




                                An Account

                                  Of The

                            Life and Writings

                                    Of

                               S. Irenaeus,

                       Bishop of Lyons and Martyr:

                          Intended to Illustrate

 The Doctrine, Discipline, Practices, and History of the Church, and the
 Tenets and Practices of the Gnostic Heretics, During the Second Century.

                                    By

                            James Beaven, M.A.

                        Of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford

             And Curate of Leigh, in the County of Stafford.

                                 London:

                         J. G. F. & J. Rivington

                                   1841





CONTENTS


Preface.
Subscribers' Names.
Chapter I. Life of S. Irenaeus, and General Account Of His Writings.
Chapter II. Testimony of Irenaeus to Certain Facts of Church History.
Chapter III. On The Nature, Office, Powers, and Privileges Of The Church.
Chapter IV. On The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity.
Chapter V. The Origin of Evil.
Chapter VI. The Evil Spirits.
Chapter VII. The Divine Dispensations.
Chapter VIII. On The Canon, Genuineness, Versions, Use, And Value Of Holy
Scripture.
Chapter IX. On The Nature And Use of Primitive Tradition.
Chapter X. On The Creed.
Chapter XI. Freewill, Predestination, And Election.
Chapter XII. On Baptism.
Chapter XIII. The Eucharist.
Chapter XIV. On Justification.
Chapter XV. On Ceremonies, Usages, And Forms Of Words.
Chapter XVI. On The Sabbath.
Chapter XVII. On The Typical Interpretation Of Scripture.
Chapter XVIII. On The Intermediate State.
Chapter XIX. On Unfulfilled Prophecy.
Chapter XX. The Virgin Mary.
Chapter XXI. Account of the Gnostic Teachers and Their Tenets.
   Section I. Simon Magus, Nicolas, and the Ebionites.
   Section II. Menander, Saturninus, And Basilides.
   Section III. Carpocrates And Cerinthus.
   Section IV. Cerdon, Marcion, Tatian, And The Cainites.
   Section V. The Barbeliots, Ophites, And Sethites.
   Section VI. Valentinus.
   Section VII. Secundus, Epiphanes, Ptolemy, Colorbasus, And Marcus.
   Section VIII. Gnostic Redemption.
   Section IX. Reflections Upon Gnosticism.
Footnotes






                               [Cover Art]

[Transcriber's Note: The above cover image was produced by the submitter
at Distributed Proofreaders, and is being placed into the public domain.]





DEDICATION.


To the Memory

Of

Edward Burton, D.D.

Late Regius Professor Of Divinity In The University Of Oxford,

By Whose Advice And Encouragement

The Author Of This Work

Was First Led To Study, With Care And Attention,

The Writings Of

This Father and Martyr.

It Is Now Dedicated And Inscribed;

As A Humble Acknowledgement Of His Extensive Learning,

His Remarkable Singleness Of Mind,

And The Cordial Assistance He Ever Rendered

To Younger Travellers

In The Same Path Which He Himself Pursued.





PREFACE.


It was, perhaps, somewhat presumptuous in a person occupying so humble a
station in the sacred ministry to offer to the Church a work which would
necessarily induce comparisons between itself and the similar productions
of a Prelate of the Church--a Divine of the highest rank and character. The
author can, however, at least say, that it was no foolish ambition which
led to his employing himself on such a work. Having been led by
circumstances to a repeated perusal and study of the writings of S.
Irenaeus, he saw the great value of his testimony to the leading principles
and doctrines of the Church of England. He had himself derived much
benefit from the works of Bishop Kaye on others of the Fathers; he thought
that if he could do nothing more than to draw out the substance of the
doctrine and opinions of Irenaeus for the use of the student in theology,
in a more accessible form than that in which he himself had to look for
it, accompanied by the text of the portions from which he had formed his
statements, and with a little illustration of the meaning in passages
liable to misunderstanding,--he should have rendered a service to his
younger brethren: and if it should so happen that that distinguished
Prelate or any other writer did anticipate him, it would be so much clear
gain to himself to have been so employed. When he had completed his first
preparations, and had learnt by proper inquiry that the Illustrator of
Justin, Clement, and Tertullian was not engaged on Irenaeus, he endeavoured
to put the work somewhat into form: and being afterwards encouraged by one
upon whose judgment and acquirements public opinion had set its stamp, and
who had seen portions of the work, to believe that it possessed a certain
degree of value,--he ventured to bring it into public notice in the only
way which appeared open to him.

He desires here to record his sense of the most kind and most hearty
encouragement he has met with from persons of all ranks and classes,
capable of appreciating a work of this description, or of aiding in its
publication: more especially of that afforded him by her Majesty THE QUEEN
DOWAGER, by the Most Reverend and Right Reverend Prelates who have
honoured him with their support, by the many persons distinguished either
for station or for literary eminence, whose names will be found in the
subjoined list, and by the warm-hearted friends, both of the clergy and of
the laity, with whom he is either locally or personally connected.

His work, such as it is, he now sends forth, trusting that, through the
blessing of the Divine HEAD of the Church, it may be available to the
great ends of the ministry to which he has been called, and may tend to
the unity, the strength, and the stability of the Church.

Before, however, he takes his leave of his readers, he wishes to add a few
words on the Right Use of the Writings of the Fathers.

1. We use them as we do the writings of secular authors, to ascertain the
_facts_ of the _history_ of their own or of preceding times; principally
as concerning the Church, and secondarily as concerning the world. To this
use of them no objection in principle can be raised; and in so doing, we
treat them exactly as we do ordinary writers.

2. We use them, as _evidence_ of the state of the Church, in their own and
preceding ages, as regards either _discipline_ or _morals_. In regard to
the former, as it is a thing not in its nature liable to hasty
alteration,--discipline established in one age continuing on, for the most
part, into the next,--their testimony will avail for the immediately
preceding generation, as well as for their own. In regard to the latter,
it can scarcely be received for any thing anterior to their own age,
unless where they record the observations of some older person. In both,
moreover, it requires to be noted whether they are writing controversially
or historically: because we all know that through the imperfection of our
nature we are apt to overstate our own case, and to understate that of our
opponents. And if that is the case now, when a more extended and more
accurate education has disciplined the minds of writers to impartiality,
how much more must it have been so in an earlier stage of controversial
writing, when there had been no opportunity for any such discipline. It is
necessary, therefore, in the perusal of their controversial writings to be
on our guard, and to notice, in any particular case, whether the mind of
the writer is likely to have been influenced in his statements by any such
bias. It must be remembered, moreover, that no individual author can be
considered as evidence for the state of the universal Church, unless we
have sufficient proof that he had means of knowing the condition of the
whole Church, and unless we can gather that, being so qualified, he
intends to speak thus largely.

Again, when not writing controversially, if we are aware that they
laboured under any particular prejudice or bias, either towards any
particular opinion or state of feeling, or against any particular class or
individual, which is liable to affect their statements,--then likewise we
must view them with caution.

On the other hand, when we have no evidence of any circumstance likely to
pervert their perceptions, or to exaggerate their statements, it is
obvious that they must be taken at their full value.

3. We use the Fathers as evidence of the _doctrine_ which was taught by
the Church, in their own and preceding ages. And here some of the remarks
just made will apply again. The Fathers, like all other writers, sometimes
state their own individual opinions, or the views of doctrine which
prevailed in the sect or party to which they were attached, or in the
particular part of the Church in which they were placed, or in the age in
which they lived: at other times, and more frequently, the doctrines of
the whole Church, in their own and all preceding ages. Now, where a writer
states that what he is saying is held by the whole Church, unless we know
any thing to the contrary, it is reasonable to believe that it was the
case; because we know that the tradition of doctrine was, for the most
part, jealously kept up by the perpetual intercourse and communication
between the bishops of the several churches. And so again, where a writer
affirms that any particular doctrine has been handed down from the
beginning, unless we have opposing evidence, it is reasonable to take his
word; because we know that it was the custom and practice of the whole
Church to require every new bishop to confess the doctrine _already
received_, and to teach its doctrines to new converts as already received.
And, at all events, such a statement is conclusive evidence, that such
doctrine had come down from a generation or two preceding that of the
writer; unless (as was said before) we have proof to the contrary.

But, as has been already stated, it is possible for an individual to be
led away by controversy, or prejudice, or party bias; and therefore, when
he is manifestly under any such influence, it is well to be on our guard.
For that and other reasons, in any matter of serious doubt, it is
impossible to rest upon the word of any single writer; but we use him as a
link in the chain of evidence as to the doctrine taught from the beginning
by the united universal Church.

4. We use them to aid us in interpreting the text of Scripture. For many
of them quote very largely from the Sacred Volume; and as some lived near
apostolical times, and many wrote in the language in which the New
Testament was written, whilst others were persons of great inquiry and
learning, and lived nearer to the localities of the sacred events than we
do,--they had advantages which we do not possess. When, therefore, several
or many of them concur in giving one uniform meaning to particular
passages of Scripture, the evidence becomes very strong that they had the
right interpretation: and even where only one writer gives any assistance
upon any particular text, we shall frequently see reason for accepting his
acceptation of it in preference to more modern suggestions. At the same
time it is necessary to bear in mind, that most of them knew nothing of
the original language of the Old Testament; and that they are often only
_applying_ passages according to the prevalent habit (countenanced indeed
by our Lord and his Apostles, but carried to various degrees of excess by
most of the early writers) of seeking for mystical accommodations: and we
must distinguish between application and interpretation.

Now these methods of employing the writings of the Fathers are _a priori_
so obvious and so unobjectionable, that few writers of any credit object
to the principle: but as the results of the application of the principle
are highly inconvenient to those who have rejected the doctrine or
discipline universally upheld in the primitive ages of the Church, two
lines of argument have been taken to nullify this application. And as they
have been lately revived in various ways, and particularly by the re-
publication of the work from which most of them have been derived, viz.
Daille's Treatise _on the Right Use of the Fathers_, I have thought proper
to notice them in that brief manner which the limits of a preface permit.
Some, indeed, of the objections brought forward ought to be considered as
simply cautions to the inquirer, and as such I have already treated them;
the chief remaining ones I now proceed to mention.

(1.) Some contend that, however reasonable in the abstract this sort of
appeal to the Fathers may appear, it is beset with such difficulties, that
it is useless in practice: that we have so few early writings, that those
we have are so adulterated, that we have so many forgeries in the names of
early