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Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching
St Irenaeus of Lyons, tr. Robinson, 1920
Chapter 45
And Jacob, when he went into Mesopotamia, saw Him in a dream, standing upon the ladder, that1 is, the tree, which was set up from earth to heaven;2 for thereby they that believe on Him go up to the heavens. For His sufferings are our ascension on high. And all such visions point to the Son of God, speaking with men and being in their midst. For it was not the Father of all, who is not seen by the world, the Maker of all who said: Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool:3 what house will ye build me, or what is the place of my rest? and who comprehendeth the earth with his4 hand, and with his span the heaven5 —it was not He that came and stood in a very small space and spake with Abraham; but the Word of God, who was ever with mankind, and made known beforehand what should come to pass in the future, and taught men the things of God.
Notes
- Gen. xxviii. 12 f.
- The Arm. text has “from heaven to heaven” by oversight. That Jacob’s Ladder signified the Cross was said by Justin (Dial. 86).
- Acts vii. 49 (Isa. lxvi. 1).
- Isa. xl. 12.
- IV, xxxiii. 1: “Audistis mensos esse caelos in palma . . . qui comprehendit terram pugillo.”