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Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching
St Irenaeus of Lyons, tr. Robinson, 1920
Chapter 47
So then the Father is Lord and the Son is Lord,1 and the Father is God and the Son is God; for that which is begotten of God is God.2 And so in the substance and power of His being there is shown forth one God; but there is also according to the economy of our redemption both Son and Father. Because to created things the Father of all is invisible and unapproachable,3 therefore those who are to draw near to God must have their access to the Father through the Son. And yet more plainly and evidently does David speak concerning the Father and the Son as follows: Thy throne, O4 God, is for ever and ever: thou hast loved righteousness and hated unrighteousness:5 therefore God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. For the Son, as being God, receives from the Father, that is, from God,6 the throne of the everlasting kingdom, and the oil of anointing above His fellows. The oil of anointing is the Spirit,7 wherewith He has been anointed; and His fellows are prophets and righteous men and apostles, and all who receive the fellowship of His kingdom, that is to say, His disciples.
Notes
- III, vi. 1: “Vere igitur cum Pater sit Dominus et Filius vere sit Dominus, merito Spiritus Sanctus Domini appellatione signavit eos.”
- I, i. 18: τὸ γὰρ ἐκ θεοῦ γεννηθὲν θεός ἐστιν.
- Cf. Athan. Orat. i. 64: καὶ ἔστιν ὁ θεὸς ἀόρατος καὶ ἀπρόσιτος τοῖς γεννητοῖς.
- Heb. i. 8 f. (Ps. xlv. 6f.).
- Apparently reading ἀδικίαν. The omission of “thy God” after “God” may be an oversight.
- III, vi. 1: “Utrosque enim Dei appellatione signavit Spiritus: et eum qui ungitur Filium, et eum qui ungit, id est, Patrem.”
- III, xix. 3: “Et unxit quidem Pater, unctus est vero Filius, in Spiritu qui est unctio,” etc. For this chapter, see Introd. p. 60.