these another, On the Sovereignty of God, which he establishes not only from our Scriptures, but also from the books of the Greeks.

1. At that time there flourished in the Church Hegesippus , whom we know from what has gone before, and Dionysius , bishop of Corinth, and another bishop , Pinytus of Crete, and besides these, Philip, and Apolinarius, and Melito , and Musanus, and Modestus, and finally, Irenæus . From them has come down to us in writing, the sound and orthodox faith received from apostolic tradition.

1. In those days also Melito , bishop of the parish in Sardis , and Apolinarius, bishop of Hierapolis, enjoyed great distinction. Each of them on his own part addressed apologies in behalf of the faith to the above-mentioned emperor of the Romans who was reigning at that time.

2. The following works of these writers have come to our knowledge . Of Melito , the two books On the Passover , and one On the Conduct of Life and the Prophets , the discourse On the Church , and one On the Lord's Day , still further one On the Faith of Man , and one On his Creation , another also On the Obedience of Faith , and one On the Senses ; besides these the work On the Soul and Body , and that On Baptism , and the one On Truth , and On the Creation and Generation of Christ ; his discourse also On Prophecy , and that On Hospitality ; still further, The Key , and the books On the Devil and the Apocalypse of John , and the work On the Corporeality of God , and finally the book addressed to Antoninus .

3. In the books On the Passover he indicates the time at which he wrote, beginning with these words: While Servilius Paulus was proconsul of Asia, at the time when Sagaris suffered martyrdom , there arose in Laodicea a great strife concerning the Passover , which fell according to rule in those days; and these were written.

4. And Clement of Alexandria refers to this work in his own discourse On the Passover , which, he says, he wrote on occasion of Melito's work.