CHAPTER 7

Logic and the rule of truth: participation in truth Participation is the fourth of Irenaeus' key concepts. Because it is the human response to the divine Intellect, economy and recapitulation, it takes many forms. However complex the first three concepts are, they are unitive and point to one God, one saving economy, one Christ. Participation is distributive, God's sharing out of his truth, beauty, life and goodness to humans in many ways.

We begin with participation in truth as it comes through the rule of truth and logic.

The canon and criterion of truth was central to Hellenistic philosophy. Christians designated the central elements of their faith, gospel or kerygma with the same term." The rule had been handed down from God through the apostles. Human conversion marked a turning to divine truth from inadequate or false conceptions. Heresy issued a challenge for it claamed a source which was above argument; yet heretics showed all the weakuesses of sophists.

Against them Irenaeus used the weapons of parody and pastiche, not for personal ridicule but to show that their opinions were inappropriate. His final test of truth was consonantia, a harmony which was both logical and aesthetic.

7.1

CANON AND CRITERION

The authority of the rule or canon in Irenaeus reflects a philosophical use. Kanon and kriterion dominated Hellenistic philosophy,

' A more extended discussion is found in my article, 'Reason and the rule of faith in the second century Ab', in The making of orthodoxy, FS for H. Chadwick, ed. Rowan Williams

(Cambridge, 1989), 40-61. See also my The emergence of Christian theology, 243-7.

Participation as the tests for Stoics and Epicureans of objective truth. Epicurus devoted a work to the theory of criteria," and in a fragment On Nature? insisted that no valid inquiry is possible without a canon which tests opinions.

A kanon is a rod to be used for testing straightness or measuring length. It must be straight.t Lucretius wrote of how a bad rule produced catastrophic results.> Three terms (rule, square, plummet line)® explain the importance of the canon for good foundations.'

Without a canon there is no security.® Since a canon is a means of judging, legal terms enter philosophical use.? The verdict goes to the sensations whose testimony is sure.'° The Canonice of Epicurus is for Seneca concerned with judgement and rule.'' The credibility of a rule which could decide all questions was ridiculed by Cicero."

Stoicism with its grasping impressions'? offered a straightforward test of truth.'+ Epictetus talks aboutpreconceptions, common notions, canon." The rule distinguishes truth and reason from appearance. In Epicurus and the Stoics there are several ways of understanding canon and criteria.'° The persistence of the theme is evident in Alcinous, who begins his account of Platonic dialectic with a discussion of the criterion which he finds in the forms

(Didask. 4).

2 Tlepi kpitnpiov Kavev. Listed tenth among the books of Epicurus, D. L. (Diogenes

Laertius) 10.27.

3 Arrighetti fr. (34) 31, 11-27.

* Aristotle, De Anima 1.41145.

5 De rerum natura 4.513-21.

7 Cf. H. Oppel, 'KANON', Ph, supplementary vol. 30 (1937), 80-1.

8 De rerum natura 4.505-6.

9 Sextus Empiricus, adv. Math. 7.211-16.

1D.L. 10:32.

' Epistulae morales 89.11.

™ De finibus 1.63.

"3 Sextus Empiricus, adv. Math. 7.248, 426.

" Striker, 'Kpitipiov tig dAn@eias', NAWG.PH 1 (1974), 90.

'S Dissertationes 1 .28.28-30; 2.11.13-25; 2.20.21; 3.3.14-15; 4.12.12; Enchiridion 1.5. prolep_ Sets, koinat ennoiar, kanon.

'® Striker, 'K pit Aplov', 102.

Logic and the rule of truth

7.2

COMPENDIUM OF TRUTH

Irenaeus was the first Christian theologian to speak precisely of the rule of truth or rule of faith.'" The rule is the original true and firm knowledge of God which the church preserves. With the truth itself and God's open testimony, there is no excuse for scattering into strange opinions and questions and rejecting firm and true knowledge (2.28.1). Strictly, the compact body (somation/corpusculum) of truth (1.9.4), in contrast to the fabrication (plasma/figmentum) of the heretics, refers not to a written source but to absolute truth. There is only one message of salvation and one reconciliation wrought in Christ incarnate."® The rule joins bible and tradition. Irenaeus can refer to individual texts or books of the bible as a 'rule of truth'. His Demonstration of the apostolic preaching proved the truth of the kerygma from prophetic oracles, which disclosed the divine Intellect. "The content of scripture and the rule of truth really coincide.''9 This is what the apostles handed down (3.4.1). The 'content of the tradition' (1.10.2) is universal.

The rule joins faith and life. Dogmatic truth evolved from a way of life, an experience of God, which belonged to the distinctive tradition of the Wisdom literature. Irenaeus' divine Intellect was the God of the Wisdom literature.?° This God, as intellect and love, surrounds all things and penetrates by his wisdom into hidden places (Wisd. 7:2—27). In response to such a universal wisdom, kerygma and faith are maintained by the universal church believing

'as if she had but one soul, and one and the same heart', proclaiming and teaching as if she had one mouth. In different languages, the '7 A. Faivre, 'Irénée, premier théologien "systématique"?', RevSR 65 (1991),

11-32. Generally the latter term was preferred for internal use within the church and the former term was preferred when argument was directed to heretics.

'8 This follows B. Hagglund, 'Die Bedeutung der "regula fidei" als Grundlage theologischer Aussagen', StTh 12 (1958), 1-44. Hagglund acknowledges his debt to J. Kunze,

Glaubensregel, Heilige Schrift und Taufbekenntms (Leipzig, 1 899).

'9 Hagelund, 'Die Bedeutung der "regula fidei" ', 12. The rule of truth is the saving revelation of father, son and holy spirit in creation and redemption; to this truth, baptismal confession, scripture and preaching bear witness.

20 Te la sorte, la foi implique aussi un rapport au monde comme possibilité de vie pour homme, malgré les expériences qui peuvent témoigner du contraire. I1 en découle des facgons spécifiques d'user du monde', D. Lihrmann, 'Confesser sa foi a l'époque apostolique', RThPh 117 (1985), 110.

Partucipation tradition is the same. Just as the sun, God's creature, is the same throughout the world, so the light of the 'preaching of the truth gives light to all who will to know the truth' (1.10.2). Without written sources, barbarians believe, 'and because of faith are very wise indeed' (3.4.2). From baptism onwards, the believer retains 'the rule of truth unchangeable in his heart' (1.9.4). The universal truth is summed up in a rule. Brevity is a distinctive quality of Christian truth. In contrast to the long-windedness of the law, God gave in Christ a short word?' which summed up all that was needed. He was salvation in summary.*?

7.3

CHARISMA AND TRUTH

Bishops have a certain gift of truth. The charisma of the spirit works in all true believers to give understanding of doctrine (4.33;

5.20.2). Bishops have no unique gift of truth but an assured, reliable commission to teach.?3 'Not only their ethical disposition and the succession, but also the spirit who already "perfected" the apostles and since then is active in the church, equips them to hand on the*truth intact.' The charismatic-activity of the spirit embraces the church (3.24.1) and any office is a means through which he works. However, an office which hands on the word displays this gift decisively, and must be exalted in face of Gnostic detractors, for only in the church are the true 'pneumatics' to be found

(4.33-1-7).

To complete his argument, Irenaeus moves from the question of truth to apostolic tradition (3 pref.).*9 After Book 2 of Against heresies he deepens his argument, turning to rule (Book 3) and charisma

(Book 4). Apostolicity is supported by episcopal succession of bishops and charisma of truth. Certainty is linked with the truth of *" Dem. 87 supports brevity in the 'short word' of Isaiah 10:22~3 with Matthew 6:7; 27:37-8;

Romans 9:28; 13:10.

** 3.18.1. For the seven formulae of the rule in this work, see Benoit, Saint Irénée, introduction,

209-16, and the conclusion 'L'unité demeure sa note fondamentale; elle est comme Dieu, le Christ, ?Evangile, la Tradition et la foi, une et toujours la méme.'

*3 N. Brox, 'Charisma veritatis certum (zu Irenaus adv, haer. IV 26, 2)', ZKG 75 (1964),

331.

*4 Tbid.

*S Faivre, 'Irénée, premier théologien "systematique"?'

Logic and the rule of truth

the tradition 'the veritas is the charisma',?° and not with presbyteral infallibility.?"

The divine origin of the rule gave it authority. Irenaeus had no doubt that the rule had come from God, through the economy of law, prophets, Christ, apostles and church.?° The prophetic truth of one God came to the heathen through the creation, for the world reveals its maker. To Christians it came as apostolic tradition (2.9.1), where those who heard the apostles would hear the lord and those who reject the apostles would reject him (3 pref.). Rule, tradition and gospel coincide. Receiving perfect knowledge from the spirit, the apostles 'departed to the end of the earth, preaching the glad tidings of the good things from God to us, and proclaiming the peace of heaven to men, who indeed do all equally and individually possess the gospel of God' (3.1.1). After preaching, the apostles handed down their message in written form.

Bishops succeeded the apostles in the scattered churches, to hand down the truth which apostles had passed on. No secrets were withheld from their successors (3.3.1). It would be tedious to list all the successions, so Irenaeus selects the church of Rome. From Peter and Paul the succession came to Linus, Anacletus'9 and Clement, who declared in a letter the tradition of one creator God who spoke to Abraham, Moses and the prophets, and is the father of the lord

Jesus Christ. This letter proves the identity of the tradition, which is now held by Eleutherus as the twelfth in succession:

By this order and by this same succession the tradition of the church from the apostles and the preaching of the truth have come down to us. This is the most complete proof that there is one and the same life-giving faith

- 26 "This is the only interpretation which makes sense of the passage' — H. von Campenhausen, Ecclesiastical authority and spiritual power E'T (London, 1969), 172. Yves Congar began from the same view ('the objective deposit of truth') but later allowed the possibility that the phrase could include a charism for action or function. 'The vast literature includes contributions from E. Molland, K. Miiller, N. Brox, L. Ligier, A. Ehrhardt, R.

M. Grant, J. N. D. Kelly and H. von Campenhausen.

27 See J. D. Quinn, '"Charisma veritatis certum": Irenaeus, Adversus haereses 4.26.2, TS 39

(1978), 520-25. The phrase drew the attention of First and Second Vatican Councils in their accounts of episcopal and papal magisterium.

28 Trenaeus lists witnesses to revelation nineteen times. H. Holstein, 'Les témoins de la révélation d'aprés saint Irénée', RSR 41 (1953), 410-20.

29 Abramowski points out that Anencletus (Anacletus) is the @véyKAntog of Titus 1:7;

'Trenaeus, Adv.haer. III 3,2', JThS 28 (1977), 104.

Participation which has been conserved in the church from the apostles and handed on in truth. (3.3.3) Tradition, apostles and church all depend on Christ who is the truth and who, as David says, has sprung triumphantly from the earth. There can be no falsehood or deceit in him (3.5.1). He never aimed to please his hearers but spoke the truth as he alone knew it. He is the one 'I am' to whom Moses and Elijah looked.

The canon of truth is the fullness of right belief found in scripture and tradition.2° As for Clement of Alexandria, so for Irenaeus, it is the true gnosis (4.33.8).3' Irenaeus presents the rationality of the divine economy as credible, acceptable and consistent, in contrast to the irrationality of the Gnostic accounts which are incredible, fatuous, impossible and inconsistent.%* Irenaeus attacks the Gnostics because they do not have an order and rule. They are Cynics in their indifference yet boast of Jesus as teacher, while ignoring his hostility to evil in any form.?3

Ss An influential study designates the church as the fundamental reality for truth,3+ the body of which the different doctrines are members (1.8.1), the formula for the interpretation of scripture, and the source of doctrine.35 The rule is relevant

4o baptism, because a narrative or exposition (narratio or exegesis) which declares God's love for man from creation to resurrection is part of the baptismal liturgy.3°

The Demonstration points to four tests of authenticity. The rule is a simple expression of baptismal faith in the church's proclamation.

Apostolicity defines the tradition which governs the church and its scriptures. Progressive revelation joins the old testament with the new testament in a continuity which displays the saving plan of God. Finally the autonomy and free choice of every human must be affirmed.°7 3° Brox, Offenbarung, Gnosis und gnostischer Mythos, 105-6.

3" Tbid., 166.

3? Thid., 202.

33 qui non solum a malis operibus avertit suos discipulos, sed etiam a sermonibus et cogitationibus (2.3.2.2).

Brox, ibid., 456.

34 D. van den Eynde, Les normes de Uenseignement chrétien, dans la littérature patristique des trois premuers siécles (Gembloux and Paris, 1933).

35 Thid., 291.

3© See V. Grossi, 'Regula veritatis e narratio battesimale in sant'Ireneo', Aug 12 (1972),

437-63.

37 E. Peretto, 'Criteri di orthodossia e di eresia nella Epideixis di Ireneo', Aug 25 (1985),

666.

Logic and the rule of truth

7.4

WHAT DOES THE RULE SAY?

The content of the rule of faith is entirely theological, without the ethical and ecclesiastical content, which it held in Paul and to which it returned in Augustine. The rule may be found in binary or ternary form. Binary examples are 'faith in one God the father almighty and in one Lord Jesus Christ the son of God' (1.3.6), and 'one God maker of heaven and earth, announced by the law and the prophets, and one Christ son of God' (3.1.2). The best example of ternary form comes at the beginning of Irenaeus' exposition in 1.10.1 and is worth quoting in full:

For the church, although scattered through the whole world to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples that faith which is in one God, the father almighty, 'who has made the heavens, earth, sea and all that is in them' and in one Jesus Christ, the son of God who was incarnate for our salvation, and in the holy spirit who has proclaimed by the prophets the economies of God and the advent, the birth from a virgin, the passion, the resurrection from the dead and the bodily ascent into heaven of our beloved lord Jesus Christ, and his coming from heaven in the father's glory to 'sum up all things' and to raise up all the flesh of the whole human race, so that to Christ Jesus our lord, God, saviour and king, according to the will of the unseen father 'every knee should bow, of things in heaven, in earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess' him, and that he should judge all justly, sending into eternal fire the spirits of evil, the angels who have transgressed and turned apostate, and the wicked, unjust, lawless and blasphemous among men, but granting the grace of life incorruptible and conferring the gift of eternal glory on the righteous, holy, who have kept his commands and persevered in his love, some from the beginning and some since conversion.

Certain points emerge. There is no distinction between the kerygma, the faith and the tradition of the church. The rule is much longer than the canons of philosophers and needs a demonstration from the prophets who saw the mind of God. The canon of truth lay for Platonists in the world of forms and that world was replaced by Justin and Irenaeus with the divine economies as seen by the prophets.3° 38 This will be the starting point for chapter 8.

Participation 7-5

CONVERSION, RECOVERY OF REASON,

FAITH AND SIGHT

Conversion?9 is a move into a new way of thought, indeed a recovery of reason in the rational soul. God, we have seen, is universal intellect and light (2.28.4), who alone possesses perfect knowledge

(2.28.8). By his goodness, we have partial knowledge (4.20.4) which at the last day will become complete (2.28.7).4° Our wisdom consists in not going beyond what ought to be known (Rom. 12:3), and those who go beyond this knowledge are ejected from the paradise of life (5.20.2). To deny the one creator of the world is an outrage

(2.28.2). He has given us a mind which is sound, sure, pious and devoted to the love of truth, and this mind should be exercised to gain knowledge (2.27.1).

Irenaeus, we have seen,*' begins from a universal human awareness of God which falls short of what scripture gives. 'To learn about God we need God's help, through his word (4.5.1). The Jews departed from God, because they thought wrongly that God could be known apart from his son and word (4.7.4). While creation and prophets point to the son and to the father (4.6.6), knowledge of God comes only from God and from him who is the way, the truth and the life (4.7.3). Saving knowledge brings perfection (3.12.5), is rational (5.8.2; 4.4.3) and linked with the presence of the holy spirit

(5.8.2).

7.6.1

HERESY The notion of 'heresy' (haerests) has an interesting history.4? In philosophy and medicine it was used from the second century

BC to designate schools of thought.#3 For Philo, the disciples of 39 ""T epistrophé" é anzitutto un mutamento del modo di pensare e di porsi di fronte al

Dio dell'Antico e del Nuovo Testamento. E un ritorno ad una tradizione accettata nella sua globalita nel passato e caratteristica del cristianesimo, ma che é stata abbandonata',

E Peretto, 'La conversione in Ireneo di Lione. Ambiti semantici', Aug 27 (1987), 163.

4° See above, chapter 3.

41 See above, chapter 2.

4 A comprehensive account is found in Alain Le Boulluec, La notion d'hérésie dans la littérature grecque Ile—IIe siécles, 2 vols. (Paris, 1985). Further, I am indebted to the convenient survey and original contribution of D. T. Runia, 'Philo of Alexandria and the Greek haeresismodel', VigChr 53 (1999), 117-47.

43 J. Glucker, Antiochus and the late Academy (Gottingen, 1978).

Logic and the rule of truth I5I the prophet Moses seek knowledge of the God-who-is and follow a life-giving philosophy.*+ Philo saw himself as a mere expositor of Moses, to whom he added 'nothing of his own'.45 Later biblical writers (Jeremiah, Psalms, Proverbs) are disciples of Moses.

Divisions are found in Josephus who designates distinct groups (Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes) as sects (hazreseis),4° compares them with Greek schools, and tells how, when young, he tested them before he became a Pharisee. Philo does not speak of schools within Judaism, for the philosophy of Moses is undivided and those who deny it are apostates to be punished by death.

As the earliest surviving Christian anti-heretical work, Irenaeus' treatise is important. While the detail of heresy overwhelms,

Irenaeus offers a clear impression through his metaphors. Heresy is a false imitation ofa precious stone (1 pref. 2), a wild beast which can only be destroyed if it is brought into the open (1.31.4), and a deadly mixture of lime and water which masquerades as milk (3.17.4).

Irenaeus uses the word 'heresy' rarely. The adjective 'all' (omnzvs) is applied to half the examples because he wants to present a sum of heresy over against a sum of truth. He also speaks of heretics rather than heresy, prefers the plural to the singular (forty-nine instances to two), and uses the word more in the last three books than in the first two (forty-three to nine). His concern is less with the distant founders than with the present disciples.'

While the succession of heresies could be traced back to Simon Magus (1.23.2; 1.27.4; 2 pref.), this did not imply continuity of ideas. Indeed there was constant separation and division

(1.22.2). Blindness to truth brought heretics to divide perpetually so that their ideas were scattered in every direction (5.20.1). Heresy emerges as an antitype to the church, marked by multiplicity in contrast to the unity of the true faith. It is only accessible because

Valentinianism recapitulates all heresies so that objections against it apply to other forms of error (4 pref. 2). Diversity remains and 44 De specialibus legibus 1.345.

45 De opificio mundi 5: o(ko0€Vv LEV OVSEV.

4 See Bellum Judaicum 2.11 9-66, Antiquitates Judaicae 13.171-3 and 18.11-22.

47 A. Benoit, 'Irénée et l'hérésie, les conceptions hérésiologiques de l'évéque de Lyon',

Aug 20 (1980), 59.

48 Thid., 61.

Participation increases through elements borrowed from poets and philosophers, with an endless variety of permutations and combinations.

It is therefore remarkable that four common denials run through the variety of heretical opinion:*9 (i) while there is an appeal to scripture enlarged by their own

Gospels (3.11.7) and an appeal to oral traditions of their own (3.2.1), there is a denial of old testament scripture;

(ii) the saving God is not the creator (1.22.1) and the prophets are not part of the divine economy (4.34.1);

(iii) the word of God did not become flesh (3.11.3). In the eucharist they offer bread and wine to a god other than the creator, who must be outraged by gifts which are foreign to him (4.18.4);

(iv) the flesh cannot be saved into incorruption (5.2.2).

The busy mastermind behind heresy is the devil, who offers pride, falsehood and seduction.°° Pride, which rebels against the creator God, has an intellectual element, for it is ignorance of man and of God (5.2.3). To this ignorance is joined a claim to total knowledge (unwersa agnitio) (2.28.9), including knowledge of God's ineffable mysteries (2.28.6). Irenaeus ridicules the claim and the content of these portentous mysteries (1 pref. 2).5' God alone has perfect knowledge and we place ourselves in peril if we search for another God above him (2.28.8). Pride also puts the heretic above the law which God has given, and loses the ability to distinguish between good and evil (1.25.4). Secondly, falsehood is disguised by heretics, to make it appear true (1 pref.). Satan inspires them to mutilate scripture in order to conceal falsehood. (5.21.2). Thirdly,

Just as Satan seduced Eve (1.30.7), so heretics seduce the simple (1 pref; 3.15.2). The sophistry of heretics destroys the faithful

(1 pref.; 3.17.4) as the devil, a liar and murderer from the beginning, has always done ( Jn 8:44) (5.22.2). Finally, heretics claim a secret tradition (following Matt. 11:25~7) of hidden knowledge (1.20.3) and this gives them the right, they believe, to twist everything their own way and to follow no rule. The apostles, they claim, could only speak to the Jews of the Jewish God and no one could learn

49 Tbid., 63-6.

5° Y. de Andia, 'L'hérésie et sa refutation selon Irénée de Lyon', Aug 25 (1985), 624-30.

5" portentuosissima et altissima mysteria, See also 3.15.2; 2.2.2; 4 pref. 4.

Logic and the rule of truth

anything new from them. Every heretic has his own rule which means that there is no rule at all (3.12.6).

7.6.2

CONTEMPORARY ASSESSMENT

In the twentieth century some sympathy for Gnosticism grew out of modernism with its flight from authority and rejection of tradition.°* kor modernism, heretics had to be right because tradition was wrong. A recent study of heresy by Alain Le Boulluec aims at a fair assessment. It begins from a perceived contrast between the Nag Hammadi writings and the Gnostic heresies depicted by Irenaeus and Epiphanius,°? which suggests that Irenaeus and others provided a biased, inaccurate account.°¢ It then turns to Michel

Foucault, who has investigated the decision of the socially powerful to separate the normal from the abnormal, to define rationality on the basis of this exclusion,°° asking for a 'cut-off' point and disowning all that is beyond it.5° The value of Le Boulluec's treatment is beyond question. There is space merely to indicate four points where Foucault hampers

Le Boulluec's investigation. First, powerplay is not important for Irenaeus; the second century had different centres of power for 'orthodox' and heretic alike. 57 Argument was far more important.

Secondly, Justin introduced the notion of heresy after his journey through philosophical schools. His rejection of these schools was based on their rational inadequacy, not on their social power, for he finishes up with the least powerful (Christian) school. 'Thirdly, the conflict of Irenaeus with Gnostics is not a species within an established genus of heretical controversy; it is an historical phenomenon in its own right.>° Fourthly, according to Altendorf, Bauer

5 Jeffrey Stout, The flight from authority. Religion, morality, and the quest for autonomy (Notre Dame,

1981), 2-3.

53 Le Boulluec, La notion d*hérésie, 1, 7.

54 Tbid.: 'apercevant les procédés d'un travestissement polémique'. Others have been struck by the lack of such contrast and the fairness of Irenaeus' presentation. Arbitration between these two verdicts would be lengthy and inconclusive.

55 Ibid.

5° Tbid.

57 See H. D. Altendorf, 'Zum Stichwort: Rechtglaubigkeit und Ketzerei im 4ltesten

Christentum', ZAG 80 (1969), 61-74.

58 Tbid., 74.

Participation introduced an inappropriate schema: unbelief, right belief and false belief; he further spoke of 'orthodoxy' as a successful movement based on Rome, putting forward, says his critic, the fruits of his

'lively and constructive imagination which played on the argument from silence'. 59 Much of what Bauer wrote is useful; but it simplifies complex evidence. As ever, the fourth century, with the accounts of Eusebius and Epiphanius, gives little help in understanding the second century, when Marcionites:saw themselves as church reformers and Valentinians as church members who had achieved deeper understanding. Conflict between groups used every weapon to hand and was agonistic like all polemic in the ancient world."

Social theory must give way to history of ideas, for it cannot explain two things: why Irenaeus' arguments against Gnosticism are also put forward by Plotinus, who could not have known or cared less about Christian power struggles; and why Irenaeus is so blatantly eirenic about the East-West power struggle on the Quartodeciman question and so militant against Gnostic ideas.

Only a concern for truth rather than power will answer these puzzles. Irenaeus prays that heretics will not remain in the pit they have dug, becuse he loves them more effectively than they think they love themselves (3.25.7).

Social theory obscures the great value of the heretical confrontation, where Gnostic theosophy forced Christian theology into philosophical method and values as a means of defence and exposition.

It was not enough for Irenaeus and others to set the rule of faith beside the Gnostic myth and make an unreasoned choice; an effort was needed to show that the renewing of the mind to which Paul had pointed (Rom. 1 2:2) was able to produce, from scripture and the rule of faith, a synthesis of greater coherence than the alternatives.

72063) Ol Eadomukey) Christian thought entered the European tradition in the midst of a long-established conflict between philosophy and sophistry,

59 Tbid., 64: 'die lebhaft mit dem argumentum ex silentio spielende konstruktive Phantasie des

_ Verfassers'.

6 Thid., 68.

Logic and the rule of truth

a conflict which had blurred edges but which remained relevant to culture." From Plato onwards philosophers attacked sophists, alleging their danger to lie in their proximity to the matter of philosophy (argument) and their alienation from its aim (pursuit of truth). This truth was foreign to heresy.®? 'Strangers to the truth, they inevitably wallow in all error, which tosses them to and fro, so that they think differently on the same subjects at different times, never holding a stable opinion, wishing rather to be sophists of words than to be disciples of the truth' (3.24.2). Abandoning the one rock, they build on sand which contains many stones. Their trivialities run from number games to the hypostatisation of the aeons out of mere words. Their hair-splitting distinction between Justice and goodness is incompatible with Plato's cosmology and with his metaphysic (3.25.5). As false, deceiving sophists, they call the creator 'father' and 'God' only as a matter of courtesy and, divining falsehoods (_falsa dwinantes), they dispute every point of God's economy with baseless trivia (4.1).

The sophists of words fabricate the aeons and diversify the meanings of 'God' and 'father'. As depraved grammarians they deny any difference between direct and oblique meanings. Their fabrication of names promotes a ridiculous fantasy (1.11.4). Following a lust for disagreement (5.13.2), they invent fables to support their teachings.

Irenaeus quotes their myth of Pandora which describes the generation of the Saviour, the common fruit of all the aeons (1.2.6; 1.3.1), and shows it to be inappropriate (4.2.2). As sophists of Pandora, heretics try to be more perfect than the perfect, but end by showing themselves to be mindless (1.11.1). They are melons (1.11.4), or even squashes, which lack salt.%3 Sophists seek without finding. In their account of the man who was blind from birth, they accuse the divine logos of ignorance and blindness. This is the way in which they plumb the mysteries of the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10). Philo had developed similar criticisms. Cain symbolises the sophist who provokes the simple

6 See Brian Vickers, In defence of rhetoric (Oxford, 1988), especially 83-1 47, 'Plato's attack on rhetoric', and 148-213, "Territorial disputes: philosophy versus rhetoric'.

62 The following paragraphs are indebted at many points to Le Boulluec, La notion d'hérésie.

1, 136-54.

63 Tbid., 139. Here Irenaeus follows the style of Timon of Phlius who ridiculed other philosophers in his 'Silloi'. See below, 7.7, Parody.

Partuciypation Abel (Quod deterius potiori insidiart solet 1).'Vhe tower of Babel, built by the descendants of Cain, represents the skills of sophists (De posteritate

Caini 53). The sorcerers cannot stand against Moses because the law declares that all sophistry is overcome by wisdom (De migratione

Abrahami 85). Philosophy is the royal alternative to the sophistic way (De posteritate Caini 1 01), which deforms the beauty of wisdom (Quod omnis probus liber sit 4).

Sophistry was linked with greed for financial gain (1.4.3) or with sexual lust (1.13.3). Plato had criticised the financial rewards required by sophists (Hippias Major 281b; Cratylus 384b), and Lucian made the same attack in his 'Philosophers for sale'.°+ Heretics could be excluded simply on the grounds of their financial gain, for the lord had said, 'Freely you have received, Freely give!' (Matt. 10:8).

Irenaeus contrasts the liberality of the church with the greed of Gnostic teachers (2.31.3; 2.32.4). New testament writers condemn those who are greedy for shameful gain (Titus 1:7) and the Didache requires that a prophet who asks for money should not be heard

(11.3).

Irenaeus sets the simplicity of Christian faith against the pretensionsof the Gnostics (2.26.1). The sacrifice of the church is marked by simple thankfulness to the God ofcreation (4.18.4), while heretics offer nothing because they have no gratitude to their creator (4.18.4). The simplicity of Christians follows one God and looks to the salvation of the whole man, body and soul (5.20.1). Heretics smash this simplicity into pieces and lose its meaning (5.20.1).

The simplicity of the faithful (5.20.2) established the unity of the church where the simplicity of the dove overthrows the wisdom of the serpent, as Mary conquered where Eve failed (5.19.1).

7.4

PARODY: THEOLOGY FOR HORSES

For Xenophanes, the god who is divine Intellect renders anthropomorphic gods ridiculous and worthy of parody. The same move is made by Irenaeus who reflects Xenophanes' (KRS, 167-9) use of °4 For an amusing example of sophistry see Lucian's 'Philosophers for sale', 22 (LS,

37 L; SVF 2.287). You know your own father, but ifa veiled human is placed in front of you, you must admit you do not know who it is. Since that person happens to be your father, you do not know your own father.

Logic and the rule of truth

parody to make a perceptive critique of anthropomorphic Gnosticism. In each case the concern is to display logical and aesthetic inadequacy rather than personal comedy.

Xenophanes states his objections:°5 But mortals consider that the gods are born, and that they have clothes and speech and bodies like their own.

The Ethiopians say that their gods are snub-nosed and black, the Thracians that theirs have light blue eyes and red hair.

But if cattle and horses or lions had hands, or were able to draw with their hands and do the works that men can do, horses would draw the forms of the gods like horses, and cattle like cattle, and they would make their bodies such as they each had themselves.

Irenaeus' chief complaint against the Gnostics was that they used words without logical control. 'They gave no reasons for their procession of aeons (1.11) and anyone could make up a list of names which had no reality. He uses parody to make this point, and writes of the Valentinian account of creation as follows:

And what comes from all this? It is no trivial tragedy, indeed, which each of these men pompously expounds, each in a different way, from which passion and from which element, each essence derived its origin... For who would not spend his entire fortune to learn that from the tears of the aeon involved in passion, the seas, springs, rivers and all liquid substances derived their origin, that the light came from her smile, and the corporeal elements of the world came from her perplexity and anguish? However

I want to make my contribution to their 'fructification' ..

. For, since all tears have the same property, it is unlikely that from them come both salt and fresh waters. It is more probable that some are from her tears and some from her perspiration. Furthermore since there exist also in the world waters which are hot and acrid, it is for you to understand what she did to produce them and from what part of her they came. Such are some consequences of their hypothesis. (1.4.4)

Later, he provides a second piece of parody:

With this monad coexists a power of the same essence which I in turn call the one, Hen. These powers then, Monotes, Henotes, Monas and Hen, produced the rest of the aeons... There exists a certain pro-principle,

65 The three relevant fragments are preserved by Clement of Alexandria (str. 5.14.109.2,

7.7.22.1, 5.14.109.3), which shows their relevance for second-century Christians.

Participation kingly and beyond all thought, prosubstantial and proprocylindrical, which I call the 'Pumpkin' and along with this gourd exists a power which I call in turn 'Superemptiness'. This Pumpkin and this Superemptiness, being one, have emitted, without emitting, a fruit entirely visible, edible and sweet which is properly termed 'Cucumber'. With this Cucumber coexists a power of the same substance which I further name 'Melon'. These powers, namely, Pumpkin, Superemptiness, Cucumber and Melon, have emitted the remaining conglomeration of the delirious melons of Valentinus.

For if one may apply common language to the primary tetrad and if anyone may assign names as he wishes, what is to stop us from using these names since they are more credible, in common use and known to all?

(ab inal Irenaeus compares Gnostic exegesis with a pastiche concocted from widely separate lines of Homer (1.9.4). Genuine lines of Homer are used to tell a story Homer never told. Irenaeus quotes:°7

Having thus spoken, he sent forth from his house with deep sobs The noble Hercules, doer of mighty deeds;

Eurystheus, son of Sthenelus, descended from Perseus, Charging him to bring from Erebus the dog of gloomy Pluto.

And he went like a mountain lion confident of strength, Swiftly through the city, while all his friends followed,

Bothmaidens, and youths, and much-enduring old men Mourning for him bitterly as if he went to death;

Pastiche, a common form of parody, has been defined as 'an imitation or forgery which consists of a number of motives taken from genuine works by any one artist recombined in such a way as to give the impression of being an independent original creation by that artist'.°9 The 'double-coding' of a pastiche need not have

65 The Greek names of the vegetables are confirmed by Epiphanius, Panarion haer. 32.

The cucumber and melon could have come from Numbers 11:5. See A. Rousseau and L. Doutreleau, Lrénée de Lyon. Contre les hérésies. 1, SC 263, (Paris, 1979), 235.

°7 J. Daniélou sees in this cento an allegorical concoction of Valentinus. See Gospel message, 82~4. However, see also R. L. Wilken, "The Homeric cento in Irenaeus' "Against Heresies", 1.9.4', VigChr 21 (1967), 25-33.

8 Odyssey 10.76 and 21.26; Iliad 19.123 and 8.368; Od. 6.130; Il. 24.327; Od. 11.38;

Il. 24.328; Od. 11.626; Il. 2.409. The concoction is attributed to Irenaeus who oo composed or borrowed it, by H. Ziegler, Jrendus der Bischof von Lyon (Berlin, 1871), 1 69 P Murray and L. Murray, A dictionary of art and artists (Harmondsworth, 1960), 234. Cited in M. Rose, Parody: ancient, modern and post-modern (Cambridge, 1993), 72.

Logic and the rule of truth

a comic effect. A pastiche can refer to any composition which joins different sources or to a picture where different styles are stuck together.'° Quotation or 'cross-reading' joins disparate texts,

'so that either their concealed identity or lack of identity will be brought into the foreground with some comic effect'.7!

By the fourth century BC, parodia (1 ap wdia) was used to describe comic imitation and transformation of an epic verse work, and was later extended to cover other forms of comic quotation or imitation. Quintilian defined parodia as 'a name drawn from songs sung in imitation of others, but employed by an abuse of language to designate imitation in verse or prose' and his definition led others almost to identify parody with imitation. Tapatpay wdéw meant

'to tell in a false tragic style' and was used of comic 'meta-fictional' as well as of satirical writing, practised notably by Aristophanes.

In modern times, the use of parody has shown a positive purpose.

Parody as writing which is meta-fictional, critical and comic, is exemplified in Don Quixote and Trnstam Shandy. It has been defined as parasitical, burlesque, double-planed and double voiced. Foucault hailed Don Quixote as the first modern work of literature because in it the certainty of similitude 1s replaced by difference and a laughter that shatters.

7.8

CONSONANTIA

The rule of faith and the scriptures are of little value in the pursuit of truth without the principle of consonantia which covers both logical coherence and aesthetic fitness. In its rhetorical use'' the verb consono moves beyond its original Pythagorean sense of harmony to the general principle of coherence. Yet it retains the presumption of opposites from which a harmony is formed.' 'This means that the Heraclitean strain which runs through the rest of Irenaeus' thought is present in his epistemology as in his metaphysics. The heretics

LEM oA 7 Thid., 77.

7? Quintilian, Just. 9.3.45, 73,7773 Philolaos had written &@ppovia b€ maVvtTw@V €& Evavtiov yiveta Eotl yap dpuLovia

Tokvutyéwv Evwots Kai dixa ppoveovtav ovuppovnots, DK, n. 44, B 10, cited in de Andia, 'L'hérésie et sa refutation', 640-3, who takes coherence as a harmonic, and not a logical principle. In Irenaeus it has to be both.

Partucipation wrongly look to letters, syllables and numbers to find their way to God. But in his creation God has fitted, arranged and prepared things into forms which have meaning and are never accidental.

'For the rule does not emerge from numbers, but numbers from a rule, and God does not derive his being from created things but created things derive their being from God' (2.25.1). Everything is seen to spring from the one God, when attention is paid to coherence. For the whole displays the judgement, goodness, wisdom and skill of the creator, while the individual parts are contradictory and discordant (2.25.2). Logic and aesthetics go together, as the variety of notes produces the harmony of the whole (2.25.2). Man the creature must humbly learn from the maker of all things, both the dispensations of things and the order of knowledge (2.25.3, 4).

Coherence comes from love, the higher knowledge which gives wholeness to life, leads to the knowledge of Christ crucified, holds the system of truth together and points_a way through the mysteries of providence. As with creation and providence, so with the understanding of scripture, harmony (consonantia) is decisive. Love of truth and daily study will lead to the body of truth, where members fit together without clashing. There is enough that is clear and unequivocal in scripture to provide a basis for knowledge. In the ambiguity of parables everyone has a different opinion (2.27.1).

When the rule of faith is followed, the scriptures fit together, unequivocally and harmoniously; for this is what the plain parts of scripture indicate. There is no hope for those who abandon what is certain, to build on sand instead of rock (2.27.2,3). When we follow the rule 'all scripture which has been given to us by God will be found harmonious . . . through the polyphony of texts one harmonious melody will resound in us, praising with hymns the God who has made all things'.'* Knowledge and praise are joined by the rule of faith (2.28.3).

Consonantia of the four Gospels and the four living creatures (3.11.8), of the preaching of Paul and the testimony of Luke (3.13.3), and of the different testaments (3.12.12), confirms the rule of truth.

Indeed harmony of salvation (consonantia salutis) marks the whole activity of God whose spirit speaks with the sound of many waters

74 omnis scriptura a Deo nobis data consonans nobis invenietur .

. et per dictionum multas voces consonantem melodiam in nobis sentiet, laudantem hymnis Deum qui fecit omnia.

Logic and the rule of truth

(4.14.2) (Rev. 1:15), and the proclamation of the church which has one mouth (1.10.2). Worship is also 'consonans' with the rule. Faith in incarnation is confirmed by the eucharist. 'For our opinion is consonant with the eucharist and the eucharist on its part confirms our opinion' (4.18.5).

In this chapter we have seen how faith and Pauline 'love which rejoices in truth' mark the beginning of participation in Christ. For the rule of faith indicates how the divine wisdom and the charisma of truth may be shared. The truth is the charisma and conversion recovers reason and grants vision. Socratic love of truth rejects the emptiness of heresy and parody displays the need for the consonantia in which love and truth unite.

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