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Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Kirby
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben C Smith
Which of those two expectations, prima facie, seems more reasonable? That Eusebius would quote Irenaeus mainly for his gospel quotations or that Eusebius would quote Irenaeus mainly for stuff not to be found in the gospels?
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I'm not sure of my logic, but I would say door #2, on a "seems more reasonable" first glance. If it were Gospel quotes, Eusebius wouldn't need an extra layer, as the Gospels were quite accessible to him already, and authoritative in themselves besides. |
Thanks, Peter. Fortunately, your seems more reasonable first glance can be tested.
Here are all the mentions of Irenaeus that I can find in the Church History by Eusebius. Please note that I found these simply by searching for the string irenaeus in one of the standard online versions of all ten books of the History. There may be other, more veiled or circumlocutory references to Irenaeus amongst these ten books; I do not know. But the instances below ought to very well be enough to give us a pretty good impression of whether Eusebius habitually quoted Irenaeus quoting scripture or habitually quoted him writing about other matters:
History of the Church 2.13.5: Justin relates these things, and Irenaeus also agrees with him in the first book of his work, Against Heresies, where he gives an account of the man [Simon Magus] and of his profane and impure teaching. It would be superfluous to quote his account here, for it is possible for those who wish to know the origin and the lives and the false doctrines of each of the heresiarchs that have followed him, as well as the customs practiced by them all, to find them treated at length in the above-mentioned work of Irenaeus.
History of the Church 3.18.2-3: Irenaeus, in the fifth book of his work Against Heresies, where he discusses the number of the name of Antichrist which is given in the so-called apocalypse of John, speaks as follows concerning him: If it were necessary for his name to be proclaimed openly at the present time, it would have been declared by him who saw the revelation. For it was seen not long ago, but almost in our own generation, at the end of the reign of Domitian.
History of the Church 3.23.1-4: At that time the apostle and evangelist John, the one whom Jesus loved, was still living in Asia, and governing the churches of that region, having returned after the death of Domitian from his exile on the island. And that he was still alive at that time may be established by the testimony of two witnesses. They should be trustworthy who have maintained the orthodoxy of the church; and such indeed were Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria. The former in the second book of his work Against Heresies, writes as follows: And all the elders that associated with John the disciple of the Lord in Asia bear witness that John delivered it to them. For he remained among them until the time of Trajan. And in the third book of the same work he attests the same thing in the following words: But the church in Ephesus also, which was founded by Paul, and where John remained until the time of Trajan, is a faithful witness of the apostolic tradition.
History of the Church 3.26.2: These facts [about Menander] can be easily learned from the works of Irenaeus.
History of the Church 3.36.12: Irenaeus also knew of his martyrdom and mentions his epistles in the following words: As one of our people said, when he was condemned to the beasts on account of his testimony unto God, I am the wheat of God, and by the teeth of wild beasts am I ground, that I may be found pure bread.
History of the Church 3.39.1: Irenaeus makes mention of these as the only works written by him, in the following words: These things are attested by Papias, an ancient man who was a hearer of John and a companion of Polycarp, in his fourth book. For five books have been written by him. These are the words of Irenaeus.
History of the Church 4.7.4, 9: Irenaeus states that the false teaching of Saturninus agreed in most respects with that of Menander, but that Basilides, under the pretext of unspeakable mysteries, invented monstrous fables, and carried the fictions of his impious heresy quite beyond bounds. .... Irenaeus also writes that Carpocrates was a contemporary of these men, and that he was the father of another heresy, called the heresy of the gnostics, who did not wish to transmit any longer the magic arts of Simon, as that one had done, in secret, but openly.
History of the Church 4.10.1-11.5: Irenaeus records that the death of Telesphorus was made glorious by martyrdom, and in the same connection he states that in the time of the above-mentioned Roman bishop Hyginus, Valentinus, the founder of a sect of his own, and Cerdon, the author of the error of Marcion, were both well known at Rome. He writes as follows: For Valentinus came to Rome under Hyginus, flourished under Pius, and remained until Anicetus. Cerdon also, predecessor of Marcion, entered the church in the time of Hyginus, the ninth bishop, and made confession, and continued in this way, now teaching in secret, now making confession again, and now denounced for corrupt doctrine and withdrawing from the assembly of the brethren. These words are found in the third book of the work Against Heresies. And again in the first book he speaks as follows concerning Cerdon: A certain Cerdon, who had taken his system fromt he followers of Simon, and had come to Rome under Hyginus, the ninth in the episcopal succession from the apostles, taught that the God proclaimed by the law and prophets was not the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the former was known, but hte latter unknown; and the former was just, but the latter good. Marcion of Pontus succeeded Cerdon and developed his doctrine, uttering shameless blasphemies. The same Irenaeus unfolds with the greatest vigor the unfathomable abyss of the errors of Valentinus in regard to matter, and reveals his wickedness, secret and hidden like a serpent lurking in its nest. And in addition to these men he says that there was also another that lived in that age, Marcus by name, who was remarkably skilled in magic arts. And he describes also their unholy initiations and their abominable mysteries in the following words: For some of them prepare a nuptial couch and perform a mystic rite with certain forms of expression addressed to those who are being initiated, and they say that it is a spiritual marriage which is celebrated by them, after the likeness of the marriages above. But others lead them to water, and while they baptize them they repeat the following words: Into the name of the unknown father of the universe, into truth, the mother of all things, into the one that descended upon Jesus. Others repeat Hebrew names in order the better to confound those who are being initiated.
History of the Church 4.14.1-8: At this time, while Anicetus was at the head of the church of Rome, Irenaeus relates that Polycarp, who was still alive, was at Rome, and that he had a conference with Anicetus on a question concerning the day of the paschal feast. And the same writer gives another account of Polycarp which I feel constrained to add to that which has been already related in regard to him. The account is taken fromthe third book of the work of Irenaeus Against Heresies, and is as follows: But Polycarp also was not only instructed by the apostles, and acquainted with many that had seen Christ, but was also appointed by apostles in Asia bishop of the church of Smyrna. We too saw him in our early youth; for he lived a long time, and died, when a very old man, the glorious and most illustrious death of a martyr, having always taught the things which he had learned form the apostles, which the church also hands down, and which alone are true. To these things all the Asiatic churches testify, as do also those who, down to the present time, have succeeded Polycarp, who was a much more trustworthy and certain witness of the truth than Valentinus and Marcion and the rest of the heretics. He also was in Rome in the time of Anicetus and caused many to turn away from the above-mentioned heretics to the church of God, proclaiming that he had received from the apostles this one and only system of truth which has been transmittted by the church. And there are those that heard from him that John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe in Ephesus and seeing Cerinthus within, ran out of the bath-house without bathing, crying: Let us flee, lest even the bath fall, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within. And Polycarp himself Marcion once met and said: Do you know us? He replied: I know the firstborn of Satan. Such caution did the apostles and their disciples exercise that they might not even converse with any of those who perverted the truth; as Paul also said: A man that is a heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject, knowing he that is such is subverted, and sins, being condemned of himself. There is also a very powerful epistle of Polycarp written to the Philippians, from which those that wish to do so, and that are concerned for their own salvation, may learn the character of his faith and the preaching of the truth. Such is the account of Irenaeus.
History of the Church 4.18.9: And the discourses of the man were thought so worthy of study even by the ancients that Irenaeus quotes his words; for instance, in the fourth book of his work Against Heresies, where he writes as follows: And Justin well says in his work against Marcion that he would not have believed the Lord himself if he had preached another God besides the Creator. And again in the fifth book of the same work he says: And Justin well said that before the coming of the Lord Satan never dared to blaspheme God because he did not yet know his condemnation.
History of the Church 4.21[.1]: At that time there flourished in the church Hegesippus, whom we know from what has gone before, and Dionysius the bishop of Corinth, and another bishop, Pinytus of Crete, and besides these Philip, and Apolinarius, and Melito, and Musanus, and Modestus, and finally Irenaeus. From them has come down to us in writing, the sound and orthodox faith received from apostolic tradition.
History of the Church 4.21.8: And not only [Hegesippus], but also Irenaeus and the whole company of the ancients, called the proverbs of Solomon all-virtuous wisdom.
History of the Church 4.25[.1]: Philip who, as we learn from the words of Dionysius, was bishop of the parish of Gortyna, likewise wrote a most elaborate work against Marcion, as did also Irenaeus and Modestus.
History of the Church 4.29.1-3: The word is that Tatian was the author of this [false doctrine], whose words we quoted a little before concerning the marvelous Justin, and whom we recorded to have been a disciple of the martyr. And Irenaeus declares this in the first of his [volumes] against the heresies, where he writes thus concerning both him and his heresy: Those who are called encratites, and who sprang from Saturninus and Marcion, preached celibacy, setting aside the original arrangement of God and tacitly censuring him who made male and female for the propagation of the human race. They introduced also abstinence from the things called by them animate, thus showing ingratitude to the God who made all things. And they deny the salvation of the first man. But this has been only recently discovered by them, a certain Tatian being the first to introduce this blasphemy. He was a hearer of Justin, and expressed no such opinion while he was with him, but after the martyrdom of the latter he left the church, and, becoming exalted with the thought of being a teacher and puffed up with the idea that he was superior to others, he established a peculiar type of doctrine of his own, inventing certain invisible aeons like the followers of Valentinus, while, like Marcion and Saturninus, he pronounced marriage to be corruption and fornication. His argument against the salvation of Adam, however, he devised for himself. Irenaeus wrote these things at that time.
History of the Church 5.4.1-2: The same witnesses also recommended Irenaeus, who was already at that time a presbyter of the parish of Lyons, to the above-mentioned bishop of Rome, saying many favorable things in regard to him, as the following extract shows: We pray, father Eleutherus, that you may rejoice in God in all things and always. We have requested our brother and comrade Irenaeus to carry this letter to you, and we ask you to hold him in esteem, as zealous for the covenant of Christ. For if we thought that office could confer righteousness upon any one, we should commend him among the first as a presbyter of the church, which is his position.
History of the Church 5.5.8-6.5: Pothinus having died with the other martyrs in Gaul at ninety years of age, Irenaeus succeeded him in the episcopate of the church at Lyons. We have learned that, in his youth, he was a hearer of Polycarp. In the third book of his work Against Heresies he has inserted a list of the bishops of Rome, bringing it down as far as Eleutherus, whose times we are now considering, under whom he composed his work. He writes as follows: The blessed apostles having founded and established the church, entrusted the office of the episcopate to Linus. Paul speaks of this Linus in his epistles to Timothy. Anencletus succeeded him, and after Anencletus, in the third place from the apostles, Clement received the episcopate. He had seen and conversed with the blessed apostles, and their preaching was still sounding in his ears, and their tradition was still before his eyes. Nor was he alone in this, for many who had been taught by the apostles yet survived. In the times of Clement, a serious dissension having arisen among the brethren in Corinth, the church of Rome sent a most suitable letter to the Corinthians, reconciling them in peace, renewing their faith, and proclaiming the doctrine lately received from the apostles. A little farther on he says: Evarestus succeeded Clement, and Alexander succeeded Evarestus. Then Xystus, the sixth from the apostles, was appointed. After him Telesphorus, who suffered martyrdom gloriously, then Hyginus, then Pius, and after him Anicetus; Soter succeeded Anicetus, and now, in the twelfth place from the apostles, Eleutherus holds the office of bishop. In the same order and succession the tradition in the church and the preaching of the truth has descended from the apostles unto us.
History of the Church 5.7.1-6: These things Irenaeus, in agreement with the accounts already given by us, records in the work which comprises five books, and to which he gave the title Refutation and Overthrow of the Knowledge Falsely So-Called. In the second book of the same treatise he shows that manifestations of divine and miraculous power continued to his time in some of the churches. He says: But so far do they come short of raising the dead, as the Lord raised them, and the apostles through prayer. And oftentimes in the brotherhood, when, on account of some necessity, our entire church has besought with fasting and much supplication, the spirit of the dead has returned, and the man has been restored through the prayers of the saints. And again, after other remarks, he says: If they will say that even the Lord did these things in mere appearance, we will refer them to the prophetic writings, and show from them that all things were beforehand spoken of him in this manner, and were strictly fulfilled; and that he alone is the Son of God. Wherefore his true disciples, receiving grace from him, perform such works in his Name for the benefit of other men, as each has received the gift from him. For some of them drive out demons effectually and truly, so that those who have been cleansed from evil spirits frequently believe and unite with the church. Others have a foreknowledge of future events, and visions, and prophetic revelations. Still others heal the sick by the laying on of hands, and restore them to health. And, as we have said, even dead persons have been raised, and remained with us many years. But why should we say more? It is not possible to recount the number of gifts which the church, throughout all the world, has received from God in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and exercises every day for the benefit of the heathen, never deceiving any nor doing it for money. For as she has received freely from God, freely also does she minister. And in another place the same author writes: As also we hear that many brethren in the church possess prophetic gifts, and speak, through the spirit, with all kinds of tongues, and bring to light the secret things of men for their good, and declare the mysteries of God. So much in regard to the fact that various gifts remained among those who were worthy even until that time.
History of the Church 5.8.1-15: Since, in the beginning of this work, we promised to give from time to time the words of the ancient presbyters and writers of the church, in which they have declared those traditions which came down to them concerning the testamental books, and since Irenaeus was one of them, we will now give his words and, first, what he says concerning the sacred gospels: Indeed Matthew, among the Hebrews in their own dialect, also bore forth a writing of the gospel, Peter and Paul evangelizing in Rome and founding the church. But after the exodus of these men Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, himself also delivered to us in writing the things preached by Peter, and Luke also, the follower of Paul, set down in a book the gospel preached by that man. Afterward John, the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned upon his breast, himself also published the gospel, passing his time in Ephesus of Asia. He says these things, then, in the third book of his abovementioned work. In the fifth book he speaks as follows concerning the apocalypse of John, and the number of the name of antichrist: As these things are so, and this number is found in all the approved and ancient copies, and those who saw John face to face confirm it, and reason teaches us that the number of the name of the beast, according to the mode of calculation among the Greeks, appears in its letters. And farther on he says concerning the same: We are not bold enough to speak confidently of the name of antichrist. For if it were necessary that his name should be declared clearly at the present time, it would have been announced by him who saw the revelation. For it was seen, not long ago, but almost in our generation, toward the end of the reign of Domitian. He states these things concerning the apocalypse in the work referred to. He also mentions the first epistle of John, taking many proofs from it, and likewise the first epistle of Peter. And he not only knows, but also receives, the shepherd, writing as follows: Well did the scripture speak, saying: First of all believe that God is one, who has created and completed all things. And he uses almost the precise words of the wisdom of Solomon, saying: The vision of God produces immortality, but immortality renders us near to God. He mentions also the memoirs of a certain apostolic presbyter, whose name he passes by in silence, and gives his expositions of the sacred scriptures. And he refers to Justin the martyr, and to Ignatius, using testimonies also from their writings. Moreover, he promises to refute Marcion from his own writings, in a special work. Concerning the translation of the inspired scriptures by the seventy, hear the very words which he writes: God in truth became man, and the Lord himself saved us, giving the sign of the virgin; but not as some say, who now venture to translate the scripture: Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bring forth a son, as Theodotion of Ephesus and Aquila of Pontus, both of them Jewish proselytes, interpreted; following whom the Ebionites say that he was begotten by Joseph. Shortly after he adds: For before the Romans had established their empire, while the Macedonians were still holding Asia, Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, being desirous of adorning the library which he had founded in Alexandria with the meritorious writings of all men, requested the people of Jerusalem to have their scriptures translated into the Greek language. But, as they were then subject to the Macedonians, they sent to Ptolemy seventy elders, who were the most skilled among them in the scriptures and in both languages. Thus God accomplished his purpose. But wishing to try them individually, as he feared lest, by taking counsel together, they might conceal the truth of the scriptures by their interpretation, he separated them from one another, and commanded all of them to write the same translation. He did this for all the books. But when they came together in the presence of Ptolemy, and compared their several translations, God was glorified, and the scriptures were recognized as truly divine. For all of them had rendered the same things in the same words and with the same names from beginning to end, so that the heathen perceived that the scriptures had been translated by the inspiration of God. And this was nothing wonderful for God to do, who, in the captivity of the people under Nebuchadnezzar, when the scriptures had been destroyed, and the Jews had returned to their own country after seventy years, afterwards,in the time of Artaxerxes, king of the Persians, inspired Ezra the priest, of the tribe of Levi, to relate all the words of the former prophets, and to restore to the people the legislation of Moses. Such are the words of Irenaeus.
History of the Church 5.20.1-8: Irenaeus wrote several letters against those who were disturbing the sound ordinance of the church at Rome. One of them was to Blastus on schism; another to Florinus on monarchy, or that God is not the author of evil. For Florinus seemed to be defending this opinion. And because he was being drawn away by the error of Valentinus, Irenaeus wrote his work on the ogdoad, in which he shows that he himself had been acquainted with the first successors of the apostles. At the close of the treatise we have found a most beautiful note which we are constrained to insert in this work. It runs as follows: I adjure you who may copy this book, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by his glorious advent when he comes to judge the living and the dead, to compare what you write, and correct it carefully by this manuscript, and also to write this adjuration, and place it in the copy. These things may be profitably read in his work, and related by us, that we may have those ancient and truly holy men as the best example of painstaking carefulness. In the epistle to Florinus, of which we have spoken, Irenaeus mentions again his intimacy with Polycarp, saying: These doctrines, Florinus, to speak mildly, are not of sound judgment. These doctrines disagree with the church and drive into the greatest impiety those who accept them. These doctrines not even the heretics outside of the church have ever dared to publish. These doctrines the presbyters who were before us and who were companions of the apostles did not deliver to you. For when I was a boy I saw you in lower Asia with Polycarp, doing brilliantly in the royal court, and endeavoring to gain his approbation. I remember the events of that time more clearly than those of recent years. For what boys learn, growing with their mind, becomes joined with it, so that I am able to describe the very place in which the blessed Polycarp sat as he discoursed, and his goings out and his comings in, and the manner of his life, and his physical appearance, and his discourses to the people, and the accounts which he gave of his intercourse with John and with the others who had seen the Lord. And as he remembered their words and what he heard from them concerning the Lord, and concerning his miracles and his teaching, having received them from eyewitnesses of the word of life, Polycarp related all things in harmony with the scriptures. These things being told me by the mercy of God, I listened to them attentively, noting them down, not on paper, but in my heart. And continually, through the grace of God, I recall them faithfully. And I am able to bear witness before God that, if that blessed and apostolic presbyter had heard any such thing, he would have cried out and stopped his ears and, as was his custom, would have exclaimed: O good God, unto what times have you spared me that I should endure these things? And he would have fled from the place where, sitting or standing, he had heard such words. And this can be shown plainly from the epistles which he sent, either to the neighboring churches for their confirmation or to some of the brethren, admonishing and exhorting them. These are the things that Irenaeus wrote.
History of the Church 5.23.2: There is still extant a writing of those who were then assembled in Palestine, over whom Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea, and Narcissus, bishop of Jerusalem, presided. And there is also another writing extant of those who were assembled at Rome to consider the same question, which bears the name of bishop Victor; also of the bishops in Pontus over whom Palmas, as the oldest, presided; and of the parishes in Gaul of which Irenaeus was bishop, and of those in Osrhoëne and the cities there; and a personal letter of Bacchylus, bishop of the church at Corinth, and of a great many others, who uttered the same opinion and judgment, and cast the same vote.
History of the Church 25.11-18: Among them was Irenaeus, who, sending letters in the name of the brethren in Gaul over whom he presided, maintained that the mystery of the resurrection of the Lord should be observed only on the day of the Lord. He fittingly admonishes Victor that he should not cut off whole churches of God which observed the tradition of an ancient custom and after many other words he proceeds as follows: For the controversy is not only concerning the day, but also concerning the very manner of the fast. For some think that they should fast one day, others two, yet others more; some, moreover, count their day as consisting of forty hours day and night. And this variety in its observance has not originated in our time; but long before in that of our ancestors. It is likely that they did not hold to strict accuracy, and thus formed a custom for their posterity according to their own simplicity and peculiar mode. Yet all of these lived none the less in peace, and we also live in peace with one another; and the disagreement in regard to the fast confirms the agreement in the faith. He adds to this the following account, which I may properly insert: Among these were the presbyters before Soter, who presided over the church which thou now rulest. We mean Anicetus, and Plus, and Hyginus, and Telesphorus, and Xystus. They neither observed it themselves, nor did they permit those after them to do so. And yet though not observing it, they were none the less at peace with those who came to them from the parishes in which it was observed; although this observance was more opposed to those who did not observe it. But none were ever cast out on account of this form; but the presbyters before thee who did not observe it, sent the eucharist to those of other parishes who observed it. And when the blessed Polycarp was at Rome in the time of Anicetus, and they disagreed a little about certain other things, they immediately made peace with one another, not caring to quarrel over this matter. For neither could Anicetus persuade Polycarp not to observe what he had always observed with John the disciple of our Lord, and the other apostles with whom he had associated; neither could Polycarp persuade Anicetus to observe it as he said that he ought to follow the customs of the presbyters that had preceded him. But though matters were in this shape, they communed together, and Anicetus conceded the administration of the eucharist in the church to Polycarp, manifestly as a mark of respect. And they parted from each other in peace, both those who observed, and those who did not, maintaining the peace of the whole church. Thus Irenaeus, who truly was well named, became a peacemaker in this matter, exhorting and negotiating in this way in behalf of the peace of the churches. And he conferred by letter about this mooted question, not only with Victor, but also with most of the other rulers of the churches.
History of the Church 5.26[.1]: Besides the works and letters of Irenaeus which we have mentioned, a certain book of his on knowledge, written against the Greeks, very concise and remarkably forcible, is extant; and another, which he dedicated to a brother Martian in demonstration of the apostolic preaching; and a volume containing various dissertations, in which he mentions the epistle to the Hebrews and the so-called wisdom of Solomon, making quotations from them. These are the works of Irenaeus which have come to our knowledge.
History of the Church 5.28.5: For who does not know the works of Irenaeus and of Melito and of others which teach that Christ is God and man?
History of the Church 6.13.9: In his book on the passover [Clement] acknowledges that he had been urged by his friends to commit to writing, for posterity, the traditions which he had heard from the ancient presbyters; and in the same work he mentions Melito and Irenaeus, and certain others, and gives extracts from their writings. To see the Greek of these passages, try out my iFrame page.
A perusal of the above quotations ought to tell us how often Eusebius was wont to quote Irenaeus quoting scripture.
Ben.
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01-15-2008, 07:43 AM
