Irenaeus — Commentary on Scripture

1 John 5:1

These words agree with what was said in the Gospel, that "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." Wherefore he again exclaims in his Epistle, "Every one that believeth that Jesus is the Christ, has been born of God;" knowing Jesus Christ to be one and the same, to whom the gates of heaven were opened, because of His taking upon Him flesh: who shall also come in the same flesh in which He suffered, revealing the glory of the Father.

Against Heresies Book 3

1 John 5:6

, and calls them into his own kingdom? And why is his goodness, which does not save all

Against Heresies Book IV

1 Peter 1:8

And Peter says in his Epistle: "Whom, not seeing, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, ye have believed, ye shall rejoice with joy unspeakable; ".
And this it is which has been said also by Peter: "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom now also, not seeing, ye believe; and believing, ye shall rejoice with joy unspeakable."

Against Heresies Book V

1 Peter 1:12

There is one Son who accomplished the Father’s will and one human race in which the mysteries of God are accomplished, which angels long to behold.

AGAINST HERESIES 5.36.3

1 Peter 1:12

Admirable sophists, and explorers of the sublimities of the unknown Father, and rehearsers of those super-celestial mysteries "which the angels desire to look into!".
For He has brought Himself, and has bestowed on men those good things which were announced beforehand, which things the angels desired to look into.
For there is the one Son, who accomplished His Father's will; and one human race also in which the mysteries of God are wrought, "which the angels desire to look into; "

Against Heresies Book II

1 Peter 2:3

True knowledge, then, consists in the understanding of Christ, which Paul terms the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery, which "the natural man receiveth not," the doctrine of the cross; of which if any man "taste," he will not accede to the disputations and quibbles of proud and puffed-up men, who go into matters of which they have no perception. For the truth is unsophisticated; and "the word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart," as the same apostle declares, being easy of comprehension to those who are obedient. For it renders us like to Christ, if we experience "the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings." For this is the affinity of the apostolical teaching and the most holy "faith delivered unto us," which the unlearned receive, and those of slender knowledge have taught, not "giving heed to endless genealogies," but studying rather [to observe] a straightforward course of life; lest, having been deprived of the Divine Spirit, they fail to attain to the kingdom of heaven.

Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus

1 Peter 2:5

For David had been appointed a priest by God, although Saul persecuted him. For all the righteous possess the sacerdotal rank.

Against Heresies Book IV

1 Peter 2:16

No doubt, if any one is unwilling to follow the Gospel itself, it is in his power [to reject it], but it is not expedient. For it is in man's power to disobey God, and to forfeit what is good; but [such conduct] brings no small amount of injury and mischief. And on this account Paul says, "All things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient;" referring both to the liberty of man, in which respect "all things are lawful," God exercising no compulsion in regard to him; and [by the expression] "not expedient" pointing out that we "should not use our liberty as a cloak of maliciousness," for this is not expedient.

Against Heresies Book 4

1 Peter 2:23

This he does not utter to those alone who wish to hear: Do not err, .
he book of the Father, or to behold Him, with the exception of the Lamb who was slain, and who redeemed us with His own blood, receiving power over all things from the same God who made all things by the Word, and adorned them by

Against Heresies Book III

1 Peter 2:24

The ass was the type of the body of Christ, upon whom all men, resting from their labours, are borne as in a chariot. For the Saviour has taken up the burden of our sins.

Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus

1 Peter 3:19

It was for this reason, too, that the Lord descended into the regions beneath the earth, preaching His advent there also, and

Against Heresies Book IV

1 Peter 3:20

Further, they declare that the arrangement made with respect to the ark in the Deluge, by means of which eight persons were saved.

Against Heresies Book I

1 Peter 4:6

He became a man subject to stripes, and knowing what it is to bear infirmity, [Isaiah 53:3] and sat upon the foal of an ass, [Zechariah 9:9] and was a stone rejected by the builders, and was led as a sheep to the slaughter, [Isaiah 53:7] and by the stretching forth of His hands destroyed Amalek; [Exodus 17:11] while He gathered from the ends of the earth into His Father's fold the children who were scattered abroad, [Isaiah 11:12] and remembered His own dead ones who had formerly fallen asleep, and came down to them that He might deliver them...

Against Heresies (Book IV, Chapter 33), Section 1

1 Peter 4:14

For the Church alone sustains with purity the reproach of those who suffer persecution for righteousness' sake, and endure all sorts of punishments, and are put to death because of the love which they bear to God, and their confession of His Son; often weakened indeed, yet immediately increasing her members, and becoming whole again, after the same manner as her type, Lot's wife, who became a pillar of salt. Thus, too, [she passes through an experience] similar to that of the ancient prophets, as the Lord declares, "For so persecuted they the prophets who were before you;" inasmuch as she does indeed, in a new fashion, suffer persecution from those who do not receive the word of God, while the self-same spirit rests upon her [as upon these ancient prophets].

Against Heresies Book 4

1 Samuel 12:3-5

In this way, too, Samuel, who judged the people so many years and bore rule over Israel without any pride, in the end cleared himself.… In this strain also the apostle Paul, inasmuch as he had a good conscience, said to the Corinthians, “For we are not as many [are], who corrupt the Word of God: but in sincerity, but as from God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.” “We have injured no one, corrupted no one, circumvented no one.”

AGAINST HERESIES 4.26.4

1 Samuel 15:22

Moreover, the prophets indicate in the fullest manner that God did not stand in need of their slavish obedience but that it was on their own account that he enjoined certain observances in the law. And again, that God did not need their oblation but [merely demanded it], on account of the one who offers it, the Lord taught distinctly, as I have pointed out. For when he perceived that they were neglecting righteousness, and abstaining from the love of God, and imagining that God was to be propitiated by sacrifices and the other typical observances, Samuel spoke thus to them: “God does not desire whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, but that his voice is obeyed. Behold, a ready obedience is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.”

AGAINST HERESIES 4.17.1

1 Thessalonians 5:3

This, too, the apostle affirms: "When they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction shall come upon them."

Against Heresies Book V

1 Thessalonians 5:23

For he will not possess in that case the likeness and appearance of angels, but of those souls in whom also he receives shape; just as water when poured into a vessel takes the form of that vessel, and if on any occasion it happens to congeal in it, it will acquire the form of the vessel in which it has thus been frozen, since souls themselves possess the figure.
); and may your spirit, and soul, and body be preserved whole without complaint to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Against Heresies Book II

1 Timothy 1:4

Inasmuch as certain men have set the truth aside, and bring in lying words and vain genealogies, which, as the apostle says, "minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith," and by means of their craftily-constructed plausibilities draw away the minds of the inexperienced and take them captive, [I have felt constrained, my dear friend, to compose the following treatise in order to expose and counteract their machinations.] These men falsify the oracles of God, and prove themselves evil interpreters of the good word of revelation. They also overthrow the faith of many, by drawing them away, under a pretence of [superior] knowledge, from Him who rounded and adorned the universe; as if, forsooth, they had something more excellent and sublime to reveal, than that God who created the heaven and the earth, and all things that are therein.

Against Heresies Book 1, Preface.1

1 Timothy 1:4

For this is the affinity of the apostolical teaching and the most holy "faith delivered unto us," which the unlearned receive, and those of slender knowledge have taught, not "giving heed to endless genealogies," but studying rather [to observe] a straightforward course of life; lest, having been deprived of the Divine Spirit, they fail to attain to the kingdom of heaven.

Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, Fragment XXXVI