The controversy which Irenæus carried on with the Gnostics being directly
and explicitly on the subject of the Divine Nature, led him to treat
distinctly of the divinity and humanity of Christ and his incarnation, of
the providential government of God, and his various manifestations. He is
thus led, almost of necessity, to enunciate the doctrine of the Trinity in
Unity in various aspects, but most especially in regard to the twofold
nature of Christ.
In direct reference to the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity, he describes
the agency of the three Persons in the creation of man; the Father willing
and commanding, the Son ministering and forming, the Spirit sustaining and
nourishing him(193). So again he declares that God made all things by his
Word or Son, and Wisdom or Spirit, using the terms personally; and that
this was the same thing as making them by himself(194), because they are
his hands(195). And again, in explaining God’s dispensations in regard to
man, he affirms(196) that God was seen under the Old Testament by the
Spirit of prophecy, that he was seen subsequently by means of the Son,
adoptively, i. e. adopting human nature into the divine(197), and that he
will be seen in his character of Father in the kingdom of heaven; and that
in this way the Spirit in the Son prepares man, and the Son brings him to
the Father, and the Father grants to him immortality: and so again in the
work of man’s redemption(198), the Spirit operates, the Son supplies, the
Father approves, and man is perfected to salvation. He likewise gives two
statements of the substance of the Creed, in which the three Persons of
the Trinity are spoken of in the same manner as in the Nicene Creed, both
of which will be given in a subsequent chapter.
These are all the passages, so far as I have been able to discover, which
speak of the three Persons of the most Holy Trinity together; but the
doctrine is _implied_ throughout.
On the twofold nature of Christ, and especially on his divinity, he is
more full. Indeed it would take more space than I can spare to introduce
all the passages which bear upon the subject.
Very near the beginning of his treatise, in rehearsing the faith of the
Church, he speaks of “Christ Jesus our Lord and God and Saviour and
King(199);” further on he quotes many passages of Scripture to show that
he was spoken of absolutely and definitely as God and Lord(200), and asks
the question, How would men be saved, if He who wrought out their
salvation upon earth was not God(201)?
He asserts that the Word was with God from everlasting(202), and that
Jesus was the Son of God before the creation(203), that no man knows the
mode of his generation(204), and that God made all things by his
indefatigable Word, who is the Artificer of all things, and sitteth upon
the cherubim, and preserves all things(205). He declares that the Lord who
spake to Abraham was the Son(206), and that it was the Word that appeared
to Moses(207).
This Divine Word, then, was united with his creature(208), (which union is
expressed by the name _Emmanuel_(209),) and humbled himself to take upon
him the infant state of man(210), and thus having become Son of man(211),
went through all the ages of man(212), and finally hung upon the
cross(213). He asserts, moreover, that although the angels knew the Father
solely by the revelation of the Son(214), and indeed all from the
beginning have known God by the Son(215), so that the Father is the Son
invisible, and the Son the Father visible(216), yet that the Son knew not
the day of judgment(217); and that this was so ordered, that we may learn
that the Father is above all(218), and that the Son ministers to the
Father(219): finally, that when Jesus was tempted and suffered, the Word
in him restrained his energy(220). But he declares likewise that Christ
remained in the bosom of the Father, even when upon earth(221).
These mysteries in the nature of Christ Irenæus does not attempt to
explain, fully holding the eternal and unchangeable Divinity of the Son,
even when made flesh, and his strict personal union with that flesh, and
at the same time asserting his subordination to the Father, even in his
divine nature; feeling that when we cannot discover the reason of every
thing, we should consider the immeasureable difference between us and
God(222); that if we cannot explain earthly things, we cannot expect to
explain heavenly things, and that what we cannot explain we must leave to
God(223); and in short that it is much better to know nothing but Christ
crucified, than by subtil inquiries to fall into impiety(224).
This Jesus, then, who has been testified of by all things that he was
truly God and truly man(225), being related to both God and man, and thus
having the indispensable qualification for his office, became the Mediator
between them(226); he came in every dispensation, and summed up all things
in himself(227). He was born about the forty‐first year of the reign of
Augustus(228); when not full thirty he was baptized, but he did not begin
to teach till past forty(229). His ministry extended through three
passovers(230), and he suffered on the day of the passover(231). He is our
High Priest(232); he gave his soul for our souls, and his flesh for ours
(233); his righteous flesh has reconciled to God our sinful flesh (234);
and he brings us into union and communion with God(235). He rose again in
the flesh(236), and in the flesh he ascended into heaven, and will come
again to judgment(237); and he introduces his Church into the kingdom of
heaven(238).
Respecting the Holy Ghost, Irenæus declares that he was with God before
all created things(239), and (as we have seen) that he was the Wisdom of
God, whose operation was the operation of God(240); that he is rightly
called Lord(241); and he affirms that the bread of eternal life, which is
the Word, is also the Spirit of the Father(242). He speaks of him as
coming with power to give entrance unto life to all nations, and to open
to them the new Covenant, and as offering to the Father on the day of
Pentecost the first fruits of all nations(243).
He affirms that man, at his creation, had the image of God in the flesh,
the likeness in the soul by the communication of the Divine Spirit(244).
He implies that, since the fall, man has lost the Spirit, and consequently
the life of his soul; he asserts that he remains carnal until he recovers
the Spirit of God(245), and then he becomes again a living soul, and has
in him the seed of eternal life(246); that the Spirit we receive here is a
pledge of a fuller portion(247); and that at the resurrection the souls
and bodies of the just will be quickened by the Spirit in union with them,
and their bodies become spiritual bodies(248), and capable of immortality.
This is the substance of the doctrine of Irenæus on the Trinity, and it
will be seen that it is identical with that of the Church of England, and
that his way of carrying it out throws light on important passages of Holy
Writ; and if there had been nothing of interest to us in this Treatise
beyond these clear and direct testimonies to the belief of the Church of
that age on the fundamental doctrine of the Gospel, we might well be glad
that it was written and handed down to our times.