There are two circumstances which must prevent us from expecting that the
writings of Irenæus should add largely to our stores of historical
knowledge; one, that his remains are not very considerable in extent, and
the other, that they are chiefly occupied in doctrinal controversy. What,
however, he does tell us, is important. He asserts that the Church in his
time was spread throughout the world(106); and particularly specifies the
Churches in Germany, Iberia, (i. e. Spain), amongst the Celts (i. e. in
Gaul), in the East, in Egypt, in Lybia, and in the centre of the world, by
which he no doubt means Palestine(107). He likewise incidentally shows
that the Gospel had been preached in Ethiopia(108). He furnishes no
evidence concerning the first missionaries, except in the case of
Ethiopia, to which he informs us the eunuch baptized by Philip was sent;
but he declares explicitly that all the Churches through the world,
although differing in usage(109), had but one faith(110), which was
delivered to them at baptism(111).
He speaks of the Churches in general as having been settled by the
Apostles(112), and particularly specifies that the Church of Rome was
founded by S. Peter and S. Paul, who appointed its first bishop
Linus(113); that Polycarp was made bishop of Smyrna by Apostles(114), and
that the succession from him had been kept up to the time of his
writing(115); and that S. John watched over the Church of Ephesus down to
the time of Trajan(116). He informs us that the successors of the first
bishops might be reckoned up in many Churches down to his own time(117),
particularly specifies the Churches of Rome and Smyrna(118), and gives a
catalogue of the bishops of Rome as follows:—Linus, mentioned by S. Paul
in his epistles to Timothy(119); Anencletus(120); Clement(121), who had
seen and conferred with the Apostles; Evarestus; Alexander; Xystus, or
Sixtus; Telesphorus, who suffered martyrdom; Hyginus; Pius; Anicetus;
Soter; Eleutherius(122): and we have a fragment of a letter of his own to
Victor, the successor of Eleutherius(123). He has preserved an anecdote of
St. John, viz. that upon one occasion entering a bath, and seeing
Cerinthus there, he withdrew precipitately, saying that he was afraid lest
the building should fall, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, was
in it(124). This anecdote is indeed at variance with the notion of
Christian charity current at the present day, but it rests upon the
testimony of Polycarp, who knew St. John well; and it is strictly in
accordance with the spirit of the directions he himself gave to “the elect
lady,” not to receive heretical teachers into her house, or bid them God
speed(125).
We are likewise indebted to Irenæus for some particulars respecting
Polycarp. He states that he had been favoured with familiar intercourse
with St. John and the rest who had seen Jesus, and had heard from them
particulars respecting him and his miracles and teaching(126). He mentions
his having spent some time in Rome in the days of Anicetus(127). He does
not, indeed, state the cause of his visit; but Eusebius(128) and
Jerome(129) distinctly say that it was on account of the Paschal
controversy. This subject, amongst others, our author states to have been
discussed between them, and that Polycarp rested his adherence to the
Jewish practice upon his having always kept Easter in that way with St.
John and the other Apostles, and consequently declined to change it;
whereupon, to show that this inflexibility had produced no breach of
amity, Anicetus thought proper to request Polycarp to officiate for him,
and to take his place at the holy communion(130). During his stay
there(131) he met Marcion, who inquired if he recognised him. His reply
was, “I recognise the first‐born of Satan.” This severity (or bigotry, as
it would now be called) does not appear to have operated in his disfavour;
for he was instrumental in recovering to the Church many who had been led
away by the Gnostic delusions(132). Irenæus likewise mentions Polycarp’s
epistle to the Philippians(133), and other epistles to other Churches and
individuals(134).
Respecting Clement, whom Eusebius(135) identifies with the companion of S.
Paul(136), he states that he wrote a very effectual letter to the
Corinthians, to allay the dissensions which had arisen amongst them, and
to restore the integrity of their faith(137). This is, of course, the
first epistle of S. Clement, to the genuineness of which his mention of it
is a powerful testimony.
He speaks of the Church of Rome not only as having been founded and
settled under its first bishop by St. Peter and St. Paul, but as being one
of the greatest and most ancient, well known to all men(138), preserving
the true doctrine by the resort of persons from all quarters, and
possessing from this circumstance a more powerful pre‐eminence; and states
that all Churches must on that account resort to it(139). It is well known
that this is a passage upon which Romanists very much rely, as
establishing the claim of their Church to be the mistress of controversies
to all Christendom; and I have chosen to give it the utmost force of which
it is fairly capable, in order to avoid the charge of slurring it over,
and in order to show that even thus it states nothing inconsistent with
the doctrine of the Church of England respecting the present Church of
Rome. I will therefore give a translation of the passage, which appears
below, and make some remarks upon that translation:—“For every Church
(that is, the faithful who are on all sides,) must on account of its more
powerful pre‐eminence resort to this Church, in which the apostolical
tradition is preserved by those who are on all sides.”
There are several words in this passage which must influence the sense of
it. The first I shall notice is the word _potentiorem_, the more
especially as there is a various reading upon it. One MS. (the Clermont)
of considerable value, reads _potiorem_; but Massuet, who examined it,
says that it _had_ been written _pontiorem_ (but altered to _potiorem_,)
which is almost certainly a contraction for the common reading. We must
therefore, I conclude, sit down with the common reading; although Massuet,
in the Benedictine edition, and J. J. Griesbach, in some remarks upon this
passage(140), prefer the other. But what Greek word _potentiorem_
represents must be matter of conjecture; and no one who is acquainted with
the manner in which the translator has rendered Greek words will be
inclined to lay much stress upon it. It may have been put for ἱκανωτέραν,
or κρείττονα; or, in short, the comparative of any adjective which
_admits_ of being rendered _potens_. We then come to the word
_principalitatem_. This we know that the ancient translator of Irenæus
uses to signify ἀρχή(141). Putting these two together, Griesbach has
rendered κρείττονα ἀρχὴν, _potiorem initium_, and thus got rid of the idea
of _authority_ altogether. But there is no need of this. _Principalis_ is
used by the translator as the rendering of ἡγεμονικός(142);
_principaliter_, of προηγουμένως(143), and προηγητίκως(144);
_principalitatem habeo_, of πρωτεύω(145). We know that all the apostolical
sees had a kind of _principality_ or _pre‐eminence_ above the surrounding
Churches; a _more powerful_ pre‐eminence than other Churches equally
ancient with themselves. Nay, we know that the Church of Rome had at that
time, in point of fact, a more powerful pre‐eminence than any other
Church.
The next word to be considered is _convenire_, which may be rendered
either _resort_ or _agree_; and I confess I should have been disposed,
with Massuet, to render it _agree_, were it not for a perfectly parallel
passage in the 32d _Oration_ of Gregory of Nazianzum, delivered at the
first council of Constantinople. Speaking of Constantinople, he says, εἰς
ἣν τὰ πανταχόθεν ἄκρα συντρέχει, καὶ ὅθεν ἄρχεται ὡς ἐμπορίου κοινοῦ τῆς
πίστεως. Here Constantinople is spoken of _then_ under the very same terms
as Rome by Irenæus, as _the common repository of the faith_: other parts
of the Christian world are said to be _governed_ (ἄρχεται) by it; and
distant Churches are said to _resort from all quarters_: συντρέχει
πανταχόθεν. Are not these words an exact parallel to the _convenire_ and
_undique_ of the translator of Irenæus? I therefore feel bound to give
_convenire_ the sense of _resort_. The next word to be noticed is
_undique_, the _application_ of which is disputed; some, as Barrow(146)
and Faber(147), applying it only to the immediate neighbourhood of Rome,
i. e. Italy and the adjacent parts of Gaul; others, and of course the
Romanists, to the whole Christian Church. According to the former plan,
the clause “hoc est ... fideles” is a limitation of the expression “omnem
ecclesiam,” confining it to the Churches immediately surrounding Rome; and
consequently the pre‐eminence of the Church of Rome would be equally
narrowed by this interpretation of _undique_. I am far from contending
that this interpretation is not correct; and the very fact of the passage
admitting it, without any force whatever, shows how little the papal cause
can be made to rest upon it. But as Gregory, in the parallel passage I
have quoted, uses the term πανταχόθεν, I am disposed to take _undique_ as
its representative; the more especially as we have seen that, whatever
influence it gives to Rome, the selfsame influence had Constantinople in
an after age.
There are one or two more words still to be mentioned. _Necesse est_ is
one of them. It may imply that it is the _duty_ of every Church to resort
to Rome; but its more natural and usual meaning is, that, _as a matter of
course_, Christians from all parts, and not strictly the Churches
themselves, were led to resort thither by the superior eminence of that
Church.
I have hitherto taken this passage as though it _must_ be applied
definitely to the Church of Rome. But this is by no means necessary; for
it may be a general observation applicable to all the most eminent
Churches, as may be seen by the following translation and arrangement of
it:—“For every Church, (that is, the faithful all around,) must
necessarily resort to that Church in which the apostolical tradition has
been preserved by those on all sides of it, on account of its more
powerful pre‐eminence;” that is, Christians must have recourse each to the
most ancient and most eminent Church in his neighbourhood. And this agrees
with a passage of Tertullian(148), in which he refers southern Greeks to
Corinth, northern to Philippi and Thessalonica, Asiatics to Ephesus,
Italians and Africans to Rome. The only objection which occurs to me lies
in the word _hanc_, which, if the passage is to be taken in this
application, must be translated _that_; but as it was in all probability
the representative of ταύτην, this word can scarcely present any
difficulty.
I will close this whole discussion with two remarks; first, that unless we
could recover the Greek text of this passage, it is plainly impossible to
_ascertain_ its true sense; and secondly, that the strongest sense we can
attach to it, consistently with history, is, that Christians of that
period from all parts of Christendom must, if they wish to ascertain
traditions, have recourse to the Church of Rome, because, as the first
Church in Christendom, the common traditions were preserved there by the
resort of Christians from all quarters. This twofold reason for resorting
thither has long ceased to exist, and consequently this passage of Irenæus
can afford no support to the claims of modern Rome, until it can be proved
that those portions of the Christian world which are not in communion with
her are no part of the Catholic Church.
There is another subject which has caused much discussion, which is
adverted to by Irenæus, viz. the miraculous powers of the Church. He
declares that in his time powers of this kind were possessed by
Christians, such as raising the dead(149), and casting out devils, and
healing the sick; that they likewise had the gift of prophecy(150), and
spoke with tongues, and revealed secret things of men and mysteries of
God(151). It is well known that Gibbon and Middleton have thrown doubt
upon the miraculous powers of the primitive Church; and one of their chief
arguments is that the early writers, such as Irenæus, content themselves
with general statements, but bring no specific instance. The subject has
been very fully entered into by the present highly learned and amiable
bishop of Lincoln, Dr. Kaye, in his work on Tertullian(152); and in the
general I am disposed to acquiesce in the theory adopted by the bishop,
that those powers were conferred only by apostolical hands, and that of
course they would continue till all that generation was extinct who were
contemporary with St. John, the last of the Apostles. That would admit of
Irenæus having known instances; and not having any idea that the power was
to be extinct, he would think that it still remained, even if he had not
known any _recent_ instances. It is necessary to remark, however, that he
speaks of the gifts of tongues and the revealing of secrets and mysteries,
not as a thing coming under his own knowledge, but heard of from others;
and it does not appear that he intends to say that they continued to his
own time. And I will venture to observe that it appears rather unfair to
Irenæus to set aside his testimony by saying that he brings no specific
instance of those things which he speaks of as still done. He might feel
that the thing was so notorious, that those who were not convinced by the
notoriety of such occurrences would cavil at any particular case he might
select; and his mentioning that some of those who had been delivered from
evil spirits had become converts, that some of those who had been raised
from the dead, being poor, had been assisted with money(153), and that
some had lived many years after(154), surely indicates that he was
speaking from a knowledge of individual cases. One should indeed have
expected that every one who owed his deliverance from Satanic possession
to the miraculous power possessed by Christians would have embraced the
faith of those who exercised it; and the circumstance that Irenæus affirms
this of _some_ only gives a greater air of probability to his whole
statement. Besides this, we must distinguish between the cases of persons
healed by the direct agency of an individual, and those in which it
pleased God to hear the joint prayers of several; for it is observable
that our author attributes the raising of the dead only to the united
prayers and fasting of a whole Church, and confines it to cases of great
urgency(155).
The testimony which Irenæus bears to the relation between the Church and
the empire is but slight. He mentions a Christian as having been in his
own youth high in the imperial court, at the same time that he was a
follower or admirer of Polycarp(156); he speaks of Christians in the
imperial palace deriving an income from the heathen, and able to assist
their poorer brethren(157); and he acknowledges the general advantages
which Christians derived from the supremacy of the Romans, in common with
their other subjects, in the prevalence of peace and the freedom from
individual outrage(158). But he mentions very distinctly the persecutions
at another time Christians suffered (particularly alluding to those which
took place at Lyons), and notices that slaves were compelled to inform
against their masters; and that in this way the calumny that Christians
fed upon human flesh arose, from a misunderstanding of the nature of the
holy Eucharist(159); the slaves having heard their masters speak of
feeding on the body and blood of Christ, and taking it in a literal sense.