Book 4: The Christian Faith, as Drawn from the Words Spoken by Christ

Book 4

The Christian Faith, as Drawn from the Words Spoken by Christ

By sending you the fourth book of this work entitled, The Detection and Refutation of What Is Falsely Called Knowledge, I intend to strengthen what I have already sent you by carefully considering the words of the Lord. By this you will receive what you need to confute all these heretics and keep them from launching out further into the deep of error or being drowned in the sea of ignorance. May you turn them instead into the haven of the truth and help them find salvation. (4:pref,1)

Anyone who wants to convert these heretics to the truth needs to have a good understanding of their systems or schemes of teaching. It is impossible for anyone to heal the sick if he has no knowledge of the disease afflicting the patient. Because my predecessors—whom I consider superior to myself—did not know the Valentinians’ system, they were unable to refute these heretics satisfactorily. (4:pref,2)

. . . In the preceding book, I set out the ideas of the apostles on various points, showing that they “who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word” [Luke 1:2] of truth, held none of the opinions of these heretics, but that they warned us to shun such teachings [2 Tim 2:23], since they foresaw by the Spirit that weak-minded persons would be led astray by them. (4:pref,3)

The serpent beguiled Eve, by promising her what he did not have himself. This is also what these heretics do with their pretensions to superior knowledge and acquaintance with ineffable mysteries. . . . The aim of him who envies our life is to get people to disbelieve their own salvation, and to get them to blaspheme against God the creator. For whatever the various heretics have advanced, even with utmost solemnity, they eventually come to the point that they blaspheme the creator and deny the salvation of the body, which is God’s handiwork. . . . (4:pref,4)

Since the writings of Moses are the words of Christ, he himself declares to the Jews, as John recorded in the gospel, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?” [John 5:46–47]. He thus indicates in the clearest way that the writings of Moses are his words. If, then, this was the case with Moses, then beyond a doubt, the words of the other prophets are also his, as I have pointed out. And again, the Lord himself presented Abraham as saying to the rich man with regard to those who were still alive, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead” [Luke 16:31]. (4:2,3)

With that story, he not only told us about a poor man and a rich one. He also warned us against leading a luxurious life, one of worldly pleasures and constant feasting, lest we become slaves to our lusts and forget God: he said, “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day” [Luke 16:19]. Through Isaiah the Spirit warned about being the kind of people “whose feasts consist of lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine, but who do not regard the deeds of the LORD, or see the work of his hands” [Isa 5:12]. Lest we incur the same punishment as these people did, the Lord reveals their end, showing at the same time that if they had obeyed Moses and the prophets, they would believe in him whom Moses and the prophets had preached. The one they thus preached was the Son of God, who rose from the dead, and bestows life upon us. . . . Many who are of the circumcision do believe in him: these have rightly heard Moses and the prophets announcing the coming of the Son of God. . . . (4:2,4)

All those who feared God and were zealous for his law ran to Christ and were saved. He commanded his disciples, “Go . . . to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” [Matt 10:6] who are perishing. Further, many Samaritans, in the two days when the Lord stayed among them, “believed because of his word” and said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world” [John 4:41].

Paul declares, “And so all Israel will be saved” [Rom 11:26]. He also said that the law was our pedagogue to bring us to Christ Jesus [Gal 3:24]. So they must not blame the law for their unbelief. The law never kept anyone from believing in the Son of God; indeed, it exhorted them to do so [Num 21:8], urging that the only way to be saved from the wound of the serpent was by believing in him who, in the likeness of sinful flesh, was lifted up from the earth on the tree of martyrdom, thus drawing all things to himself [John 3:14], who gives life to the dead. (4:2,7)

The heretics malignantly assert that, if heaven is the throne of God and earth his footstool, and if Scripture teaches heaven and earth shall pass away, then when these pass away the God who sits above them must also pass away, so that he cannot be the God who is over all. We respond, first of all, by pointing out that they do not understand what the expression “heaven is his throne and earth his footstool” means if they imagine that God sits as humans do, contained in the limits of a chair. Further, they do not understand what the “passing away of heaven and earth” means; Paul was not ignorant of it when he declared, “the present form of this world is passing away” [1 Cor 7:31]. David’s words respond to their question, for he says that when the fashion of this world passes away, not only will God remain, but so will his servants also: “Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment. You change them like clothing, and they pass away; but you are the same, and your years have no end. The children of your servants shall live secure; their offspring shall be established in your presence” [Ps 102:25–28]; he thus points out plainly what will pass away, and who endures for ever—God and his servants. Similarly, Isaiah says, “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and those who live on it will die like gnats; but my salvation will be forever, and my deliverance will never be ended” [Isa 51:6]. (4:3,1)

The heretics also declare, in regard to Jerusalem and the Lord, that if it had been “the city of the great King” [Matt 5:35] it would not have been deserted. This is like saying that if straw is a creation of God it would never part company with the wheat, or that if vine twigs had been made by God they would never be lopped off and lose their clusters. But vine branches were not originally made for their own sake, but for the sake of the fruit that would grow on them; when the fruit comes to maturity and is taken away, the vine branches are left behind and the ones which did not produce fruit are lopped off. That was the situation with Jerusalem. . . , when those who had the power to produce fruit had been carried away from her and scattered throughout the world. Isaiah said about this, “In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots, and fill the whole world with fruit” [Isa 27:6]. Since that fruit has been sent throughout the world, Jerusalem was deservedly forsaken, and what had formerly brought forth fruit abundantly was taken away—meaning Christ and the apostles, who were able to bring forth fruit. . . . (4:4,1)

The law originated with Moses but terminated with John. Christ had come to fulfil it: “the law and the prophets were in effect until John” [Luke 16:16]. Therefore Jerusalem, which had received its commencement with David [2 Sam 5:7] but had fulfilled its purpose, was eclipsed when the new covenant was revealed. God does all things by measure and in order [Wis 11:20; cf. 1 Cor 14:33]; nothing is unmeasured with him, nothing out of order. . . . (4:4,2)

But why should we focus on Jerusalem, since the fashion of the whole world must pass away when the time for its disappearance has come, so that the fruit may be gathered into the granary, but the chaff left behind, to be consumed by fire? “See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up” [Mal 4:1]. John the Baptist points out who this Lord is who brings this about when he says of Christ, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” [Matt 3:11–12]. The one who makes the chaff and the one who makes the wheat are not different persons, but one and the same, the one who judges them—that is, separates them.

Now, wheat and chaff are by nature inanimate and irrational. But human beings are endowed with reason; in this respect they are like God. Free to choose and with power over themselves, human beings themselves are to blame if some become chaff while others become wheat. Since this is so, any human being who loses genuine rationality by living irrationally—that is, in opposition to divine righteousness, submitting to various evil spirits and serving all lusts—will be justly condemned, as the prophet says, “Mortals cannot abide in their pomp; they are all like the animals that perish” [Ps 49:12]. (4:4,3)

So it is the same God who rolls up the heaven as a book and renews the face of the earth; who made things that are consumed for human beings, so that coming to full age by using these things appropriately, they might produce the fruit of immortality; and who in his kindness also grants eternal goods, “that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace” [Eph 2:7]; who was announced by the law and the prophets; and whom Christ confessed as his Father. He is the creator, the God who is over all, as Isaiah says, “You are my witnesses, says the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no Savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed” [Isa 43:10–12]. He also declared: “I, the LORD, am first, and will be with the last” [Isa 41:4]. He does not say these things in an ambiguous or arrogant or boastful manner, but since it was impossible to come to a knowledge of God without God, he teaches people to know him through his Word. . . . (4:5,1)

Our Lord and master, in the answer which he gave to the Sadducees (who said that there is no resurrection, and who thus dishonored God and lessened the credibility of the law) both indicated a resurrection and revealed God when he said to them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. As for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said by God, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ He is God not of the dead, but of the living” [Matt 22:29, 31]. By these arguments He made it unquestionably clear that the one who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush and declared himself to be the God of the fathers is the God of the living. . . .

He who was adored by the prophets as the living God is the God of the living. His Word is the one who also spoke to Moses and silenced the Sadducees: he is the one who himself bestowed the gift of resurrection, thus revealing both the resurrection and the true God to those who were blind. For if he was not the God of the dead but of the living, and yet he was called the God of the fathers who had died, then they certainly live before God and have not passed out of existence, since they are children of the resurrection. But our Lord is himself the resurrection, as he himself declares, “I am the resurrection and the life” [John 11:25]. . . . So, Christ himself, together with the Father, is the God of the living—the one who spoke to Moses and who was also manifested to the fathers. (4:5,2)

And that is what he taught to the Jews: “Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad” [John 8:56]. What was intended? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness” [Rom 4:3]. In the first place, he believed that God was the maker of heaven and earth, the only God; and secondly, he believed that God would make his seed as numerous as the stars in heaven. (Paul alludes to this when he says, “like stars in the world” [Phil 2:15].) So, leaving his earthly kindred, he righteously followed the Word of God, living as a pilgrim with the Word, so that he might have his abode with the Word. (4:5,3)

Righteously also the apostles, who were descended from Abraham, left the ship and their father and followed the Word [Mark 1:20]. Righteously also do we, possessing the same faith as Abraham and taking up the cross as Isaac did the wood [Gen 22:6], follow him. For in Abraham humankind had learned beforehand and had been accustomed to follow the Word of God. According to his faith, Abraham followed the command of the Word of God, and willingly offered his only-begotten and beloved son as a sacrifice to God, in order that God also might be pleased to offer up for all his seed his own beloved and only-begotten Son as a sacrifice for our redemption. (4:5,4)

Since, therefore, Abraham was a prophet and by the Spirit saw the day of the Lord’s coming and the dispensation of his suffering—through whom he himself and all who, following the example of his faith, trust in God, would be saved—he rejoiced greatly. So, the Lord was certainly not unknown to Abraham, for he desired to see his day [John 8:56]; neither was the Lord’s Father unknown to him, for he had learned from the Word of the Lord and believed him. This was accounted to him by the Lord for righteousness. Faith towards God justifies one. . . . (4:5,5)

The Lord, who revealed to his disciples that he himself is the Word who grants knowledge of the Father, and who reproved the Jews who imagined that they had God but nevertheless rejected his Word, through whom God is made known, declared: “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” [Matt 11:27; cf. Luke 10:22]. This is the way Matthew put it; Luke and Mark do so in similar words; John omits this passage. The heretics, however, who would be wiser than the apostles, explain the verse . . . as if the true God were known to no one before our Lord’s advent, and that the God who was announced by the prophets was not the Father of Christ. (4:6,1)

But if Christ only began to have existence when he came into the world as human, and if the Father only remembered to provide for human beings’ needs in the time of Tiberius Caesar, and if his Word has not always coexisted with his creatures, then it was not necessary for another God to be proclaimed; instead, the reasons for such great carelessness and neglect on his part should be made the subject of investigation. No question like that should even arise and gather enough force both to alter God and destroy our faith in the creator who supports us through his creation. For as we direct our faith towards the Son, so also should we possess a firm and immoveable love towards the Father. . . . (4:6,2)

No one can know the Father unless the Son reveals him; neither can anyone know the Son, except by the good pleasure of the Father. But the Son accomplishes the good pleasure of the Father, for the Father sends and the Son is sent. The Word knows, as far as regards us, that his Father is invisible and infinite. Since he cannot be declared by anyone else, he himself declares him to us; on the other hand, it is the Father alone who knows his own Word. Our Lord declared both these truths. So, the Son reveals the knowledge of the Father through his own manifestation: indeed, this constitutes the knowledge of the Father, for all things are made known through the Word. Therefore, so that we might know that the Son who came is the one who grants to those who believe in him a knowledge of the Father, he said to his disciples, “No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” [Matt 11:27]. In this way, he presented himself and the Father, so that we may not receive any other Father except the one who is revealed by the Son. (4:6,3)

. . . The Lord taught us that no one is capable of knowing God, unless that person is taught by God; that is, God cannot be known without God. And this is the express will of the Father, that God should be known. For those to whom the Son has revealed him will know him. (4:6,4)

This is why the Father revealed the Son, that through him he might be manifested to all and might receive into incorruption and everlasting enjoyment the righteous ones who believe in him. To believe in him is to do his will. But those who do not believe and consequently avoid his light he will righteously shut out into the darkness which they have chosen for themselves. So, the Father has revealed himself to all by making his Word visible to all; conversely, the Word has declared the Father and the Son to all, since he has become visible to all. Therefore the righteous judgment of God will fall upon all who like others have seen but unlike others have not believed. (4:6,5)

The Word reveals God the creator through the creation itself: through the world he declares the Lord the maker of the world, through the formation of man the artificer who formed him, and through the Son the Father who begat the Son. All these things address all people in the same manner, but all do not in the same way believe them. By the law and the prophets the Word preached both himself and the Father to all; all the people heard him alike, but all did not alike believe. And the Father was shown forth through the Word himself who had been made visible and palpable, although all did not equally believe in him, even though all saw the Father in the Son—for the Father is the invisible of the Son, but the Son the visible of the Father. . . . Even the demons, on beholding the Son, exclaimed: “We know who you are, the Holy One of God” [cf. Mark 1:24]; the devil himself, looking at him and tempting him, said, “If you are the Son of God” [Matt 4:3; Luke 4:3]. All of these saw and spoke about the Son and the Father, but they all did not believe. (4:6,6)

It was fitting that the truth receive testimony from all and should thus become a means of judgment for the salvation of those who believe, but for the condemnation of those who do not believe. In this way, all will be fairly judged, and faith in the Father and Son will be established by all as the one means of salvation, receiving testimony from all—both from those belonging to it as its friends, and from those who have no connection with it as its enemies. That evidence is true and cannot be rejected which elicits even from its adversaries striking testimonies in its behalf, for they are convicted regarding the matter in hand by their own plain contemplation of it and what they have said about it. . . .

The Son, administering all things for the Father, works from the beginning of creation to the end of time. Without him no one can attain the knowledge of God. The Son is the knowledge of the Father, but the knowledge of the Son is in the Father and has been revealed through the Son. This was the reason why the Lord declared, “No one knows the Father except the Son, and no one knows the Son except the Father and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” [Matt 11:27]. “Chooses to reveal” refers not to the future alone, as if the Word had only begun to manifest the Father when he was born of Mary; rather, it applies throughout all time. The Son, present with his handiwork from the beginning, reveals the Father to all—to whom he wills, and when he wills, and as the Father wills. So, in all things and through all things, there is one God the Father, one Word the Son, and one Spirit—and one salvation for all who believe in Him. (4:6,7)

Abraham also, knowing the Father through the Word who made heaven and earth, confessed him to be God. When it was announced to him that the Son of God would be a man among men, by whose advent his seed would become as numerous as the stars of heaven, Abraham desired to see that day [John 8:56], so that he himself might also embrace Christ. Seeing it through the Spirit of prophecy, he rejoiced [Gen 17:17]. Simeon also, one of his descendants, completed the rejoicing of the patriarch and said, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel” [Luke 2:29–32]. The angels similarly announced tidings of great joy to the shepherds who were keeping watch by night [Luke 2:8–13]. Moreover, Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” [Luke 1:46–47]. Thus the rejoicing of Abraham descended on those descended from him—on those who were watching, beheld Christ, and believed in him. There was also reciprocal rejoicing which passed backwards from his descendants to Abraham, who desired to see the day of Christ’s coming. This is why our Lord testified of him, saying, “Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad” [John 8:56]. (4:7,1)

He said these things not only about Abraham, but also to show how all those who have known God from the beginning and have foretold the advent of Christ have received the revelation from the Son himself—who in the last times was made visible and passible, and spoke with the human race, so that he might raise up children for Abraham from the stones and fulfil the promise God gave him to make his descendants as numerous as the stars in heaven [Gen 15:5]. This is what John the Baptist meant when he said, “God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham” [Matt 3:9]. Indeed, this is what Jesus did: he drew us away from the religion of stones [idols] and from difficult and fruitless arguments, establishing in us instead a faith like Abraham’s. As Paul testifies, we are children of Abraham through faith and so receive the promised inheritance [Gal 3:7, 29] (4:7,2)

This is one and the same God, who called Abraham and gave him the promise. But he is the creator, who through Christ also prepares lights in the world—that is, those who believe from among the Gentiles. And he says, “You are the light of the world” [Matt 5:14], like the stars in heaven. . . . But the Son reveals the Father to all those to whom he chooses to make him known, and neither without the goodwill of the Father nor without the agency of the Son can anyone know God. Therefore the Lord said to His disciples, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him” [John 14:6–7]. From these words it is evident that he is known by the Son—that is, by the Word. (4:7,3)

. . . Through Jesus Christ, God introduces to the kingdom of heaven both Abraham and his seed—that is, the Church [Gal 3:29], upon whom he confers adoption and the inheritance promised to Abraham [Gal 4:4–7]. (4:8,1)

The Lord vindicated Abraham’s posterity by delivering them from bondage and calling them to salvation. . . . Both at Siloam and on frequent subsequent occasions he performed cures on the Sabbath, and for this reason many used to seek him out on the Sabbath days. The law commanded them to abstain from every servile work—that is, from all grasping after wealth which is procured by trading and by other worldly business—but it exhorted them to attend to the exercises of the soul (which consist in reflection) and the instruction that would enable them to serve their neighbors’ benefit. This is why the Lord reproved those who unjustly blamed him for healing on the Sabbath days [Matt 12:1–13], since he did not violate but fulfilled the law by performing the work of a high priest, propitiating God for human beings, cleansing lepers, healing the sick, and himself suffering death, so that exiled humanity might escape condemnation and return without fear to its inheritance. (4:8,2)

. . . All who are righteous possess the sacerdotal rank [1 Pet 2:9], and all the apostles of the Lord are priests, who inherit here neither lands nor houses, but serve God and the altar continually. . . . Indeed, who were the ones who left father and mother and bid farewell to all their neighbors for the sake of the Word of God and his covenant, if not the disciples of the Lord? Moses said that the priests would not have any inheritance, because the Lord himself would be their inheritance [Num 18:20]. . . . The priests in the temple profaned the Sabbath, but they were blameless. Why, though, were they blameless? Because in the temple they were not engaged in secular affairs but in the service of the Lord, fulfilling the law but not going beyond it. . . . (4:8,3)

All this fits together because it comes from one and the same God. The Lord himself said to the disciples, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old” [Matt 13:52]. He did not teach that one who brings out the old was one person but the one who brings out the new is another; they were one and the same. For the Lord is the steward of the house, who rules the entire house of his Father and delivers a law suited both to slaves and to those as yet undisciplined. He gives appropriate directives to those who are free and have been justified by faith; he also throws his own inheritance open to those who are sons and daughters. He called his disciples “scribes” and “teachers of the kingdom of heaven”. . . .

By the things old and new which are brought out of the treasure, he means the two covenants: the old one was the giving of the law which took place formerly; he points out as the new the manner of life required by the gospel. David said about that, “Sing to the LORD a new song” [Ps 96:1]; and Isaiah urged, “Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the end of the earth! Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants” [Isa 42:10]. Jeremiah says, “I will make a new covenant . . . , not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors” [Jer 31:31, 32] in Mount Horeb. One and the same householder produced both covenants—the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who spoke with both Abraham and Moses, has restored us anew to liberty, and has multiplied that grace which comes from himself. (4:9,1)

He declares, “Something greater than the temple is here” [Matt 12:6]. “Greater” and “less” are not applied to things which have nothing in common, are opposed to each other, and are mutually repugnant; they are used in the case of things of the same substance which possess common properties, but differ in number and size—such as water from water, light from light, and grace from grace. “Greater,” therefore, is the legislation which has been given for liberty than that given for bondage; it has also been diffused, not just through one nation, but over the whole world. For one and the same Lord, who is greater than the temple, greater than Solomon, and greater than Jonah, confers gifts upon humanity—his own presence and the resurrection from the dead. . . .

Paul declares, “Not that I have already obtained this or have already been made perfect. We know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end” [Phil 3:12; 1 Cor 13:9–10]. When the complete comes, we will not see some other Father: we will see him whom we now desire to see (for “blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” [Matt 5:8]). Neither will we look for another Christ and Son of God, but for the one of the virgin Mary, the one who suffered, in whom we trust, and whom we love—as Isaiah says, “It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation” [Isa 25:9]; and Peter says in his letter, “Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy” [1 Pet 1:8]. We will not receive some other Holy Spirit than the one who is with us and who cries, “Abba, Father” [Rom 8:15]. We will grow in what we have now and will advance, and we will enjoy the gifts of God, no longer through a glass or by means of enigmas, but face to face. . . . (4:9,2)

The new covenant was known and preached by the prophets, who also proclaimed the one who was to bring it to pass through the good pleasure of the Father. These things had been revealed to them according to God’s will, so that they might advance in believing in him and, through the successive covenants, should gradually attain to perfect salvation. For there is one salvation and one God, but the precepts which form humanity are numerous, and the steps which lead to God are not a few. It is allowable for an earthly and temporal king, even though he is only a human being, to grant to his subjects greater advantages at times: shall this not be lawful for God, since he is always the same, always willing to confer a greater degree of grace upon the human race, and to honor continually with many gifts those who please him? . . . (4:9,3)

What John records of the Lord speaking to the Jews fits with this: “You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life” [John 5:39–40]. How did the Scriptures testify of him, unless they were from one and the same Father, instructing humankind beforehand about the advent of his Son and foretelling the salvation he would bring? “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me” [John 5:46]: by this he indicated that the Son of God is implanted everywhere throughout his writings—at one point speaking with Abraham, when about to eat with him; at another Noah, giving him the dimensions of the ark; at another, inquiring after Adam; at another, bringing down judgment upon the Sodomites; when he became visible and directed Jacob on his journey; and when he spoke with Moses from the bush. Indeed, it would be endless to recount the occasions when the Son of God was shown forth by Moses. Of his coming passion, too, Moses was not ignorant: he foretold him figuratively by the name given to the Passover; at that very festival, proclaimed such a long time previously by Moses, our Lord suffered, thus fulfilling the Passover. Moses not only wrote about the day, but also the place and the time of day when the sufferings would cease—by the setting of the sun: “You are not permitted to offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you. But at the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his name, only there shall you offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset” [Deut 16:5–6]. (4:10,1)

. . . When chiding the ingratitude of the people, Moses said, “Do you thus repay the LORD, O foolish and senseless people?” [Deut 32:6]. He indicates that the one who established and created them from the beginning, the Word who also redeems us and gives us life in the last times, was to hang on a tree, but they would not believe on him: he said, “Your life shall hang in doubt before you; night and day you shall be in dread, with no assurance of your life” [Deut 28:66], and “Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?” [Deut 32:6]. (4:10,2)

Not only the prophets, but many righteous people, foreseeing his advent through the Holy Spirit, prayed to attain that period in which they might see their Lord face to face and hear his words. The Lord made this clear when he said to his disciples, “Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it” [Matt 13:17]. In what way did they thus desire to hear and to see, unless they had foreknowledge of his future advent? But how could they have foreknown it, unless they had previously received foreknowledge from himself? And how do the Scriptures testify of him, unless everything that had ever been revealed and shown to believers came from one and the same God through the Word? . . . (4:11,1)

In this respect God differs from humans, in that God makes but humans are made. He who makes is always the same; but that which is made must receive beginning, middle, addition, and increase. And God creates in a skillful manner, while humans are created skillfully. God also is perfect in all things, equal and similar to himself, since he is all light, all mind, all substance, and the fount of all good; but human beings receive advancement and increase towards God. As God is always the same, so also humans, when found in God, will always go on towards God. God never stops conferring benefits upon and enriching humankind, and humanity never ceases to receive those benefits and to be enriched by God. The receptacle of his goodness and the instrument of his glorification is the person who is grateful to him who made him, but the receptacle of his righteous judgment is the ungrateful person, who despises his maker and is not subject to his Word. . . . (4:11,2)

. . . The Lord remains the same, and the same Father is revealed. By his advent, one and the same Lord granted a greater gift of grace to those of a later period than what he had granted to those under the Old Testament dispensation. For they indeed used to hear, by means of his servants, that the king would come, and they rejoiced to a certain extent, since they hoped for his coming. But those who have beheld him actually present have obtained liberty and have partaken of his gifts; they possess a greater amount of grace and a higher degree of exultation, rejoicing because of the king’s arrival. . . . (4:11,3)

. . . He has brought down liberty to those who serve him lawfully and willingly, with all their hearts. But to scoffers and those not subject to God, who follow outward purifications for the praise of other humans (following observances which had been given as a type of future things, since the law typified certain things as a shadow, delineating eternal things by temporal and celestial by terrestrial), and to those who pretend that they observe more than what has been prescribed (as if preferring their own zeal to God himself, although they are full of hypocrisy, covetousness, and all wickedness), he has assigned everlasting perdition by cutting them off from life. (4:11,4)

In both the law and the gospel, the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord God with the whole heart, and then there follows a commandment like it, to love one’s neighbor as oneself [Deut 6:5; Lev 19:18; Matt 22:37–40]; in this, the author of the law and the gospel is shown to be one and the same. The precepts of an absolutely perfect life, since they are the same in each testament, have pointed out the same God, who promulgated particular laws adapted for each. The more prominent and greatest, though, without which salvation cannot be attained, he has presented in both. (4:12,3)

. . . Isaiah says, “These people draw near me with their mouths and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote” [Isa 29:13]. He does not call the law given by Moses “human commandments”—by that he intended the traditions which the elders had invented and which, when observed, ended up making the law of God of no effect [Mark 7:13], so that they were not submissive to his Word. This is what Paul says concerning these people: “Being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” [Rom 10:3–4]. And how is Christ the end of the law, if he was not also the one in whom it finds its meaning? The one who brought in the end has also worked the beginning. . . . (4:12,4)

The Lord tells us that he did not abrogate the law known by nature, by which one can be justified [Rom 2:27]—that law by which those who were justified by faith and who pleased God observed before the law was given (through Moses)—but that he extended and fulfilled it: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” [Matt 5:27–28]. And again, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’. . . . But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment” [Matt 5:21–22]. And, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely’. . . . But I say to you, Do not swear at all. . . . Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’” [Matt 5:33, 34, 37]. He makes other statements like these.

These do not contain or imply an opposition to or an overturning of the precepts of the past, as Marcion’s followers strenuously maintain; rather, they proclaim a fulfillment and an extension of them, as he himself declares: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” [Matt 5:20]. What is meant by this “exceeding”? In the first place, we must believe not only in the Father, but also in his Son now revealed; he is the one who leads humankind into fellowship and unity with God. In the next place, we must not only say, but we must do; for they said, but did not. And we must not only abstain from evil deeds, but even from desires for them. He did not teach us all this as something opposed to the law, but as its fulfillment, something which would implant the manifold righteousness of the law within us. It would have been contrary to the law if he had instructed his disciples to do anything which the law prohibited. What he commanded—not only to abstain from things forbidden by the law, but even from yearning for them—is not contrary to the law or the utterance of someone destroying the law, but of one fulfilling, extending, and affording greater scope to it. (4:13,1)

The law, since it was laid down for those in bondage, instructed by means of physical objects of an external nature, thus drawing souls to obey the commandments by a bond, so that people might learn to serve God. But the Word set the soul free and taught that through it the body should be willingly purified. With this accomplished, it followed as a matter of course that the bonds of slavery to which human beings had by then become accustomed were removed, and that they should follow God without fetters. With this, the laws of liberty were appropriately extended and subjection to the king increased, so that no one who is converted would appear unworthy to him who set him free, but that the piety and obedience due to the master of the household should be rendered by servants and children alike. . . . (4:13,2)

This is why the Lord forbade lust in place of the commandment, “You shall not commit adultery” and prohibited anger in place of “You shall not commit murder.” As well, in place of the requirement to give a tithe, he commanded us to share all our possessions with the poor [Matt 19:21]; and not to love our neighbors only, but even our enemies [Matt 5:43–44]. Further, he called us to be liberal in our giving, even presenting gratuitous gifts to those who would take away our goods: “From anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. . . . If anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you” [Luke 6:29–31]. So, we should not grieve like those who are unwilling to be defrauded, but should even rejoice as those who have given willingly, since we have conferred a favor on our neighbors instead of just yielding to necessity. Moreover, he said, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile” [Matt 5:41]; if you do this, you are not following him like a slave but accompanying him as someone free, thus showing yourself kindly disposed and useful to your neighbor—not regarding their evil intentions, but performing your kind offices, thus becoming more like the Father who “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous” [Matt 5:45].

All these instructions were not the commandments of someone abrogating the law, but of one fulfilling, extending, and widening it among us. It is as if one said that a much wider grant of liberty implants within us a greater subjection to and affection for our liberator. He did not set us free so that we should depart from him, . . . but that the more we receive his grace, the more we should love him. . . . (4:13,3)

. . . To submit to God and follow his Word, to love him above all and one’s neighbor as oneself, and to abstain from everything evil, and all other similar commands are common to both covenants and reveal one and the same God. Our Lord, the Word of God, in the first instance drew slaves to God, but afterwards he freed those who were subject to him, as he himself declared to his disciples: “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father” [John 15:15]. When he said, “I do not call you servants any longer,” he indicated in the most marked manner that he was the one who had originally established human bondage in respect to God through the law, but who later granted them freedom. When he said, “The servant does not know what the master is doing,” he points out, by referring to his own advent, the ignorance of those who are in a servile condition. But when he calls his disciples “friends,” he clearly shows himself as the Word of God, whom Abraham followed voluntarily, without compulsion, in his noble faith and so became “the friend of God” [Jas 2:23]. The Word of God did not accept the friendship of Abraham as if he needed it, for he was perfect from the beginning—he said, “Before Abraham was,‘I am’” [John 8:58]). Rather, he accepted it so that in his goodness he might grant eternal life to Abraham, for friendship with God imparts immortality to those who embrace it. (4:13,4)

In the beginning, God formed Adam, not as if he needed humanity, but so that he might have someone upon whom to confer his benefits. Not only before Adam, but even before all the rest of creation, the Word glorified his Father, remaining in him—and he himself was glorified by the Father, as he later indicated when he prayed, “Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed” [John 17:5]. He did not need our service when he ordered us to follow him, but in this way he granted us salvation—for to follow the savior is to be a partaker of salvation, and to follow light is to receive light.

Those who are in light do not themselves illumine the light; they are illumined and revealed by it. They certainly contribute nothing to it; rather, receiving the benefit, they are illumined by the light. So also the service we render to God profits him nothing, and God does not need our obedience. He grants life and incorruption and eternal glory to those who follow and serve him, bestowing benefits on those who serve him because they serve him and on his followers because they follow him. He does not receive any benefit from them, though, for he is rich, perfect, and in need of nothing. The reason God demands service from human beings is so that, since he is good and merciful, he may benefit those who continue in his service. While God needs nothing, humans need fellowship with God, and this is the glory of a human being, to continue and remain permanently in God’s service. The Lord said to his disciples, “You did not choose me but I chose you” [John 15:16]. This indicates that they did not glorify him when they followed him, but that in following the Son of God they were glorified by him. This is also why he prayed to his Father, “I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory” [John 17:24]; in this he did not vainly boast, for he desired his disciples to share in his glory. . . . (4:14,1)

The munificence of God is also the reason God formed humanity in the beginning: he chose the patriarchs for salvation; he prepared a people ahead of time, teaching the willful to follow God; he raised up prophets upon earth, so as to accustom human beings to bear his Spirit and to have communion with God—needing nothing himself, but granting communion with himself to those needed it; and he sketched out, like an architect, the plan of salvation for those who pleased him. He himself furnished guidance to those who did not behold him in Egypt, while to those who became unruly in the desert he promulgated a suitable law. Then he granted a noble inheritance to the people who entered into the good land, and he killed the fatted calf for those who turned to the Father, and presented them with the finest robe [Luke 15:22–23]. Thus, in a variety of ways, he prepared the human race to agree to salvation. . . . (4:14,2)

He also thus had the Jewish people construct the tabernacle and build the temple, chose the Levites and appointed sacrifices, offerings, legal admonitions, and all the other service of the law. He certainly needs none of these things, for he is always full of all good and already had within himself all the odor of kindness and every perfume of sweet-smelling savors, long before Moses even existed. Furthermore, by repeated appeals he instructed the people who were prone to turn to idols instead to persevere and serve God. In all this, he called them to what is of primary importance through those which are secondary—that is, to things that are real, by means of those that are typical; by things temporal, to eternal; by the carnal to the spiritual; and by the earthly to the heavenly. This was the reason he said to Moses, “See that you make them according to the pattern of what was shown you on the mountain” [Exod 25:40]. . . . (4:14,3)

So, the Jews had a law, a course of discipline, and a prophecy of future things. At first, God warned them through natural precepts, which he had implanted in humankind from the beginning (that is, the Decalogue—which if any one does not observe, that person has no salvation), imposing no other demands on them. As Moses said in Deuteronomy, “These words the Lord spoke . . . to your whole assembly at the mountain . . . , and he added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me” (Deut 5:22). . . . (4:15,1)

Not only that, the Lord also showed that certain precepts were enacted for them by Moses because of their hardness of heart and their unwillingness to be obedient. When they challenged him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?” He answered them, “It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so” [Matt 19:7–8]. . . .

Even in the New Testament, the apostles ended up granting certain concessions out of consideration for human weakness because of the inability of some to control themselves [cf. 1 Cor 7:1–6], lest becoming stubborn and coming to despair altogether of their salvation, they should apostatize from God. So, it should occasion no surprise if in the Old Testament the same God permitted similar indulgences for the sake of his people, drawing them on by the ordinances already mentioned, so that they might obtain the gift of salvation through them—while they obeyed the Decalogue and, restrained by him, did not revert to idolatry nor apostatize from God, but learned to love him with the whole heart. . . . (4:15,2)

Furthermore, we learn from Scripture itself that God gave circumcision, not as the fulfillment of righteousness, but as a sign of it, so that the race of Abraham might continue recognizable: God said to Abraham, “Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you” [Gen 17:10–11]. Ezekiel the prophet said the same with regard to the Sabbaths: “I gave them my sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, so that they might know that I the LORD sanctify them” [Ezek 20:12]. And in Exodus, God said to Moses, “You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations” [Exod 31:13].

These things were all given as signs, but these signs were not empty; they had meaning and purpose, since they were given by a wise artist. Circumcision in the flesh typified the circumcision after the Spirit: the apostle said, “You were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision” [Col 2:11], and the prophet declared, “Circumcise your hard heart” [Deut 10:16 LXX]. The sabbaths taught that we should be steadfast in God’s service every day: the apostle Paul said, “All day long we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered” [Rom 8:36]—that is, we are consecrated to God, ministering continually to our faith and persevering in it, abstaining from all love of money and not seeking treasures upon earth [Matt 6:19]. Moreover, the sabbath of God—that is, the kingdom—was, as it were, indicated by created things; in that kingdom, the one who will have persevered in serving God will enjoy a state of rest and partake of God’s table. (4:16,1)

No one was justified by these things; rather, they were given as signs to the people. Abraham’s case shows that, for he had not yet received circumcision and was offering no sabbath observance, but he “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God” [Jas 2:23]. Similarly, Lot was not circumcised, but he was brought out of Sodom, receiving salvation from God. So also Noah pleased God although he was uncircumcised, and he received the dimensions of the ark, resulting in the world of the second race of humanity. Enoch too, pleasing God without circumcision, discharged the office of God’s spokesperson to the angels although he was a man: he was translated and is being preserved until now as a witness of the righteous judgment of God, for the angels who transgressed fell to the earth in judgment, but this man who pleased God was translated for salvation[1 Enoch 6–7, 12–131]. . . . (4:16,2)

Why did not the Lord form the covenant for the fathers? Because “the law is laid down not for the innocent” [1 Tim 1:9], but the righteous fathers already had the meaning of the Decalogue written in their hearts and souls. They loved the God who made them, and did no injury to their neighbor. . . . But when this righteousness and love to God had passed into oblivion and became extinct in Egypt, out of his great goodwill toward humankind, God revealed himself by a voice and powerfully led the people out of Egypt, so that human beings might again become disciples and followers of God. He punished those who were disobedient, so that they would not despise their creator. . . . And the Word of God through Moses commanded love to God and taught just dealing with our neighbor. He did this so that we should neither be unjust nor unworthy of God, who prepares humankind for his friendship and for agreement with neighbors by the Decalogue. By this, humanity benefitted greatly, but God did not; he did not need anything from humankind. (4:16,3)

That is why Scripture says, “These words the Lord spoke with a loud voice to your whole assembly . . . , and he added no more” [Deut 5:22]: as I have already observed about this, he needed nothing from them. Again, Moses says, “So now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? Only to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” [Deut 10:12]. These things indeed made humankind glorious, by supplying what they needed—namely, God’s friendship; but they did not profit God at all, since he did not need humanity’s love. The only way humans could enjoy the glory of God was by serving him; therefore, Moses said to them again, “Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days” [Deut 30:19–20]. Preparing human beings for this life, the Lord himself spoke the words of the Decalogue to all of them. In similar manner, they remain permanently with us, since they are extended and increased, but not abrogated, by his advent in the flesh. (4:16,4)

However, the laws of bondage were promulgated one by one to the people by Moses; they were directed for their instruction or for their punishment, as Moses himself declared: “And the LORD charged me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances” [Deut 4:14]. These things, given for bondage and for a sign to them, he cancelled by the new covenant of liberty. But he has increased and widened those laws which are natural, noble, and common to all. Further, he has abundantly and ungrudgingly granted humankind to know God as Father by adoption, to love him with the whole heart, and to follow his word unswervingly, while they abstain not only from evil deeds, but even from the desire after them. . . . We must remember that we will give account to God not only of our deeds, as if we were slaves, but also of our words and thoughts [Matt 12:36], as those who have truly received the power of liberty, in which one is more severely tested, to see whether he will respect, fear, and love the Lord. And for this reason Peter says that we must not use our freedom as a cover for evil [1 Pet 2:16], but to examine and show faith. (4:16,5)

Moreover, the prophets abundantly indicate that God did not need slavish obedience, but that it was for their benefit that he enjoined certain observances in the law. And the Lord clearly taught that God did not need their sacrifices but called for them in order to benefit the one who offers them, as I have pointed out. When he saw them neglecting righteousness, failing to love God, and imagining that God could be propitiated by sacrifices and the other typical observances, Samuel spoke to them: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams” [1 Sam 15:22]. David also said, “Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required” [Ps 40:6]. He thus teaches them that God desires obedience, which renders them secure, rather than sacrifices and offerings, which will not make them righteous; thus he also prophesies the new covenant at the same time. He speaks even more clearly of these things: “For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” [Ps 51:16–17].

Since God needs nothing, he declares in the preceding Psalm: “I will not accept a bull from your house, or goats from your folds. For every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and all that is in it is mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?” [Ps 50:9–12]. Then, so that no one might conclude that in his anger he refuses these things, he continues: “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” [Ps 50:14–15]. With these words he rejects those things by which sinners imagined they could propitiate God and shows that he needs nothing, but he encourages and advises those things through which one can be justified and draw near to God.

Isaiah says the same: “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough” [Isa 1:11]. And when he had repudiated burnt offerings, sacrifices, and oblations, as well as observances of new moons, sabbaths, festivals, and all the services accompanying these, he called them to be concerned with the things that relate to salvation: “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, let us argue it out, says the LORD” [Isa 1:16–18]. (4:17,1)

It was not because, like a mere man, he was angry (as many dare to say) that he rejected their sacrifices; rather, he did so out of compassion for their blindness, and with a view to pointing them to the true sacrifice, by offering which they would appease God and thus receive life from him. Elsewhere he also declared, “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” [Ps 51:19]. If he had repudiated these sacrifices of theirs because he was angry, as if they were persons unworthy to obtain his compassion, he certainly would not have urged these same things upon them as the way by which they could be saved. But since God is merciful, he did not fail to give them good counsel. For after he had said by Jeremiah, “Of what use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me” [Jer 6:20], he went on to say, “Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, and let me dwell with you in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words, ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD’” [Jer 7:2–3]. (4:17,2)

Again, he points out that he had not led them out of Egypt so that they might offer sacrifice to him, but that, forgetting the idolatry of the Egyptians, they should be able to hear the voice of the Lord, which would be their salvation and glory. This he declared by Jeremiah: “Thus says the LORD, Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to them or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them, ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk only in the way that I command you, so that it may be well with you.’ Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but, in the stubbornness of their evil will, they walked in their own counsels, and looked backward rather than forward” [Jer 7:21–24]. He also declared through the same man: “But let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the LORD; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth” [Jer 9:24]. Immediately after this, he explained: “For in these things I delight, says the LORD”—but not in sacrifices, or in burnt offerings, or in oblations. The people did not receive these precepts as of primary importance, but as secondary, and for the reason already alleged, as Isaiah also says, “You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense. You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities” [Isa 43:23–24]. He says, therefore, “This is the one to whom I will look, to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at my word” [Isa 66:2]. . . . “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am’” [Isa 58:6–9].

From among the twelve prophets, Zechariah also pointed out to the people the will of God: “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another” [Zech 7:9–10]. He said further, “These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace, do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, says the LORD” [Zech 8:16–17]. Moreover, David said similarly, “Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it” [Ps 34:12–14]. (4:17,3)

From all this it is clear that God did not seek sacrifices and burnt offerings from them, but faith and obedience and righteousness, all for their salvation. When teaching them his will in Hosea the prophet, God said, “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings” [Hos 6:6]. Besides this, our Lord exhorted them to the same effect when he said, “But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless” [Matt 12:7]. Thus he testifies that the prophets preached the truth, but he accuses those who heard him of being foolish through their own fault. (4:17,4)

He also directed his disciples to offer God the first-fruits of what he had made—again, not as if he needed them, but so that the disciples might themselves be neither unfruitful nor ungrateful—when he took a created thing, bread, and gave thanks, and said, “This is my body” [Matt 26:26]. He took the cup, which is also part of the creation to which we belong, acknowledged it as his blood, and taught the new oblation of the new covenant—which the Church has received from the apostles and offers to God throughout all the world, who gives us the first-fruits of his own gifts in the New Testament to sustain us. From among the twelve prophets, Malachi prophesied about this: “I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hands. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts” [Mal 1:10–11]. In the plainest manner this indicates that the former people [the Jews] would cease to make offerings to God, but that in every place a pure sacrifice would be offered to him, and that his name would be glorified among the nations. (4:17,5)

But what other name is there which is glorified among the Gentiles than that of our Lord, by whom both the Father and humanity are glorified? Since it is the name of his own Son, whom he made human, he calls it his own. . . . Thus the Father confesses the name of Jesus Christ, which is glorified in the Church throughout all the world, to be his own, since it belongs to his Son, and also because the one who thus uses it gave him for the salvation of humankind. So, since the name of the Son belongs to the Father, and since in the omnipotent God the Church makes offerings through Jesus Christ, he appropriately declares, “And in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering.” Now John, in the Apocalypse, declares that the incense is “the prayers of the saints” [Rev 5:8]. (4:17,6)

The oblation of the Church, which the Lord gave instructions to be offered throughout all the world, is accounted with God a pure sacrifice and is acceptable to him—again, not that he needs a sacrifice from us, but so that the one who offers may be glorified in what he offers, if his gift is accepted. By the gift both honor and affection are shown forth towards the king. . . . (4:18,1)

Oblations, as a class in general, have not been set aside, for there were both oblations among the Jews and there are oblations among the Christians. The Jews had sacrifices; so does the Church. However, the species has been changed, since the offering is now made by freemen, not slaves. The Lord is always one and the same; however, the character of a servile oblation is different from that of freemen, so that the very oblations might indicate the liberty now granted. With him nothing is without purpose or signification or design. This is why the Jews consecrated the tithes of their goods to him; whereas those who have received liberty set aside all their possessions for the Lord’s purposes, bestowing joyfully and freely the valuable portions of their property, since they expect to receive better things hereafter, like the poor widow who cast all her living into the treasury of God [Luke 21:4]. (4:18,2)

In the beginning God respected the gifts of Abel, because he offered them with singlemindedness and righteousness, but he had no respect for Cain’s offering [Gen 4:4–5], because his heart was divided by the envy and malice which he cherished against his brother. This was shown when God reproved his hidden thoughts, “If you do well, will you not be accepted?” [Gen 4:7]. God is not appeased by sacrifice. If any one tries to offer a sacrifice as an outward show, unexceptionably, in due order, and according to regulation, but in his soul does not grant his neighbor the fellowship which is right and proper, and he is not under the fear of God—one who thus cherishes secret sin does not deceive God by the sacrifice which is offered correctly in outward appearance, nor will such an oblation profit him anything. Instead, that one must give up the evil which he has conceived within himself, so that sin may not, by his hypocritical action, make him his own destroyer. For this reason the Lord also declared, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” [Matt 23:27–28]. As far as outward appearance went, they seemed to offer correctly, but within themselves they had jealousy like Cain’s. That is why they killed the righteous one, dismissing the counsel of the Word, as Cain did.

Consequently, sacrifices do not sanctify anyone, for God does not need sacrifice. What moves God to accept an offering is the conscience of the offerer, which sanctifies the sacrifice when it is pure. But he says, “Whoever sacrifices a lamb [is] like one who breaks a dog’s neck” [Isa 66:3]. (4:18,3)

But since the Church offers with singlemindedness, her gift is appropriately reckoned a pure sacrifice by God. . . . It is indeed right for us to make an oblation to God, and in all things to be grateful to God our maker—in a pure mind, in faith without hypocrisy, in well-grounded hope, and in fervent love, offering the first-fruits of his own created things. Only the Church offers this pure oblation to the creator, offering to him, with thanksgiving, the things taken from his creation. . . . (4:18,4)

. . . Our view accords with the Eucharist, which in turn establishes our view. For we offer him his own, faithfully proclaiming the fellowship and union of flesh and Spirit. For as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread, but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly, so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, since they now have the hope of the resurrection to eternity. (4:18,5)

So we make offering to him, not as if he needed it, but rendering thanks for his gift and thus sanctifying what has been created. For while God does not need our possessions, we need to offer something to God. Solomon said, “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and will be repaid in full” [Prov 19:17]: God, who needs nothing, takes our good works to himself so that he may grant us a reward out of his abundant goodness. Our Lord says in this regard, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me” [Matt 25:34–36]. . . . (4:18,6)

As Scripture itself suggests, one may justly ask the heretics, How high above God do you lift up your imaginations, you rashly elated people? You have heard that the heavens are measured in the palm of his hand [Isa 40:12]: tell me the measure, and recount the endless number of cubits, explain to me the fulness—the breadth, length, height, beginning and end of the measurement. The human mind cannot understand or comprehend them, for the heavenly treasuries are great. God cannot be measured in the heart, and he is incomprehensible by the mind; he holds the earth in the hollow of his hand. Who can measure his right hand? Who even knows his finger? Who understands his hand—that hand which encompasses immensity; that hand which, by its own measure, spreads out the whole of the heavens and which enfolds the earth with all its abysses in its palm? . . . God is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named” [Eph 1:21] of all the things which have been created and established. And this one, who fills the heavens and views the abysses, is also present with every one of us: he says, “Am I a God near by, says the LORD, and not a God far off? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” [Jer 23:23]. . . . (4:19,2)

But if no human being can comprehend the fulness and the greatness of his hand, how will anyone be able to understand or know in his heart so great a God? . . . It is clear to all that no one can fully declare the goodness of God from the things he has made. And that his greatness is not defective, but contains all things, and extends even to us, and is with us, everyone who entertains worthy conceptions of God will confess. (4:19,3)

As to his greatness, it is not possible to know God, for it is impossible to measure the Father; but as to his love, which is what leads us to God by his Word when we obey him, we always learn that there is so great a God, and that he himself established, selected, adorned, and contains all things—including us and our world. We were made, along with those things which are contained by him. He is the one who Scripture says formed humankind by taking clay of the earth and breathing into his face the breath of life [Gen 2:7]. It was not angels who made or formed us; neither angels nor anything else had the power to make an image of God, except the Word of the Lord. God did not need their assistance to do what he had already determined to do, as if he needed hands. With him the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, were always present, by whom and in whom he freely and spontaneously made all things—to whom he said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness” [Gen 1:26]. . . . (4:20,1)

Consequently, Scripture declared truth when it said, “First of all, believe that God is one, who created all things and set them in order, and made out of what did not exist everything that is.”2 He contains all things and is himself contained by no one. Among the prophets, Malachi rightly urged, “Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us?” [Mal 2:10]. In agreement with this the apostle says, “There is . . . one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” [Eph 4:4, 6]. The Lord likewise says, “All things have been handed over to me by my Father” [Matt 11:27]—obviously meaning him who made all things, since he did not deliver to him someone else’s things, but his own. “All things” indicates that nothing has been kept back from him. That is why the same one is the judge of the living and the dead, the one “who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens” [Rev. 3:7]. For no one in heaven or in earth or under the earth was able to open the book of the Father or to behold him, except the Lamb who was slain [Rev 5:3–6] and has redeemed us with his own blood.

When “the Word became flesh” [John 1:14], he received power over all things from the same God who made all things by the Word and adorned them by his Wisdom, so that just as the Word of God had sovereignty in the heavens, so also he might have sovereignty in earth, since he was a righteous man who “committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth” [1 Pet 2:22], and that he might have pre-eminence over those things under the earth, since he himself became “the first-born from the dead” [Col 1:18]. This was so that all things might behold their king, as I have already urged, and that the paternal light might meet with and rest upon the flesh of our Lord. From his resplendent flesh it would come to us, so that humanity might attain immortality, having been invested with the paternal light. (4:20,2)

So there is one God, who by the Word and Wisdom created and arranged all things. This is the creator who has granted this world to the human race and who, as to his greatness, is unknown to all whom he has made—for no one has searched out his height, whether among the ancients who have gone to their rest or any of those who are now alive. But in his love, he is always known through him by whose means he ordained all things. This Word is our Lord Jesus Christ, who in the last times was made a human among humankind, so that he might join the end to the beginning—that is, humanity to God.

The prophets, who received the prophetic gift from the same Word, announced his advent in the flesh, in which the blending and communion of God and humanity took place according to the Father’s good pleasure. The Word of God thus foretold from the beginning that God would be seen by humans and converse with them on earth, confer with them, and be present with his own creation—saving it, becoming capable of being perceived by it, freeing us from the hands of all who hate us (that is, from every spirit of wickedness), and enabling us to serve him in holiness and righteousness all our days [Luke 1:71, 75], so that human beings, having embraced the Spirit of God, might pass into the glory of the Father. (4:20,4)

The prophets declared these things in a prophetic manner. They did not teach, as some allege, that the one foreseen by the prophets was a different god, since the Father of all is invisible. That is what these heretics teach, but they totally misconstrue the nature of prophecy. Prophecy is a prediction of future things, a setting forth ahead of time of what will happen later. The prophets indicated beforehand that God would be seen by humans, as the Lord also says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” [Matt 5:8]. In respect to his greatness and his awesome glory, “no one shall see me [God] and live” [Exod 33:20], for the Father is incomprehensible. But with regard to his infinite power, in his love and kindness he grants to those who love him to see God—something which the prophets also predicted. “What is impossible for mortals is possible for God” [Luke 18:27]: no human can see God by his own powers, but when God pleases he is seen by humans, by whom and when and as he wills. God is powerful in all things: seen prophetically at that time through the Spirit, and seen adoptively through the Son, he shall also be seen paternally in the kingdom of heaven. The Spirit prepares humanity in the Son of God, and the Son leads humanity to the Father, while the Father confers incorruption for eternal life, which comes to all those who see God. . . .

Those who see God receive life. That is why, although he is beyond comprehension and boundless and invisible, he made himself visible and comprehensible and within the capacity of those who believe, so that he might give life to those who receive and behold him through faith. For as his greatness is past finding out, so also his goodness is beyond expression; having been seen through his goodness, he grants life to those who see him. Without life it is impossible to live, and the means of life is found in fellowship with God. But fellowship with God is to know God and to enjoy his goodness. (4:20,5)

Human beings therefore shall see God so that they may live: they will be made immortal by that sight and will attain even unto God. As I already said, this was declared figuratively by the prophets, that God would be seen by those who bear his Spirit in them and wait patiently for his coming. Moses said in Deuteronomy, “Today we have seen that God may speak to someone and the person may still live” [Deut 5:24]. Some of these people saw the prophetic Spirit and his active influences being poured forth in all kinds of gifts; others, again, beheld the advent of the Lord and that dispensation which held sway from the beginning, by which he accomplished the will of the Father regarding things both celestial and terrestrial; and others beheld paternal glories adapted to the times and to those who saw and heard them then, and to all who were subsequently to hear them. In this way God was revealed; God the Father was shown forth through all these operations, with the Spirit working and the Son ministering, while the Father was approving—and thus salvation for humankind was being achieved. . . .

As to the questions of what nature and how great he is, God is invisible and indescribable to all things which he has made. Even so, he is by no means unknown: all things learn through his Word that there is one God the Father, who contains all things and gives life to all, as is written in the gospel: “No one has even seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known” [John 1:18]. (4:20,6)

The Son of the Father makes him known from the beginning, since he was with the Father from the beginning. At appropriate times, for the benefit of humankind, he showed the human race prophetic visions, diversities of gifts, his own ministrations, and the glory of the Father, in regular order and connection. Where there is a regular succession, there is also fixedness; and where fixedness, there suitability to the period; and where suitability, there also utility. For this reason, the Word became the one who dispensed paternal grace for the benefit of humanity, for whom he made such great dispensations, revealing God to humanity, but presenting humanity to God, all while preserving the invisibility of the Father, lest anyone should ever come to despise God, and so that he should always possess something towards which humankind might advance. On the other hand, he revealed God to humanity through many dispensations, lest they should cease to exist by falling away from God altogether.

The glory of God is a human being fully alive, and the life of a human being consists in beholding God. If what the creation shows of God grants life to all living in the earth, then much more does the revelation of the Father which comes through the Word give life to those who see God. (4:20,7)

. . . Of old, prophecies came not by word alone but in visions also, and in the prophets’ mode of life and the actions which they performed, as led by the Spirit. In this invisible way they saw God, as Isaiah said, “My eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts” [Isa 6:5]—by which he pointed out that human beings should behold God with their eyes and hear his voice. In this way they also saw the Son of God as a man conversant with human beings: they prophesied what would happen, saying that he who was had not yet come but was nonetheless present, proclaiming also the impassible as subject to suffering, and declaring that he who was then in heaven had descended into the dust of death [Ps 22:15]. As to the rest of what he would accomplish, some of this they beheld through visions, some they proclaimed by word, while some they indicated in types, by means of outward actions, showing visibly things which were to be seen; heralding by word of mouth those which should be heard; and performing by actual operation what should take place by action; but all the while announcing them all prophetically. That is why Moses declared to the people who transgressed the law that God was a consuming fire [Deut 4:24], thus threatening that God would bring a day of fire upon them; but to those who feared God he said, “The LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression” [Exod 34:6–7]. (4:20,8)

The Word spoke to Moses, appearing before him just as any one might speak to his friend [Num 12:8]. But Moses desired to see openly the one who was speaking with him, and God said to him, “You cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live. . . . See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen” [Exod 33:20–24]. This shows us two truths: it is impossible for a human being to see God, but in the wisdom of God, human beings would see him in the last times, in the depth of a rock—that is, in his coming as a man. That is why the Lord conferred with Moses face to face on the top of a mountain, with Elijah also present, as the gospel relates [Matt 17:3]; in the last days, he thus made good the ancient promise. (4:20,9)

The prophets did not behold the actual face of God: they saw the dispensations and mysteries through which humankind afterwards would come to see God, similar to what was said to Elijah: “‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence” [1 Kgs 19:11–12]. In this way, the prophet—who was very indignant, because of the transgression of the people and the slaughter of Baal’s prophets—was both taught to act in a gentler manner, and the Lord’s advent as a man was pointed out, that it would be subsequent to the law given by Moses, mild and tranquil, in which he would neither break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax [Isa 42:3]. The mild and peaceful repose of his kingdom was also thus indicated: after the wind which rent the mountains, the earthquake, and the fire come the tranquil and peaceful times of his kingdom, in which the Spirit of God, in the most gentle manner, gives life to and increases humankind. . . . (4:20,10)

If, then, neither Moses nor Elijah nor Ezekiel, who all had many celestial visions, saw God, but if what they saw were similitudes of the splendor of the Lord and prophecies of things to come, then it is clear that the Father is invisible, of whom the Lord declared: “No one has ever seen God” [John 1:18a]. But, as he himself willed for the benefit of those who beheld, the Word showed the Father’s brightness and explained his purposes—as the Lord also said, “It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known” [John 1:18b]. He himself also shows that the Word of the Father is both rich and great: he did not appear to those who saw him in only one figure or character, but in accordance with the reasons and effects aimed at in his dispensations, as it is written in Daniel. For at one time he was seen present with Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah in the furnace of fire, preserving them from the effects of fire: Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “The fourth has the appearance of a god” [Dan 3:25]. At another time he was represented as “a stone cut from the mountain not by hands” [Dan 2:45], who would smite all temporal kingdoms, driving them away, and himself filling the whole earth. The same one was beheld as the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, and drawing near to the Ancient of Days, and receiving from him all power and glory, and a kingdom: “His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship is one that shall never be destroyed” [Dan 7:14]. . . . (4:20,11)

However, he was beheld by the prophets, not only by visions seen and words proclaimed, but also in actual works, through them prefiguring future events. That is why Hosea the prophet took “a wife of whoredom,” showing thus that “the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD” [Hos 1:2–3]—meaning those who are on the earth. From people of this sort it would be God’s good pleasure to take out [Acts 15:14] a Church which would be sanctified by fellowship with his Son, just as that woman was sanctified by intercourse with the prophet. This is the reason Paul declares that “the unbelieving wife is made holy through her husband” [1 Cor 7:14]. Further, the prophet named his children, “Not pitied” and “Not my people” [Hos 1:6, 9], so that, as the apostle says, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’ And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they shall be called children of the living God” [Rom 9:25–26]. The apostle thus shows that what had been done typically by the prophet’s actions was done truly by Christ in the Church. . . .

Thus also Rahab the harlot, while condemning herself as a Gentile guilty of all sins, nevertheless received the three spies and hid them at her home. These three were a type of the Father and the Son, together with the Holy Spirit. When the entire city in which she lived fell to ruins at the blast of the seven trumpets, by believing the scarlet sign Rahab the harlot and all her family were preserved when all was over. This is what the Lord intended when he declared to those who did not receive his advent, the Pharisees who undoubtedly nullified the sign of the scarlet thread (which meant the Passover and the redemption and exodus of the people from Egypt), when he said, “The tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you” [Matt 21:31]. (4:20,12)

The apostle has abundantly taught that our faith was prefigured in Abraham, that he was the patriarch of our faith and, as it were, the prophet of it: “Does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’ [Gen 15:6], so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you’ [Gen 12:3]. For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed” [Gal 3:5–9]. This is why the apostle declared that this man was not only the prophet of faith, but also the father of those who from among the Gentiles believe in Jesus Christ, because his faith and ours are one and the same: he believed in things future as if they were already accomplished, because of the promise of God; similarly, by faith we behold our inheritance in the future kingdom because of the promise of God. (4:21,1)

The history of Isaac also has a symbolic character. In the Letter to the Romans, the apostle declares: “Rebecca when she had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor Isaac,” received answer from the Word “that God’s purpose of election might continue, not by works but by his call” [Rom 9:10–11], it was said unto her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger” [Gen 25:23]. From this it is clear that there were not only prophecies about the patriarchs, but also that the children brought forth by Rebecca were a prediction of two nations; that one would be greater, the other less; that one would be servant, the other free; but that both should come from one and the same father. Our God, one and the same, is also their God, who knows hidden things, who knows all things before they can come to pass. For this reason he said, “I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau” [Rom 9:13; Mal 1:2–3]. (4:21,2)

Furthermore, if anyone examines Jacob’s life, he will find it full of symbolic significance. In the first place, at his birth he took hold of his brother’s heel [Gen 25:26] and so was called Jacob (that is, the supplanter—one who holds, but is not held, struggling and conquering), grasping in his hand his adversary’s heel—that is, victory. This is why the Lord was born, the type of whose birth he showed ahead of time, about whom John says in the Apocalypse, “He came out conquering and to conquer” [Rev 6:2]. Next, Jacob took the rights of the firstborn when his brother despised them, just as the younger nation received Christ when the older one rejected him, saying, “We have no king but the emperor” [John 19:15].

In Christ all this is fulfilled: the latter people who believe in him have snatched away the blessings of the former from the Father, just as Jacob took away the blessing of Esau. Because of this Jacob suffered the plots and persecutions of his brother, just as the Church does from the Jews. The twelve tribes—the race of Israel—were born in a foreign country; Christ was also born in a strange country, to generate the twelve-pillared foundation of the Church. Various colored sheep were allotted to this Jacob as his wages; the wages of Christ are human beings, who from various and diverse nations come together into one cohort of faith, as the Father promised him, saying, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession” [Ps 2:8].

And since from the multitude of his children the prophets of the Lord afterwards arose, it was necessary that Jacob beget children from the two sisters, even as Christ did from the two laws of one and the same Father. Similarly, Jacob had children by the handmaids, indicating that Christ would raise up children of God, both from those who are free and from those who are slaves, granting all of them in the same way the gift of the Spirit, who brings us to life. . . . For with God nothing is without purpose or due significance. (4:21,3)

Now in the last days, when the fulness of the time of liberty had arrived, the Word himself “washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion” [Isa 4:4] when he washed the disciples’ feet with his own hands [John 13:5]. This was the goal of the human race, inheriting God: that as in the beginning through our first parents we were all brought into bondage, becoming subject to death, so at last through the last Adam all who from the beginning were his disciples, being cleansed and washed from the defilement of death, should come to life in God—for he who washed the feet of the disciples sanctified the entire body, and rendered it clean. . . . (4:22,1)

It was not only for those who believed on him in the time of Tiberius Caesar that Christ came; nor did the Father direct his providence only for those who are alive now; but for all those who from the beginning, according to their capacity, in their generation have feared and loved God, have practiced justice and piety towards their neighbors, and have earnestly desired to see Christ and hear his voice. Therefore, at his second coming he will first awake from their sleep in death all persons of this description and will raise them up—as well as the rest who will be judged—and give them a place in his kingdom. For truly “God is one” who directed the patriarchs toward his dispensations and “justifies the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith” [Rom 3:30]. . . . (4:22,2)

. . . When Joseph became aware that Mary was pregnant and had decided to break off their engagement quietly, the angel said to him in sleep, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” [Matt 1:20–21]. Exhorting him further, he added: “All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call him Emmanuel’” [Matt 1:22]. In this way, the angel influenced him by the words of the prophet, warding off blame from Mary and pointing out that she was the virgin spoken of by Isaiah beforehand who would give birth to Immanuel. So, when Joseph was convinced beyond all doubt, he took Mary and gladly obeyed in regard to all the rest of the training of Christ, the journey into Egypt and back again, and then to Nazareth. But those who did not know the Scriptures, the promise of God, or the dispensation of Christ, later called Joseph the father of the child [Luke 3:23; John 6:42]. . . . (4:23,1)

Philip came upon the eunuch of the Ethiopians’ queen reading the words which had been written, “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him” [Acts 8:32–33; Isa 53:7–8], and all the rest which the prophet related about his passion and his coming in the flesh, and how he would be dishonored by those who did not believe him. Philip easily persuaded the eunuch to believe that the one spoken of was Christ Jesus, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and suffered all that the prophet had predicted, and that he was the Son of God, who gives eternal life to human beings. And immediately after Philip had baptized him, he departed from him. For nothing else but baptism was lacking for one who had already been instructed by the prophets: he was not ignorant of God the Father nor of the rules about how to live, but only of the advent of the Son of God. When he had come to know that, in a short space of time he went on his way rejoicing, to be the herald in Ethiopia of Christ’s advent. So Philip did not have a hard time with him, since he was already trained by the prophets in the fear of God. For this reason, too, the apostles could gather the sheep from the house of Israel and speak to them out of the Scriptures, proving that this crucified Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. They persuaded a great multitude who already feared God, and in one day about 3,000 persons were baptized [Acts 2:41; 4:4]. (4:23,2)

This is why Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, says, “I worked harder than any of them” [1 Cor 15:10]: the instruction of the former [the Jews] was a comparatively easy task, since the other apostles could cite proofs from the Scriptures, and because the Jews, in the habit of hearing Moses and the prophets, could thus readily receive the first-born from the dead and the Prince of life from God. . . . As I have pointed out in the preceding book, the apostle first instructed the Gentiles to turn away from the superstition of idols and to worship one God, the creator of heaven and earth, and the maker of the whole creation; and that his Son was his Word, by whom he founded all things; and that in the last times he became a human among humankind; that he reformed the human race, but destroyed and conquered the enemy of humanity and gave to his handiwork victory against the adversary. . . . (4:24,1)

. . . So, the one who became apostle to the Gentiles had to work harder than those who preached the Son of God among those of the circumcision, for the latter had the assistance of the Scriptures, which the Lord confirmed and fulfilled in coming as he had been announced. But among the Gentiles, Paul brought a foreign erudition, a new doctrine that the gods of the nations not only were no gods at all, but even the idols of demons; and that there is only one God, who is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named” [Eph 1:21]; and that his Word, invisible by nature, became palpable and visible among humankind and descended “to the point of death—even death on a cross” [Phil 2:8]; and that those who believe in him will be incorruptible and delivered from suffering and will receive the kingdom of heaven. These things were preached to the Gentiles by word, without the Scriptures: therefore, also, those who preached among the Gentiles had to work harder. . . . (4:24,2)

Anyone who reads the Scriptures attentively will find in them an account of Christ and a foreshadowing of the new calling, for Christ is the treasure hidden in the field [Matt 13:44]—that is, in this world (for “the field is the world” [Matt 13:38]). The treasure hid in the Scriptures is Christ, who was pointed out by types and parables. His human nature could not be understood before the things predicted took place (that is, the advent of Christ). . . . Every prophecy, before its fulfilment, is enigmatic and ambiguous, but when its time of fulfillment has arrived and the prediction has come to pass, then the prophecies have a clear and certain exposition.

For this reason, to this day when the law is read to the Jews, it is like a fable to them, since they do not embrace the explanation of all things which accords with the coming of the Son of God in human nature. But when it is read by Christians, it is a treasure, hidden indeed in a field but brought to light and expounded by the cross of Christ; it thus enriches human understanding, manifests the wisdom of God, declares his dealing with humankind, forms the kingdom of Christ ahead of time, preaches by anticipation the inheritance of the holy Jerusalem, and proclaims beforehand that those who love God will be greatly privileged to see God. They hear his word, and from the hearing of his discourse they will be glorified so greatly that others will be unable to behold the glory of their countenance, as was said by Daniel: “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” [Dan 12:3]. This is what happens to those who rightly read the Scriptures. This is the way the Lord himself taught his disciples after his resurrection from the dead, arguing from the Scriptures, “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer . . . and then enter into his glory, . . . and that repentance and forgiveness of sins be proclaimed in his name to all nations?” [Luke 24:26, 47]. . . . (4:26,1)

That is why it is necessary to obey the presbyters who are in the Church. They have the succession from the apostles; together with the succession of the episcopate, they have received the certain gift of truth, according to the good pleasure of the Father. We need to view with suspicion those who turn from the primitive succession and assemble themselves together elsewhere, for they are either heretics of perverse minds, schismatics puffed up and self-pleasing, or hypocrites who act this way for money or vainglory; all these have fallen from the truth. Heretics, who bring strange fire to the altar of God (that is, strange doctrines), will be burned up by the fire from heaven, as Nadab and Abihu were [Lev 10:1–2]. Those who rise up in opposition to the truth and exhort others against the Church of God will remain among those in hell, as it were swallowed up by an earthquake, like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram [Num 16:33]. But those who split the Church and rend her unity will receive the same punishment from God as Jeroboam did [1 Kgs 14:10]. (4:26,2)

There are some whom many believe to be presbyters; however, these people serve their own lusts and do not place the fear of God supreme in their hearts, but conduct themselves with contempt towards others, exult in holding a place of prominence, and do evil in secret, saying, “No one sees us.” They will be convicted by the Word, who does not judge by outward appearances or look at the countenance, but who examines the heart [1 Sam 16:7]; they will hear the words found in Daniel the prophet: “You offspring of Canaan and not of Judah, beauty has beguiled you and lust has perverted your heart. You old relic of wicked days, your sins have now come home, which you have committed in the past, pronouncing unjust judgments, condemning the innocent and acquitting the guilty, though the Lord said, ‘You shall not put an innocent and righteous person to death’” [Sus 56, 52–53]. This is the sort of person about whom the Lord said, “But if that wicked slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. He will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful” [Matt 24:48–51; cf. Luke 12:45–46]. (4:26,3)

So it behooves us to turn away from all such people but to hold fast to those who hold the doctrine of the apostles. With the order of priesthood, these people display sound speech and blameless conduct which serves to confirm and correct others. Moses was entrusted with such leadership and could say in good conscience before God, “I have not taken one donkey from them, and I have not harmed anyone of them” [Num 16:15]. . . . (4:26,4)

The Church treasures such presbyters; the prophet says about them, “I will appoint Peace as your overseer and Righteousness as your taskmaster” [Isa 60:17]. The Lord also declared about them, “Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives” [Matt 24:45–46]. Paul advises us where we can find such people: “God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers” [1 Cor 12:28]. So where the gifts of the Lord have been placed, there it behooves us to learn the truth—namely, from those who possess that succession of the Church which is from the apostles, and among whom exists what is sound and blameless in conduct, as well as what is unadulterated and incorrupt in speech. These people preserve this faith of ours in one God who created all things; and they increase our love for the Son of God, who accomplished such marvelous dispensations for our sake; and they expound the Scriptures to us without danger, neither blaspheming God, nor dishonoring the patriarchs, nor despising the prophets. (4:26,5)

The Lord descended into the regions beneath the earth to preach his advent and to proclaim remission of sins for all who believe in him [1 Pet 3:19–20]. All those believed in him, who had hoped for him—that is, those who had proclaimed his coming advent and submitted to his dispensations (the righteous ones, the prophets, and the patriarchs)—their sins he remitted in the same way as he does ours. So, we should not hold against them whatever sins they committed, if we would not despise the grace of God. . . . For “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” [Rom 3:23], and are not justified by what they have done, but only through the coming of the Lord—those, that is, who earnestly turn their eyes toward his light. Their actions were committed to writing for our instruction, so that we might know, first of all, that our God and theirs is one and that sins do not please him even if they were committed by renowned people, and that, secondly, we should turn away from all wickedness. For if these men of long ago, who received these gifts before we received them, became objects of disgrace when they committed any sin and served fleshly lusts, what will people in the present day have to endure if they despise the Lord’s coming and become the slaves of their own lusts? Truly, the death of the Lord became healing and remission of sins to the former, but Christ will not die again in behalf of those who now commit sin [Heb 6:46], for “death no longer has dominion over him” [Rom 6:9]. Instead, the Son shall come in the glory of the Father, requiring from his stewards the money which he had entrusted to them, with interest [Matt 25:19–27]—and from those to whom he had given most he will demand most [Luke 12:48]. So, we should not puff ourselves up or be severe in our assessments of those long ago; instead, we should pay attention to ourselves, lest having come to know Christ we nonetheless do things displeasing to God and receive no further forgiveness of sins, but be shut out of his kingdom. That was what Paul warned against when he said, “If God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you, [who were] a wild olive shoot [but] were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree” [Rom 11:21, 17]. (4:27,2)

You will notice, too, that the transgressions of the common people were described in the same way—not for the sake of those who transgressed then, but as instruction for us. We should understand that it is one and the same God against whom these people long ago sinned and against whom some people now transgress who claim to have believed in him. But Paul also plainly declared about this: “I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness. Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.’ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and 23,000 fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.” [1 Cor 10:1–12]. (4:27,3)

. . . So the unrighteous, the idolaters, and fornicators perished then. It is the same now, for the Lord declares that such persons are sent into eternal fire [Matt 13:42; 25:41], and the apostle says, “Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God” [1 Cor 6:9–10]. And since he did not say this to those outside the Church, but to us (lest we be cast out of the kingdom of God for engaging in any such thing), he went on to say, “And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” [1 Cor 6:11]. As was the case long ago, that those who led evil lives and led others astray were condemned and cast out, so also now the offending eye is plucked out, and the foot and the hand cut off, lest the rest of the body perish in like manner [Matt 18:8–9].

Further, we have the directive: “I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother or sister who is sexually immoral or greedy, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or robber. Do not even eat with such a one” [1 Cor 5:11]. The apostle also says, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be associated with them” [Eph 5:6–7]. And as then the condemnation of sinners included others who approved of them and associated with them, so it is the case now: “a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough” [1 Cor 5:6]. . . . (4:27,4)

Both testaments reveal the same righteousness of God who exacts vengeance—in the earlier case, he did so in types, temporarily, and more moderately; but in the latter, really, enduringly, and more sternly. The fire is eternal, and the wrath of God which will be revealed from heaven . . . entails a heavier punishment for those who incur it. . . . (4:28,1)

Since in the New Testament what we believe about God has been enriched by the coming of the Son of God, so that human beings might become partakers in God [2 Pet 1:4], our lives must become even more circumspect than of old: we are directed not only to abstain from evil actions, but even from evil thoughts, idle words, empty talk, and vulgar language [Eph 5:4]. The punishment of those who do not believe the Word of God, despise his advent, and turn away from it is increased, since it will be not just temporal but also eternal. All those to whom the Lord says, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire” [Matt 25:41] will be damned forever; but all those to whom he will say, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” [Matt 25:34] will receive the kingdom forever and continually experience its blessings. There is one and the same God the Father and his Word, who has always been with the human race through various dispensations, has accomplished many things, from the beginning has saved those who are saved (those who love God and follow the Word of God according to the group to which they belong), and has judged those who are judged (that is, those who forget God, blaspheme him, and transgress his word). (4:28,2)

. . . To those who contradict us and say, “If the Egyptians had not been afflicted with plagues and, when pursuing Israel, had not been drowned in the sea, God could not have saved his people,” we give this answer: unless the Jews had become the slayers of the Lord (by which eternal life was taken away from them) and, by also killing the apostles and persecuting the Church, had fallen into an abyss of wrath, we could not have been saved. For as they were saved through the blindness of the Egyptians, so we too are saved by that of the Jews, since the death of the Lord is the condemnation of those who nailed him to the cross and did not believe his advent, but the salvation of those who believe in him. For the apostle also says, “We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life” [2 Cor 2:15–16]. To whom, then, is there the savor of death unto death? To those who neither believe nor are subject to the Word of God. And who are the ones who gave themselves over to death? Undoubtedly, those who neither believe nor submit to God. Again, who are the ones who have been saved and received the inheritance? Those, doubtless, who believe God and have continued in his love—like Caleb the son of Jephunneh, Joshua the son of Nun [Num 14:30], and innocent children who have had no sense of evil [Jonah 4:11]. But who are the ones who are saved now and receive eternal life? Is it not those who love God, believe his promises, and are “infants in evil” [1 Cor 14:20]? (4:28,3)

. . . The same God inflicts blindness on those who do not believe and give him no thought, just as the sun, his creature, affects those who because of their weak eyes cannot behold its light. But to those who believe in him and follow him he grants a fuller and greater illumination of mind. This squares with what the apostle says: “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” [2 Cor 4:4]. Again, he declares, “Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should not be done” [Rom 1:28]. Speaking about Antichrist, too, he asserts, “For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false, so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned” [2 Thess 2:11–12]. (4:29,1)

So, if in the present time also, God—who knows the number of those who will not believe (since he foreknows all things)—has given over to unbelief and turned his face away from people like this, if he leaves them in the darkness which they have chosen for themselves, what is surprising if long ago he also gave over to their unbelief both Pharaoh, who never would have believed, and those who were with him? As the Word declared to Moses from the bush: “I know . . . that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand” [Exod 3:19]. . . . (4:29,2)

Those who criticize and find fault because by God’s command the people [of Israel], just before they departed, accepted all sorts of vessels and clothing from the Egyptians [Exod 3:21–22; 11:2] and then left—vessels and clothing from which the tabernacle was prepared in the wilderness—show that they are ignorant of the righteous way God deals with humanity. As a presbyter has remarked,3 if God had not directed things this way in the exodus which served as a type, no one could now be saved in the ultimate exodus—that is, in the faith in which we have been established, and by which we have come out from among the number of the Gentiles. In some cases a small but in other cases a large amount of property, acquired from the mammon of unrighteousness, comes to the service of the Church. From what source do we derive the houses in which we dwell, the garments in which we are clothed, the vessels we use, and everything else we need for everyday life, if not from those things which, when we were Gentiles, we acquired by avarice or received from our heathen parents, relations, or friends who obtained them unrighteously? Indeed, even now we acquire such things when we are in the faith. For who sells and does not wish to make a profit from the one who buys? Or who purchases anything, and does not wish to obtain good value from the seller? Or who carries on a trade without desiring to earn his livelihood by it? And with regard to those in the royal palace who believe [cf. Phil 4:23], do they not derive the utensils they employ from the property which belongs to Caesar? And does not each of these Christians give to the poor according to his ability? The Egyptians were debtors to the Jewish people, not just in regard to property, but also for their very lives, because of the kindness of the patriarch Joseph long before. But in what way are the heathen debtors to us, from whom we receive both gain and profit? Whatever they amass with labor we make use of without labor, though we are in the faith. (4:30,1)

. . . So how did the Israelites act unjustly, if out of many things they took a few, when they might have possessed much property if they had not served them [the Egyptians]? They might then have gone forth wealthy; whereas they received only an insignificant payment for their heavy servitude and went away poor. . . . (4:30,2)

If we and they were compared, who would seem to have received their worldly goods in the fairer manner? Would it not be the Jewish people from the Egyptians, who were indebted to the Jewish people, rather than we who receive property from the Romans and other nations, who are under no similar obligation to us? Moreover, because of the Romans’ accomplishments the world is at peace, and so we walk on the highways without fear and sail where we will. . . . It is for this sort of thing that the Lord said, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged” [Matt 7:1–2]. By this he did not mean that we should not find fault with sinners, or that we should consent to those who act wickedly; instead, he intends that we should not pronounce an unfair judgment on the dispensations of God, who has ordained all things so that they turn out for good [Rom 8:28], in a way consistent with justice. . . .

We are shown to be righteous by whatever else we do well, since we thus redeem, as it were, our property from strange hands. But when I say, “from strange hands,” this is not as if the world were not God’s possession. We have gifts of this sort and receive them from others in the same way as the Israelites of old received them from the Egyptians who did not know God. By these gifts we erect in ourselves the tabernacle of God, for God dwells in those who act uprightly, as the Lord says: “Make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth” [Luke 16:9]. . . . (4:30,3)

. . . The whole exodus of the people out of Egypt, which took place under divine guidance, was a type and image of the exodus of the Church which would later take place from among the nations. In the fullness of time, he led it out from this world to be his own inheritance. Moses the servant of God could not bestow it, but Jesus the Son of God gives it. And if anyone devotes close attention to what is stated by the prophets about the end and to what John the disciple of the Lord saw in the Apocalypse [Rev 15–16], he will find that the nations are to receive the same plagues universally as Egypt then did particularly. (4:30,4)

When recounting matters of this kind about those who lived long ago, the presbyter [before mentioned] was in the habit of instructing us in this fashion: “With respect to those misdeeds for which the Scriptures themselves blame the patriarchs and prophets, we should not denounce them or become like Ham, who ridiculed the shame of his father and so fell under a curse; rather, we should give thanks to God for them, since their sins have been forgiven them through the advent of our Lord, for he said that they gave thanks for us and gloried in the coming salvation. Again, with regard to those actions on which the Scriptures pass no censure but are simply recorded, we should not become accusers, since we are not more exacting than God and we are not greater than our master. Instead, we should search for types in them, for nothing which was recorded in Scripture without being condemned is without deeper significance. . . .” (4:31,1)

This is the way a presbyter who had been a disciple of the apostles dealt with the two testaments, proving that both were from one and the same God. He maintained that there was no other God besides the one who made and fashioned us, and that the instruction of those who teach that this world of ours was made by angels or by some other power or by another God was baseless. If one turns away from the creator of all things and grants that this creation to which we belong was formed by or through any other than the one God, that person will necessarily fall into a great deal of inconsistency and many contradictions of this kind, for which he will be unable to provide explanations which could be regarded as either probable or true. . . . But if anyone believes in the one God who made all things by the Word—as Moses says, “God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” [Gen 1:3]; and as we read in the Gospel, “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being” [John 1:3]; and as the apostle Paul says in like manner, “One God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all” [Eph 4:6]—that person will first of all “hold fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God” [Col 2:19]. And then every word will also be consistent for him, if he diligently reads the Scriptures in company with those who are presbyters in the Church—among whom we find the apostolic doctrine, as I have pointed out. (4:32,1)

That all the apostles taught that there were two testaments among the two peoples, but that one and the same God gave both testaments for the benefit of those who were to believe in God, I have proved from the apostles’ teaching in the third book. The first testament was not given without reason or purpose or accidentally: it was given for the benefit of those whom it subdued to the service of God (even though God needs no service from human beings). It exhibited types of heavenly things, since humankind was not yet able to see the things of God directly. It thus foreshadowed the images of those things which now actually exist in the Church, so that our faith might be firmly established. It contained a prophecy of coming things, so that humankind might learn that God has foreknowledge of all things. (4:32,2)

A spiritual disciple, one who has genuinely received the Spirit of God—who was from the beginning and has been present with humankind in all the dispensations of God, announced things future, revealed things present, and narrated things past—such a person indeed judges all others but is himself judged by no one [1 Cor 2:15]. That person judges the nations “who serve the creature rather than the Creator” [Rom 1:25] and with a reprobate mind devote themselves to what has no lasting existence. That person also judges the Jews, who do not accept the word of liberty and are thus unwilling to go forth free, although they have a deliverer. They pretend to serve God, who needs nothing, by going beyond the requirements of the law, but they neither recognize the advent of Christ, which he accomplished for the salvation of humanity, nor are willing to understand that all the prophets announced his two advents. In the first, he became a man who experienced suffering and weakness [Isa 53:3], sat upon the foal of a donkey [Zech 9:9], was the stone rejected by the builders [Ps 118:22], was led as a sheep to the slaughter [Isa 53:7], and by the stretching forth of his hands destroyed Amalek [Exod 17:11]. In this first advent he gathered into his Father’s fold, from the ends of the earth, the children who had been scattered abroad [Isa 11:12], and he remembered his own who had died and descended to them so that he might deliver them [1 Pet 3:19–20]. But in the second he will come on the clouds [Dan 7:13], bringing on the day which burns like an oven [Mal 4:1], striking the earth with the rod of his mouth [Isa 11:4], slaying the unrighteous with the breath of his lips, having a winnowing fork in his hands and clearing his floor and gathering the wheat into his granary, but burning the chaff with unquenchable fire [Matt 3:12; Luke 3:17]. (4:33,1)

He will also examine the doctrine of Marcion. . . . Why did the Lord call himself the son of man, if he had not experienced human birth? And how could he forgive us sins, for which we are answerable to our maker and God? Further, if he were not truly flesh, but only appeared to be human, how could he have been crucified, and how could blood and water issue from his pierced side [John 19:34]? Moreover, what body was it that those who buried him put in the tomb? And what was it that rose again from the dead? (4:33,2)

He will also judge all the followers of Valentinus, because, while they confess with the tongue one God the Father from whom everything derives its existence, they maintain that he was the result of an apostasy or defect. Further, while they also confess with the tongue one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, they assert a distinct generation of the only-begotten, another for the word, another for Christ, and still another for the savior. . . . The spiritual man will also judge the vain teachings of the rest of the perverse Gnostics, showing that they are the disciples of Simon Magus. (4:33,3)

He [the truly spiritual person] will also judge the Ebionites4: how can they be saved unless it was God who accomplished their salvation on earth? Or how shall a human being pass into God, unless God has first become human? And how can a human being escape from the generation which ends in death, except through a new generation, given in a wonderful and unexpected manner, as a sign of salvation by God—that new birth which flows from the virgin through faith? . . . How, too, could he have subdued [Luke 11:21–22] the one who was stronger than humanity (who had not only overcome humankind but also retained it under his power) and conquer him who had conquered, while liberating humanity which had been conquered, unless he had been greater than the humanity which had thus been vanquished? But who else is superior to and more eminent than that humankind formed after the likeness of God, except the Son of God, after whose image humanity was created? It was for this reason that in these last days he exhibited that image: the Son of God became human, assuming the ancient production into himself, as I have shown in the immediately preceding book. (4:33,4)

He will also judge those who speak of Christ as if his humanity were only an opinion held by some. How can they think they are carrying on a real discussion, if their master was only imaginary? How can they receive anything real from him if he was only an imaginary being, not a genuine one? How can they partake of salvation, if the one in whom they claim to believe only presented himself as a phantasm? . . . (4:33,5)

He will also judge false prophets who, although they have not received the gift of prophecy from God and do not fear God, but—whether for pride, or for some personal advantage, or acting under the influence of a wicked spirit—pretend to utter prophecies, while they actually lie about God. (4:33,6)

He will also judge those who cause schisms, people destitute of the love of God, who desire their way more than the unity of the Church, and who for trifling reasons or any kind of reason which occurs to them cut in pieces and divide the great and glorious body of Christ and, as far as lies in them, destroy it. People like that speak about peace but bring on war; they strain out a gnat but swallow a camel [Matt 23:24]. They will not be able to achieve any reformation adequate to make up for the mischief they cause by their schism. He will also judge all those who are beyond the pale of the truth—that is, who are outside the Church.

But he himself will be judged by no one. To him all things are consistent: he has a complete faith in one God Almighty, from whom are all things; and in the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord, by whom are all things, and in the dispensations connected with him, by means of which the Son of God became man; and a firm belief in the Spirit of God, who grants us a knowledge of the truth, and has set forth the dispensations of the Father and the Son, through which he dwells with every generation of humanity, according to the will of the Father. (4:33,7)

True knowledge is the doctrine of the apostles, which is the ancient constitution of the Church throughout the entire world. The body of Christ is clearly manifest by the successions of bishops, by whom the Church existing in every place has been faithfully taught, so that the truth has come down also to us. It has been guarded and preserved by a thorough presentation of doctrine, without any spurious scriptures and without receiving either addition or subtraction. It consists in reading the Word of God without falsification, a legitimate and diligent exposition in harmony with the Scriptures, without either danger or blasphemy, and the pre-eminent gift of love [1 Cor 13:13], which is more precious than knowledge, more glorious than prophecy, and which excels all the other gifts of God. (4:33,8)

Because of her love for God, the Church in every place and through all time sends forward a multitude of martyrs to the Father. . . . The Church alone sustains with purity the reproach of those who suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake, endure all sorts of punishments, and are put to death because of their love for God and their confession of his Son. . . . Thus the Church endures something similar to the ancient prophets, as the Lord declares, “In the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” [Matt 5:12], since in a new fashion she suffers persecution from those who do not receive the Word of God, while the same Spirit rests upon her [1 Pet 4:14] as upon the ancient prophets. (4:33,9)

The prophets, along with other things they predicted, also foretold that all those on whom the Spirit of God would rest and who would obey the word of the Father and serve him according to their ability would endure persecution, be stoned, and be slain. The prophets prefigured all these things in themselves because of their love to God and on account of his Word. Since they themselves were each members of Christ, one of them prophesied this, but all of them prefigured and proclaimed him. This comports with the way a human body works: as the working of the whole body is shown by its members, even though the complete human being is not displayed by any single member but by all taken together, so also all the prophets prefigured the one [Christ], while each of them, in his special place as a member, served to shadow forth beforehand the particular work of Christ associated with that member. (4:33,10)

Some of them, beholding him in glory, saw his glorious life at the Father’s right hand [Isa 6:1; Ps 110:1]. Others beheld him coming on the clouds as the son of man [Dan 7:13]. Those who declared regarding him, “They look on the one whom they have pierced” [Zech 12:10], indicated his second advent—about which he himself said, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” [Luke 18:8]. Paul also refers to this advent when he says, “It is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire” [2 Thess 1:6–8]. Others speak of him as a judge and say, referring to the day of the Lord as a burning furnace, “[he] will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” [Matt 3:12]. Thus they threatened the unbelieving, concerning whom the Lord himself also declares, “Depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” [Matt 25:41]. Similarly the apostle says, “These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed” [2 Thess 1:9–10]. Others declare, “You are the most handsome of men”; and “God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions” [Ps 45:2, 7]; and, “Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your glory and majesty. In your majesty ride on victoriously for the cause of truth and to defend the right” [Ps 45:3–4]. The numerous other similar affirmations spoken about him indicate the beauty and magnificence which exist in his kingdom, along with the transcendent and pre-eminent exaltation granted to all those under his sway, so that those who hear these things might desire to be found there, doing what is pleasing to God.

As well, there are those who said, “He is a man, and who will know him?” [Jer 17:9 LXX], and “I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son” [Isa 8:3], and “he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God” [Isa 9:6]. Those who proclaimed him as Immanuel from the virgin [Isa 7:14] pointed out the union of the Word of God with his own workmanship, declaring that the Word would become flesh and the Son of God the son of man—the pure one opening purely that pure womb which regenerates humanity unto God, and which he himself made pure. Even so, having become what we are, he is nevertheless the Mighty God, whose generation cannot be explained. Some said, “The Lord roars from Zion, and utters his voice from Jerusalem” [Joel 3:16], and “In Judah God is known” [Ps 76:1], pointing to his advent which took place in Judea. . . . Those, again, who declare that at his coming “the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy, and the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped” [Isa 35:6, 5], that weak hands and feeble knees will be strengthened [Isa 35:3], that the dead who are in the grave will arise [Isa 26:19], and that he himself “has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases” [Isa 53:4]—all these proclaimed the works of healing which he accomplished. (4:33,11)

Moreover, some of them proclaimed that as a weak and inglorious man, who knew what it was to bear infirmity [Isa 53:3], and sitting upon the foal of an ass [Zech 9:9], he would come to Jerusalem and would give his back to stripes [Isa 50:6] and his cheeks to palms [which struck him], would be led like a sheep to the slaughter [Isa 53:7], would have vinegar and gall given him to drink [Ps 69:21], would be forsaken by his friends and those nearest to him [Ps 38:11], would stretch forth his hands the whole day long [Isa 65:2], would be mocked and maligned by those who looked upon him [Ps 22:7], that his garments would be parted and lots cast for his raiment [Ps 22:18], and that he would be brought down to the dust of death [Ps 22:15], with things of a similar nature. They thus prophesied his coming and entrance into Jerusalem as a man, who by his passion and crucifixion endured all the things which have been mentioned. Others, again, when they said, “The holy Lord remembered his own dead ones who slept in the dust, and came down to them to raise them up, that he might save them,”5 tell us thus why he suffered all these things. As well, some taught, “On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the sun go down at noon, and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation” [Amos 8:9–10]. By this they plainly foretold the darkening of the sun during his crucifixion from the sixth hour onwards, and that after this event those days which were their festivals according to the law and their songs would be changed into grief and lamentation when they were handed over to the Gentiles. Jeremiah also makes this point still clearer when he says about Jerusalem, “She who bore seven has languished; she has swooned away; her sun went down while it was yet day; she has been shamed and disgraced. And the rest of them I will give to the sword before their enemies, says the LORD” [Jer 15:9]. (4:33,12)

Further, those who spoke of his slumbering and sleeping, and of his rising again because the Lord sustained him [Ps 3:5], and who called the principalities of heaven to open the everlasting doors so that the king of glory might go in [Ps 24:7] proclaimed beforehand his resurrection from the dead by the Father’s power and his ascension into heaven. And when they declared, “Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat” [Ps 19:6], they announced that he would be taken up again to the place from which he had come down, and that there is no one who can escape his righteous judgment. And those who said, “The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake” [Ps 99:1], were thus predicting, in part, the wrath from all nations which fell on those who believed in him after his ascension, with the movement of the whole earth against the Church; and, in part, the fact that when he comes from heaven with his mighty angels, the whole earth shall be shaken, as he himself declares, “There will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning” [Matt 24:21]. As well, it is asked, “Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me” [Isa 50:8], and declared, “All of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up” [Isa 50:9], and “The pride of everyone shall be brought low; and the LORD alone will be exalted on that day” [Isa 2:17]. This indicates that after his passion and ascension God would cast beneath his feet all who were opposed to him, and he would be exalted above all, and there would be no one who can be either excused or compared to him. (4:33,13)

And those who declare that God would make a new covenant [Jer 31:31–32] with humankind, not like the one he had made with the fathers at Mount Horeb, and would give to humans “a new heart and a new spirit” [Ezek 36:26], and again, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert . . . , to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise” [Isa 43:18–21], thus clearly announced the liberty which marks the new covenant, and the new wine which is put into new bottles [Matt 9:17]—namely, the faith which is in Christ. By it he proclaimed the way of righteousness sprung up in the desert, and the streams of the Holy Spirit in a dry land, to give water to the elect people of God, whom he has acquired so that they might show forth his praise. . . . (4:33,14)

. . . His people always know the same God, and always acknowledge the same Word of God, although he has only recently been manifested to us. They also acknowledge at all times the same Spirit of God—who, although he has been poured out upon us in a new way in these last times, has descended upon the human race from the creation of the world to its end—from whom those who believe God and follow his word receive salvation. On the other hand, those who depart from him and despise his precepts, and by their deeds dishonor him who made them, and by their opinions blaspheme him who nourishes them, heap up against themselves most righteous judgment [Rom 2:5]. . . . (4:33,15)

. . . Read carefully the gospel conveyed to us by the apostles. Read the prophets the same way, and you will find that they predicted his entire way of life, all his teaching, and all his sufferings. But if you then ask, “What did the Lord bring to us by his advent?”, realize that by bringing himself, the one who had been announced, he brought everything new. This was proclaimed beforehand, that something new would come to renew humankind and give it life. The king’s advent was announced ahead of time by servants sent to prepare and equip those who are to entertain their Lord. But now that the king has actually come, his subjects have been filled with the joy proclaimed beforehand, have received the liberty which he bestows, share in the sight of him, have listened to his words, and have enjoyed the gifts which he confers. So no one in his right mind will now ask what new thing the king has brought: he has brought himself, and has bestowed on humanity those good things which were announced beforehand, things which the angels desire to look into [1 Pet 1:12]. (4:34,1)

But the servants would have turned out to be false, and not sent by the Lord, if Christ in his advent had not fulfilled their words and been exactly what had been promised. That is why he said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished” [Matt 5:17–18]. By his advent he fulfilled all things, and in the Church he still fulfills the new covenant foretold by the law and will do so until the consummation. To this effect also Paul, his apostle, says in the Letter to the Romans, “But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets,” for “the one who is righteous will live by faith” [Rom 3:21; 1:17]. This fact, that the righteous shall live by faith, had been previously announced by the prophets [Hab 2:4]. (4:34,2)

But how could the prophets have had power to predict the advent of the king, proclaim beforehand the liberty which he would bestow, announce ahead of time all that was done by Christ—his words, works, and sufferings—and predict the new covenant, if they had received prophetical inspiration from some other God, who was ignorant (as the heretics allege) of the ineffable Father, his kingdom, and his dispensations which the Son of God fulfilled when he came upon earth in these last times? The heretics cannot claim that these things came to pass by chance, as if they were spoken by the prophets regarding someone else, but that only similar events happened to the Lord, for all the prophets prophesied these same things, but they never came to pass in the case of any of the ancients. If these things had happened to anyone among them in ancient times, those who lived subsequently would certainly not have prophesied that these events would come to pass in the last times. Moreover, there is no one among the fathers, prophets, or ancient kings in whose case any of these things properly and specifically took place. All of them prophesied about the sufferings of Christ, but they themselves never endured sufferings like what was predicted, and the points connected with the passion of the Lord which were foretold were realized in no one else. It did not happen at the death of anyone among the ancients that the sun set at midday, or the veil of the temple was torn, or the earth quaked, or the rocks split, or the dead were raised up. None of these ancients were raised up on the third day, or received into heaven, or at his assumption had the heavens opened; nor did the nations believe in the name of any other; nor did any of them, having been dead and rising again, lay open the new covenant of liberty. Therefore the prophets spoke of no one else but the Lord, in whom all these things transpired. (4:34,3)

However, if any one, advocating the cause of the Jews, maintains that this new covenant was fulfilled by the temple built under Zerubbabel (after the emigration to Babylon, and in the return of the people after seventy years), let that person know that the temple constructed of stones was certainly rebuilt then. . . . Even so, no new covenant was given then, for they used the Mosaic law until the coming of the Lord. However, with the Lord’s advent, the new covenant which brings back peace and the law which gives life have gone forth over the whole earth, as the prophets said: “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” [Isa 2:3–4 RSV; Mic 4:2–3]. If some other law and word went forth from Jerusalem and brought in such peace among the Gentiles who received it and convinced many a nation of its folly, then it appears that the prophets spoke about someone else. But if the law of liberty—that is, the Word of God—preached by the apostles (who went forth from Jerusalem throughout all the earth) caused such a change in the state of things that these nations beat their swords and war lances into plowshares, and changed them into pruning hooks for reaping the corn (that is, into instruments used for peaceful purposes), and that they are now unaccustomed to fighting, but when smitten offer also the other cheek [Matt 5:39], then the prophets spoke these things of no other person but him who brought them to pass. This person is our Lord, and in him that declaration is fulfilled, since he himself was the one who has made the plow and introduced the pruning hook . . . , and the gathering in of the produce in the last times by the Word. For this reason, since he joined the beginning to the end, and is the Lord of both, he has finally displayed the plow, in that the wood has been joined to the iron, and has thus cleansed his land because the Word, having been firmly united to flesh and fixed with nails, has reclaimed the savage earth. In the beginning, he prefigured the pruning hook through Abel, pointing out that a righteous race of humankind would be gathered in. For he said, “The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, while no one understands” [Isa 57:1]. . . . (4:34,4)

These arguments are sufficient to answer those who maintain that the prophets were inspired by a different God, and that our Lord came from another Father—perhaps enough to get them finally to desist from their extreme folly. This is what I genuinely hope for in adducing these scriptural proofs—that confuting these heretics as far I can by these passages, I may restrain them from their great blasphemy, and from insanely fabricating a multitude of gods. (4:34,5)

When the savior came to this earth, he sent his apostles into the world to proclaim his advent faithfully and to teach the Father’s will. . . . If he sent forth his own apostles in the Spirit of truth, not in that of error, then he did the same with the prophets; for the Word of God was always one and the same. . . . (4:35,2)

. . . The heretics, numerous as they are, all differ with each other, holding many different opinions about the same thing, all carrying around their clever notions secretly within themselves. However, even if they should come to agree among themselves about the things predicted in the Scriptures, we would still confute them. Now, though, they convict themselves of holding wrong opinions, since they do not agree in what they teach. But we follow for our teacher the one and only true God, and possess his words as the rule of truth. That is why we all speak alike about the same things, knowing only one God, the creator of this universe—who sent the prophets, who led the people out of the land of Egypt, and who in these last times manifested his own Son [Heb 1:2], so that he might put the unbelievers to confusion and search out the fruit of righteousness. (4:35,4)

. . . As one coming from the Father with supreme authority, the Son used to express himself thus: “But I say to you” [Matt 5:22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44]. His servants, who came from their Lord, spoke as servants should when they declared, “Thus says the Lord.” (4:36,1)

The one they proclaimed as Lord to the unbelievers was the one about whom Christ taught. The God who called those in the earlier dispensation is the same one who receives those of the later one. The one who at first used the law which leads to bondage is the same one who later on called his people by means of adoption. For God planted the vineyard of the human race when he formed Adam and chose the fathers; then he leased it out to tenant workers when he set up the Mosaic dispensation; he put a fence around it (that is, he gave particular instructions about their worship); he built a tower (that is, he chose Jerusalem); he dug a winepress (that is, he prepared a receptacle of the prophetic Spirit) [Mark 12:1]. He also sent prophets before the migration to Babylon, and after that sent others in greater number than before, to seek the fruits, saying to them (the Jews): “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Amend your ways and your doings, render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another; love no false oath. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, let us argue it out,’ says the Lord” [Jer 7:3; Zech 7:9–10; 8:17; Isa 1:16–18]. And again: “Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it” [Ps 34:13–14]. In preaching these things, the prophets sought the fruits of righteousness. Last of all he sent to those unbelievers his own Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, whom the wicked tenant workers cast out of the vineyard when they had slain him. Therefore the Lord God gave it up (no longer fenced in but opened wide to all the world) to other tenant workers, who would render the fruits in their seasons [Mark 12:2–9]. The beautiful elect tower is now also raised everywhere, for the illustrious Church is now everywhere, and everywhere the winepress has been dug—for those who receive the Spirit are everywhere. Since the former rejected the Son of God and cast him out of the vineyard when they killed him, God has justly rejected them and given to the Gentiles outside the vineyard the fruits of its cultivation. This agrees with what Jeremiah says, “The Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation that provoked his wrath. For the people of Judah have done evil in my sight, says the LORD” [Jer 7:29–30]. Similarly, Jeremiah says, “I raised up sentinels for you: ‘Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not give heed.’ Therefore hear, O nations” [Jer 6:17–18]. It is one and the same Father who planted the vineyard, led forth the people, sent the prophets, sent his own Son, and gave the vineyard to those other tenant workers who render the fruits in their season. (4:36,2)

That is why, to make us good workmen, the Lord said to his disciples, “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth” [Luke 21:34–35]; and, “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet” [Luke 12:35–36]; and, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking, and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed all of them. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulphur from heaven and destroyed all of them—it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed” [Luke 17:26–30]; and, “Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” [Matt 24:42]. He declares one and the same Lord, who in the times of Noah brought the flood because of humanity’s disobedience, who in the days of Lot rained fire from heaven because of the multitude of sinners among the inhabitants of Sodom, and who, on account of this same disobedience and similar sins, will bring on the day of judgment at the end of time. He declares that on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for any city and house which did not receive the word of his apostles: “And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you” [Matt 11:23–24]. (4:36,3)

Since the Son of God is always one and the same, he gives to those who believe on him a well of water springing up to eternal life [John 4:14], but he causes the unfruitful fig tree immediately to dry up [Matt 21:19–20]. In the days of Noah he justly brought on the flood to extinguish the infamous race of humans existing then, who could not bring forth fruit to God (since the angels that sinned had commingled with them [Gen 5:2]), and to put a check on the sins of these men, while still preserving the archetype, the formation of Adam. He rained fire and brimstone from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Lot as an example of the righteous judgment of God [Jude 7], that all might know that “every tree . . . that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” [Matt 3:10]. He is the one who says that it will be more tolerable for Sodom in the general judgment than for those who beheld his wonders but did not believe on him or receive his doctrine [Matt 11:24; Luke 10:12]. As by his advent he gave a greater privilege to those who believed on him and do his will, so also he pointed out that those who did not believe on him will face a more severe punishment in the judgment—thus extending equal justice to all, and intending to exact more from those to whom he gives more. . . . (4:36,4)

. . . All human beings are the property of God, for “the earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it” [Ps 24:1]. . . . Everyone, then, as a creature is his workmanship, even if that person is ignorant of God. For he gives existence to all. . . . (4:36,6)

. . . The parable of the workmen sent into the vineyard at different periods of the day declares one and the same God who called some in the beginning, when the world was first created; but others afterwards; and others during the intermediate period; others after a long lapse of time; and others at the end of time [Matt 20:1–16]. So there are many workers in their generations, but only one householder who calls them together. There is only one vineyard, since there is also only one righteousness; and there is only one administrator, for there is one Spirit of God who arranges all things. Similarly, there is only one hire, for they all received a penny, each one having the royal image and superscription [cf. Matt 22:20]—the knowledge of the Son of God, which is eternal life. That is why he began by giving their pay to those who worked last, because it was in the last times, when the Lord was revealed, that he presented himself to all. (4:36,7)

. . . If, then, those who believe in him through the preaching of his apostles throughout the east and west shall recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, partaking with them of the banquet [Matt 8:11], one and the same God is set forth as the one who chose the patriarchs, visited the people, and called the Gentiles. (4:36,8)

This expression of our Lord, “How often have I desired to gather your children together . . . , and you were not willing” [Matt 23:37], sets forth the ancient law of human liberty: God made human beings free from the beginning, possessing their own power, even as they do their own souls, to obey the commands of God voluntarily, and not by divine compulsion. For there is no coercion with God, but he always bears goodwill towards humankind. That is why he gives good counsel to all. And in all human beings, as well as in angels, he has placed the power of choice (for angels are rational beings), so that those who yield obedience might justly possess what is good, given indeed by God but preserved by themselves. On the other hand, those who have not obeyed will with justice not be found in possession of the good and will receive appropriate punishment, for God kindly bestowed on them what was good but they did not diligently keep it or count it something precious, but showed contempt for his abundant goodness. Since they reject the good, and as it were spit it out, they will all deservedly incur the just judgment of God. . . . God has given what is good, as the apostle tells us in the Letter to the Romans, and those who do good will receive glory and honor [Rom 2:4, 5, 7] because they have done what is good when they had it in their power not to do it; but those who do not do it will receive the just judgment of God, because they did not do good when they had it in their power to do so. (4:37,1)

If some had been made bad by nature and others good, the latter would not deserve praise for being good, for that is the way they were created; nor would the former be reprehensible, for that would be the way they were made. But since all humanity has the same nature, able both to retain and do what is good, as well as the power to cast it from them and not do it, some justly receive praise, even among those who are guided by good laws (and much more from God), and obtain deserved testimony for their good choices in general and for persevering in them. But the others are blamed and receive a just condemnation because they rejected what is fair and good. That is why the prophets used to exhort people to what was good, to act justly and to work righteousness, as I have abundantly shown, because it is in our power to do so, and because by our excessive negligence we might become forgetful. We need that good counsel which the good God has granted us to know through the prophets. (4:37,2)

For this reason the Lord also said, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” [Matt 5:16]; and “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life” [Luke 21:34]; and “Be dressed for action, and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes” [Luke 12:35–37]; and again, “That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating” [Luke 12:47]; and “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?” [Luke 6:46]; and again, “But if that wicked slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites” [Matt 24:48–51]. All such passages indicate the independence of human will, as well as the counsel which God conveys to them, by which he exhorts us to submit to him and seeks to turn us away from unbelief against him—without, however, in any way coercing us. (4:37,3)

No doubt, if any one is unwilling to follow the gospel itself, it is in his power to reject it, but that is hardly wise. It is in one’s power to disobey God and to forfeit what is good, but that will result in no small amount of injury and mischief. . . . (4:37,4)

God has maintained human wills free and under their own control, not only for actions but also for faith: “According to your faith let it be done to you” [Matt 9:29]. This shows that faith is under the control of each human being. Again, “All things can be done for the one who believes” [Mark 9:23]; and “Go; let it be done for you according to your faith” [Matt 8:13]. All such expressions indicate that a person is in his own power as regards faith: because of this, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath” [John 3:36]. In the same way the Lord, showing both his own goodness and indicating that humans are in their own free will and power, said to Jerusalem, “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate” [Matt 23:37–38]. (4:37,5)

Those who maintain the opposite present a God destitute of power, as if he were unable to accomplish what he willed. . . . They say, “He should not have created angels with a nature that could transgress or human beings, who so quickly showed themselves ungrateful towards him. For he made them rational beings, endowed with the power of examining and judging, and not like things which are irrational or of an animal nature: they can do nothing of their own will, but are drawn by necessity and compulsion to what is good. In them there is the same instinct and practice, working mechanically in one groove, and they are incapable of being anything else but what they were created to be.”

But on this approach not even what is good could make them grateful, nor would communion with God be precious, nor would the good be worthy of being sought after, since it would present itself without humanity’s endeavor, care, or study, but would be implanted of its own accord and without their concern. Their being good would be thus of no consequence, because they were good by nature rather than by will, and because they possess good spontaneously, not by choice. For this reason they would not understand that good is beautiful, and so they would not take pleasure in it. How can those who are ignorant of good enjoy it? What credit is it to those who have not aimed at it? How could it be a crown for those who have not pursued it, like the crowns received by victors in a contest? (4:37,6)

. . . Things which come spontaneously are not esteemed as highly as are those attained by strenuous effort. Since, then, this power has been conferred on us, both the Lord has taught and the apostle has enjoined us the more to love God, so that we may reach this prize for ourselves by striving after it. . . . The ability to see would not appear so desirable, unless we had known what a loss it would be to lose our sight; and health is esteemed much more highly if one has been ill—as is light contrasted with darkness, and life with death. In the same way the heavenly kingdom is desirable to those who have known the earthly one. . . .

The Lord endured all these things for us so that we, instructed by them all, might in all respects be careful in the time to come, and that, having been rationally taught to love God, we might continue in his perfect love. God has displayed long-suffering in the face of humanity’s apostasy, while humans have been instructed by it, as the prophet says, “Your apostasies will convict you” [Jer 2:19]. God thus determined all things ahead of time for the purpose of bringing humankind to perfection, for their edification, and to reveal his dispensations, so that goodness might be manifest and righteousness completed, so that the Church might be fashioned after the image of his Son, and so that humans might finally be brought to maturity at some future time, becoming ripe through such privileges to see and know God. (4:37,7)

If, however, anyone asks, “But could not God have made humankind perfect from the beginning?”, let that person know that since God is always the same and unbegotten, all things are possible to him. But created things must be inferior to him who created them, from the very fact of their later origin—for it was not possible for things recently created to have been uncreated. But since they are not uncreated, they come short of being perfect: as those who come into being, they are like infants, unaccustomed to and unexercised in perfect discipline. A mother may be able to give strong food to her infant, but the child is not able to receive such substantial nourishment: so also, it was possible for God to have made humankind perfect from the first, but humanity could not receive this, since they were still like infants. This is why our Lord in these last times, having summed up all things in himself, came to us, not as he might have come but as we were capable of beholding him. He might easily have come to us in his immortal glory, but in that case we could never have endured its greatness. So he who was the perfect bread of the Father offered himself to us as milk, because we were like infants. He did this when he appeared as a man, so that we, being nourished, as it were, from the breast of his flesh, and by such a course of nourishment having become accustomed to eat and drink the Word of God, might be able to contain in ourselves the bread of immortality, which is the Spirit of the Father. (4:38,1)

. . . Similarly, God had power to grant perfection to humankind at the beginning, but since they had only recently been created, they could not possibly have received it; or if they had received it, they could not have contained it; or if they had contained it, they could not have retained it. This was why the Son of God, although he was perfect, passed through the state of infancy in common with the rest of humankind, partaking of it not for his own benefit, but for the infantile stage of human existence, so that humankind might be able to receive him. There was nothing impossible to or deficient in God in that humankind was not an uncreated being. The only limitation was on the humanity just created. (4:38,2)

Power, wisdom, and goodness are simultaneously exhibited by God—his power and goodness in this, that of his own will he called into being and fashioned things which had no previous existence; his wisdom in making all created things parts of one harmonious and consistent whole. Those things which, through his abounding kindness, grow and last a long time, reflect the glory of the uncreated one, the God who bestows good ungrudgingly. Since these things were created, they are not uncreated; by continuing to exist throughout a long course of ages, though, they receive a certain quality of the uncreated, for God generously grants them eternal existence.

So, in all things God has the pre-eminence, who is the only uncreated, the first of all things, and the primary cause of the existence of everything, while all other things remain under God’s control. But being in subjection to God is the way to immortality, and immortality is the glory of the uncreated one. By this arrangement and these harmonies, by this sequence, a human being, created and organized, is made according to the image and likeness of the uncreated God—the Father planning everything well and giving his commands, the Son carrying them out and doing the work of creating, and the Spirit nourishing and increasing what is made, but humankind making progress day by day and ascending thus towards the perfect (that is, approximating to the uncreated one), for the uncreated (that is, God) is perfect. It was necessary that humankind should in the first instance be created; and having been created, should grow; and having grown, should be strengthened; and being strengthened, should abound; and abounding, should recover from the disease of sin; and having recovered, should be glorified; and being glorified, should see his Lord. For God is the one who is yet to be seen, and beholding God leads to immortality, but immortality brings one near to God. (4:38,3)

. . . According to his great kindness he graciously conferred good on us and made human beings like himself, in their own power. At the same time by his prescience he knew the weakness of human beings and the consequences which would flow from it. But by love and power he would overcome the limitations of created nature. It was necessary, first, for nature to be exhibited; then, for what was mortal to be conquered and swallowed up by immortality, and the corruptible by incorruptibility [1 Cor 15:53], and for human beings to be made after the image and likeness of God, having received the knowledge of good and evil. (4:38,4)

Humankind has received the knowledge of good and evil. It is good to obey God, to believe in him, and to keep his commandment: indeed, this is the life of humanity, just as not to obey God is evil—indeed, it is death. Since God, therefore, gave such mental power, humans knew both the good of obedience and the evil of disobedience, that the eye of the mind, experiencing both, might use good judgment and choose the better things; that they might never become lazy or neglect God’s command; and learning by experience that it is an evil thing which deprives them of life (that is, disobedience to God), might never attempt it at all, but, knowing that what preserves life (namely, obedience to God) is good, might diligently and eagerly keep it. So humanity has had a twofold experience, possessing knowledge of both kinds, that with discipline they might choose the better things.

But if they had no knowledge of the opposite, could they have had instruction in what is good? We have a more certain and clearer understanding in this way than we would from merely mental suppositions about what would happen. Just as the tongue experiences sweet and bitter by tasting, and the eye discriminates between black and white by vision, and the ear recognizes distinct sounds by hearing, so also the mind, by experiencing both, comes to know what is good and becomes more devoted to good by obeying God. In the first place, through repentance it turns from disobedience as something disagreeable and nauseous; then it comes to understand what disobedience really is, that it is opposed to goodness and sweetness, so that the mind may never even attempt to taste disobedience to God. But if anyone shuns the knowledge of both these kinds of things and the twofold perception of knowledge, that person unwittingly divests himself of the character of a human being. (4:39,1)

. . . At the beginning, it is necessary for you to hold the rank of a human being, and only afterwards to partake of the glory of God. You do not make God; God makes you. If you are God’s workmanship, await the hand of your maker who creates everything in due time—“in due time” as far as you are concerned, whose creation is being carried out. Offer your heart to him in a soft and pliable state, preserving the form in which the creator fashioned you, having moisture in yourself—so that you do not, by becoming hardened, lose the impressions of his fingers. But by preserving your framework you will ascend to what is perfect, for the moist clay which is in you is hidden there by the workmanship of God. His hand fashioned your substance; he will cover you over, inside and outside, with pure gold and silver, and he will adorn you to such a degree that even “the king will desire your beauty” [Ps 45:11]. . . . (4:39,2)

If, though, you will not believe in him and flee from his hands, the reason for your imperfection will be in you who did not obey, not in him who called. . . . The skill of God is not defective, for he can raise up children for Abraham from stones [Matt 3:9]; the one who does not obtain it is the cause of his own imperfection. Light has not ceased just because people have blinded themselves: it remains the same as ever, but those who are thus blinded are wrapped up in darkness by their own fault. . . . So, those who have apostatized from the light given by the Father and transgressed the law of liberty have done so through their own fault, since they were created as free agents, possessing power over themselves. (4:39,3)

But since God foreknows all things, he prepared fit habitations for both, kindly conferring the light which they desire on those who seek after the light of incorruption and turn toward it, but preparing darkness suitable to those who oppose the light for the despisers and mockers who avoid and turn away from this light and who, as it were, blind themselves. He has thus inflicted an appropriate punishment on those who try to avoid being subject to him. Submission to God is eternal rest, but those who shun the light receive a place worthy of their flight, and those who fly from eternal rest find a place suited to their fleeing. Since all good things are with God, those who by their own determination fly from God rob themselves of all good things. Having been thus robbed of all good things with respect to God, they consequently fall under the just judgment of God. Those who shun rest will justly incur punishment, and those who avoid the light will justly dwell in darkness. . . . Those who fly from the eternal light of God, which contains all good things in itself, are themselves the reason they inhabit eternal darkness, destitute of all good things. It is their own fault they are consigned to such an abode. (4:39,4)

. . . The Father, who has prepared the kingdom for the righteous, into which the Son has received those worthy of it, is also the one who has prepared the furnace of fire, into which the angels commissioned by the son of man will send those persons who deserve it, according to God’s command. (4:40,2)

For the Lord sowed good seed in his own field, and “the field is the world” [Matt 13:38], he says. “But while everybody slept, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away” [Matt 13:25]. From this we learn that this was the apostate angel: the enemy, envious of God’s workmanship [Wis 2:24], sought to make humanity God’s enemy. That is why God banished from his presence the one who stealthily and deliberately sowed the tares (that is, the one who brought about the transgression). But God took compassion on humankind who—no doubt carelessly, but still wickedly—disobeyed him. God turned the enmity by which the apostate angel tried to make humanity God’s enemy against its author: instead of being angry with humankind, God turned his anger in another direction, settling it instead on the serpent. As the Scripture tells us, God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” [Gen 3:15]. And the Lord fulfilled this in himself when he was made man from a woman and trod upon the serpent’s head, as I pointed out in the preceding book. (4:40,3)

Since the Lord has said that there are certain angels of the devil, for whom eternal fire is prepared, and since, further, he declares that “the weeds are the children of the evil one” [Matt 13:38], it must be acknowledged that he has ascribed all who belong to this apostasy to the one who is the ringleader of this transgression. He did not make either angels or human beings that way by nature. The devil did not create anything whatsoever: he is himself a creature of God, like the other angels. God made all things, as David says with regard to everything: “He spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” [Ps 33:9]. (4:41,1)

Since, then, all things were made by God, and since the devil became the cause of apostasy for himself and others, the Scripture justly terms those who remain in a state of apostasy “children of the devil” and “angels of the wicked one.” For “children,” as one before me has observed, has a twofold meaning: one according to the order of nature, being born as a child; the other, being accepted and counted as a child, even though there is a difference between being born a child and being made one. The first is born from the person referred to, but the second is made so, either by creation or by the teaching of his doctrine. When anyone has been taught from the mouth of another, that person is deemed a child of the one who gave the instruction, and the latter is called his father. According to nature, then—that is, according to creation, so to speak—we are all children of God, because we were all created by God. But as regards obedience and doctrine, we are not all the children of God: only those are who believe in him and do his will. But those who do not believe and do not obey his will are children and angels of the devil, because they do the works of the devil. . . . (4:41,2)

In human society, children who disobey their fathers are disinherited. Even though they are still children by nature, by law they are disinherited and do not become heirs of their natural parents. It is the same way with God: those who do not obey him are disinherited by him and have ceased to be his children. . . . But if they should be converted and come to repentance, and cease from evil, they have power to become the children of God [John 1:12] and to receive the inheritance of immortality which he gives. This is why he has called those who give place to the devil and do his works his “angels” and “children of the evil one” [Matt 25:41; 13:38]. Even so, they were created by one and the same God. If they believe and submit to God and proceed to keep his doctrine, they are the children of God; but if they apostatize and fall into transgression, they are ascribed to their chief, the devil—to him who first became the cause of apostasy to himself, and afterwards to others. (4:41,3)

Since the words of the Lord are numerous, while they all proclaim one and the same Father, the creator of this world, it has been necessary for me to use many arguments to refute those who are involved in many errors—if by any means, when they are confuted by many proofs, they may be converted to the truth and saved. . . . (4:41,4)

1. The book of 1 Enoch, cited in Jude 14–16, was eventually included as canonical only in the Ethiopic OT, but its echoes are found in several early Christian authors; it is available in OTP 13–89.

2. Irenaeus is here citing The Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 1; written c. 95–100 CE, this document was considered by a number of leaders of the early Church to be Scripture; it is available in AposFrs 334–527.

3. Charles Hill has presented a persuasive argument that this presbyter must have been Polycarp; see his From the Lost Teaching of Polycarp.

4. The Ebionites were a Jewish Christian group who taught that Jesus was the Messiah [i.e., Christ] but that he was only human, the son of Joseph and Mary.

5. Irenaeus cites this passage three times in AH (at 3:20,4, attributing it to Isaiah; at 4:22,1, attributing it to Jeremiah; and here, without attribution); however, it is not found anywhere in the OT or any extant versions of any of the prophetic books.

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