Particulars
of Christianity:
401
First Eight Writers' Consensus
1: Nature
of the Godhead
Early
Church Confirmation Rubric
Early
Church Consensus: Introduction
1:
Nature of the Godhead
2:
Covenants 3. O.T. Saints Relationship to the Church
3:
Kingdom (Hell), Timing of 2nd Advent and Kingdom
4-5:
Age of the World (6000 Years); Communion Meal
6:
Baptisms
7-8:
Law of Christ; Repentance
9-12:
Excommunication; Divorce; Sabbath; Tithing
13:
Freewill (A) Against Original Sin and Total Depravity
13:
Freewill (B) Against Unconditional Election
13:
Freewill (C-D) Against Ltd. Atmt.; Ir. Grace, OSAS
14-15:
Church Authority; Roles of Men and Women
16-18:
Charismatic Gifts; Civil Gov't., War; Men & Angels
Addendum
1: Eternal Begetting - Irenaeus and Ignatius
Addendum
2: Eternal Begetting - Justin Martyr
Full
Catalog
1)
View of God
(Trinitarian)
There is only one God, not multiple Gods. However,
from the beginning of creation, this one God has revealed
Himself to be comprised of three, perpetually distinct, simultaneously
existing, and intercommunicating persons, operating in
communion and in perpetually unbroken agreement with one another.
The titles for these three are the Father, the Word, and
the Holy Spirit. The Word existed before time or anything
else was created, and is therefore Himself eternally existent.
The Word is considered to have the same essence as the
Father. Although mentioned in less detail, the Holy
Spirit is regarded as a comparable counterpart to the Word
(in such regards). (For instance, the Word and the Holy Spirit
are both regarded as God’s “hands” in creation and the Holy
Spirit is even referred to by Irenaeus as being the “similitude”
of the Word, reflecting the Greek term for “another” in Jesus’
phrase “another Paraclete” in John 14:16.) It Was the Pre-Incarnate
Word Who Visited Men in the Old Testament.
NOTE:
Three of the Apostolic Fathers (Ignatius, Justin Martyr,
and Irenaeus) make comments indicating that they believed
the “Son-ship” of the Word pertained to an eternal begetting
before time and creation.
They
did not believe this begetting meant that the Word came into
being or was created, but instead believed that this “begetting”
or “generation” from the Father was a permanent and eternal
feature within the Godhead for all eternity past prior to
creation.
The
eternal begetting concept is incorrect scripturally, and rather
obviously. However, it is important to note that this eternal,
pre-creation begetting of the Word is wholly Trinitarian,
affirming the eternal and eternally distinct existence of
both the Father and the Word.
Concerning
the other “Apostolic Fathers,” Polycarp, Papias, and Barnabas
do not make any comments on this particular topic. Matthetes
and Clement do, but only briefly. In summary, Matthetes and
Clement plainly define the “Son-ship” of the Word to a particular
day in human history, called “today.”
For
additional examination on this topic, including an analysis
of the scripture and particularly the comments of Irenaeus,
Justin Martyr, and Ignatius, see “Addendum: Eternally Begotten.”
NOTE:
The quotes below address the Trinity in general. Specifically,
the following quotes affirm that Jesus Christ is God and that
the Father, the Word, and the Spirit are distinct from one
another, each having existed together before time began at
the creation.
Papias
–
FRAGMENTS
OF PAPIAS
CHAP.
IV. The presbyters, the disciples of the apostles, say that
this is the gradation and arrangement of those who are saved,
and that they advance through steps of this nature; and that,
moreover, they ascend through the Spirit to the Son,
and through the Son to the Father; and that in due time the
Son will yield up His work to the Father…
Matthetes
–
THE
EPISTLE OF MATHETES TO DIOGNETUS
CHAP.
VII. For, as I said, this was no mere earthly invention which
was delivered to them, nor is it a mere human system of opinion,
which they judge it right to preserve so carefully, nor has
a dispensation of mere human mysteries been committed to them,
but truly God Himself,
who is almighty, the Creator of all things, and invisible,
has sent from heaven, and placed among men, [Him who is] the
truth, and the holy and incomprehensible Word, and has
firmly established Him in their hearts. He did not, as one might have imagined, send
to men any servant, or angel, or ruler, or any one of those
who bear sway over earthly things, or one of those to whom
the government of things in the heavens has been entrusted,
but the very Creator and Fashioner of all things--by whom
He made the heavens--by whom he enclosed the sea within
its proper bounds--whose ordinances[12] all the stars[13]
faithfully observe--from whom the sun[14] has received the
measure of his daily course to be observed[15]--whom the moon
obeys, being commanded to shine in the night, and whom the
stars also obey, following the moon in her course; by whom
all things have been arranged, and placed within their proper
limits, and to whom all are subject--the
heavens and the things that are therein, the earth and the
things that are therein, the sea and the things that are therein--fire,
air, and the abyss--the things which are in the heights, the
things which are in the depths, and the things which lie between.
Barnabas
–
THE
EPISTLE OF BARNABAS(1)
CHAP.
V. Now, the Scripture saith, "Not unjustly are nets spread
out for birds."(10) This means that the man perishes
justly, who, having a knowledge of the way of righteousness,
rushes off into the way of darkness. And further, my brethren:
if the Lord endured to suffer for our soul, He
being Lord of all the world, to whom God said at the foundation
of the world, "Let us make man after our image, and after
our likeness,"(11)
understand how it was that He endured to suffer at the hand
of men.
Barnabas
–
THE
EPISTLE OF BARNABAS(1)
CHAP.
VI. For the Scripture
says concerning us, while He speaks to the Son, "Let
Us make man after Our image, and after Our likeness; and
let them have dominion over the beasts of the earth, and the
fowls of heaven, and the fishes of the sea."(25)
Ignatius
–
THE
EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE EPHESIANS
[Introduction]
Ignatius, who is also called Theopharus, to the Church which
is at Ephesus, in Asia, deservedly most happy, being blessed
in the greatness and fulness of God the Father, and predestinated
before the beginning[1] of time, that it should be always
for an enduring and unchangeable glory, being united[2] and
elected through the true passion by the will of the Father, and Jesus Christ,
our God: Abundant happiness through Jesus Christ, and
His undefiled grace.
CHAP.
I. I have become acquainted
with your name, much-beloved in God, which ye have acquired
by the habit of righteousness, according to the faith and
love in Jesus Christ our Saviour. Being the followers[4]
of God, and stirring up[5] yourselves by the blood of God,
ye have perfectly accomplished the work which was beseeming
to you.
CHAP.
VII. There is one Physician who is possessed both
of flesh and spirit; both made and not made; God existing
in flesh; true life in death; both
of Mary and of God; first possible and then impossible,[7]
even Jesus Christ our Lord.
CHAP.
XIX. Hence every kind
of magic was destroyed, and every bond of wickedness disappeared;
ignorance was removed, and the old kingdom abolished, God Himself being manifested in human form for the renewal of eternal
life. And now that took a beginning which had been prepared
by God. Henceforth all things were in a state of tumult, because
He meditated the abolition of death.
Ignatius
–
THE
EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE MAGNESIANS
CHAP.
VI. Since therefore
I have, in the persons before mentioned, beheld the whole
multitude of you in faith and love, I exhort you to study
to do all things with a divine harmony,[4] while your bishop
presides in the place of God, and your presbyters in the place
of the assembly of the apostles, along with your deacons,
who are most dear to me, and are entrusted with the
ministry of Jesus Christ, who was with the Father before the
beginning of time,[5] and in the end was revealed. Do
ye all then, imitating the same divine conduct,[7] pay respect
to one another, and let no one look upon his neighbour after
the flesh, but do ye continually love each other in Jesus
Christ. Let nothing exist among you that may divide you ;
but be ye united with your bishop, and those that preside
over you, as a type and evidence of your immortality.[8]
CHAP.
XV. The Ephesians from
Smyrna(whence I also write to you), who are here for the glory
of God, as ye also are, who have in all things refreshed me,
salute you, along with Polycarp, the bishop of the Smyrnaeans.
The rest of the Churches, in honour of Jesus Christ, also
salute you. Fare ye
well in the harmony of God, ye who have obtained the inseparable
Spirit, who is Jesus
Christ.
Ignatius
–
THE
EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE ROMANS
PREFACE.
Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church which
has obtained mercy, through the majesty of the Mast High Father,
and Jesus Christ, His only-begotten Son; the Church which
is beloved and enlightened by the will of Him that willeth
all things which are according to the love of Jesus Christ
our God, which also presides in the place of the report
of the Romans, worthy of God, worthy of honour, worthy of
the highest happiness, worthy of praise, worthy of obtaining
her every desire, worthy of being deemed holy,(2) and which
presides over love, is named from Christ, and from the Father,
which I also salute in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of
the Father: to those who are united, both according to the
flesh and spirit, to every one of His commandments; who are
filled inseparably with the grace of God, and are purified
from every strange taint, [I wish] abundance of happiness
unblameably, in Jesus Christ our God.
Ignatius
–
THE
EPISTLE OF IGNATIUS TO THE ROMANS
CHAP.
III. Ye have never envied any one; ye have taught others.
Now I desire that those things may be confirmed [by your conduct],
which in your instructions ye enjoin [on others]. Only request
in my behalf both inward and outward strength, that I may
not only speak, but [truly] will; and that I may not merely
be called a Christian, but really be found to be one. For
if I be truly found [a Christian], I may also be called one,
and be then deemed faithful, when I shall no longer appear
to the world. Nothing visible is eternal.(9) "For the
things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are
not seen are eternal."(10) For
our God, Jesus Christ, now that He is with(11) the Father,
is all the more revealed [in His glory]. Christianity is not
a thing(1) of silence only, but also of [manifest] greatness.
CHAP.
VI. All the pleasures of the world, and all the kingdoms of
this earth, (4) shall profit me nothing. It is better for me to die in behalf of(5) Jesus Christ, than to reign
over all the ends of the earth. "For what shall a man
be profited, if he gain the whole world, but lose his own
soul?''(6) Him I seek, who died for us: Him I desire, who rose again for our
sake. This is the gain which is laid up for me. Pardon me,
brethren: do not hinder me from living, do not wish to keep
me in a state of death; (7) and while I desire to belong to
God, do not ye give me over to the world. Suffer me to obtain
pure light: when I have gone thither, I shall indeed be a
man of God. Permit
me to be an imitator of the passion of my God. If any
one has Him within himself, let him consider what I desire,
and let him have sympathy with me, as knowing how I am straitened.
Justin
Martyr –
THE
FIRST APOLOGY OF JUSTIN
CHAP.
LXIII. And all the Jews even now teach that the nameless God spake to Moses;
whence the Spirit of prophecy, accusing them by Isaiah the
prophet mentioned above, said "The ox knoweth his owner,
and the ass his master's crib; but israel
doth not know Me, and My people do not understand."(2)
And Jesus the Christ, because the Jews knew
not what the Father was, and what the Son, in like manner
accused them; and Himself said, "No one knoweth the Father,
but the Son; nor the Son, but the Father, and they to whom
the Son revealeth Him."(3) Now the Word of God is His
Son, as we have before said. And He is called Angel and Apostle; for He declares whatever we ought
to know, and is sent forth to declare whatever is revealed;
as our Lord Himself says, "He that heareth Me, heareth
Him that sent Me."(4) From the writings of Moses also
this will be manifest; for thus it is written in them, "And
the Angel of God spake to Moses, in a flame of fire out of
the bush, and said, I am that I am, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of thy fathers; go
down into Egypt, and bring forth My people."(5) And
if you wish to learn what follows, you can do so from the
same writings; for it is impossible to relate the whole here.
But so much is written for the sake of proving
that Jesus the Christ is the Son of God and His Apostle, being
of old the Word, and appearing sometimes
in the form of fire, and sometimes in the likeness of angels;
but now, by the will of God, having become man for the human
race, He endured all the sufferings which
the devils instigated the senseless Jews to inflict upon
Him; who, though they
have it expressly affirmed in the writings of Moses, "And
the angel of God spake to Moses in a flame of fire in a bush,
and said, I am that I am, the God of Abraham, and the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," yet maintain that He
who said this was the Father and Creator of the universe.
Whence also the Spirit of prophecy rebukes them, and says,
"Israel doth not know Me, my people
have not understood Me."(6) And
again, Jesus, as we have already shown, while He was with
them, said, "No one knoweth the Father, but the Son;
nor the Son but the Father, and those to whom the Son will
reveal Him."(7) The Jews, accordingly, being throughout
of opinion that it was the Father of the universe who spake
to Moses, though He who spake to him was indeed the
Son of God, who is called both Angel and Apostle, are
justly charged, both by the Spirit of prophecy and by Christ
Himself, with knowing neither the Father nor the Son.
For they who affirm that the Son is the Father,
are proved neither to have become acquainted with the Father,
nor to know that the Father of the universe has a Son; who
also, being the first-begotten Word of God, is even God.
And of old He appeared in the shape of fire and in the likeness of an
angel to Moses and to the other prophets; but now in the times
of your reign,(8) having, as we before said, become Man by
a virgin, according to the counsel of the Father, for
the salvation of those who believe on Him, He endured both
to be set at nought and to suffer, that by dying and rising
again He might conquer death. And
that which was said out of the bush to Moses, "I am that
I am, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob, and the God of your fathers,"(9) this signified
that they, even though dead, are let in existence, and
are men belonging to Christ Himself. For they were the first of all men to busy themselves in the search after
God; Abraham being the father of Isaac, and Isaac of Jacob,
as Moses wrote.
Dialogue
of Justin –
PHILOSOPHER
AND MARTYR, WITH TRYPHO, A JEW
CHAP.
XXXVI. And I said, "As you wish, Trypho, I shall come
to these proofs which you seek in the fitting place; but now you will permit me first to recount the prophecies, which I wish
to do in order to prove that Christ is called both God
and Lord of hosts, and Jacob, in parable by the Holy Spirit…"Moreover, in the diapsalm of the forty-sixth Psalm, reference is thus
made to Christ: 'God went up with a shout, the Lord with
the sound of a trumpet. Sing
ye to our God, sing ye: sing
to our King, sing ye; for God is King of all the earth: sing
with understanding. God
has ruled over the nations. God sits upon His holy throne.
The rulers of the nations were assembled along with the God of Abraham,
for the strong ones of God are greatly exalted on the earth.'(2)
And in the ninety-eighth Psalm, the Holy Spirit reproaches
you, and predicts Him whom you do not wish to be king to be
King and Lord, both of Samuel, and of Aaron, and of Moses,
and, in short, of all the others. And the words of the Psalm
are these: 'The Lord has reigned, let the nations be angry:
[it is] He who sits upon the cherubim, let the earth be shaken.
The Lord is great in Zion, and He is high above
all the nations. Let them confess Thy great name, for it is
fearful and holy, and the honour of the King loves judgment.
Thou hast prepared equity; judgment and righteousness hast
Thou performed in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship
the footstool of His feet; for He is holy. Moses and Aaron
among His priests, and Samuel among those who call upon His
name. They called (says the Scripture) on the Lord, and He heard them. In the
pillar of the cloud He spake to them; for(3) they kept
His testimonies, and the commandment which he gave them. O
Lord our God, Thou heardest them: O God, Thou wert propitious
to them, and [yet] taking vengeance on all their inventions.
Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill; for
the Lord our God is holy.'" … CHAP. XXXVIII. Accordingly,
in the forty-fourth [forty-fifth] Psalm, these words are in
like manner referred to Christ: 'My heart has brought
forth a good matter;(5) I tell my works to the King. My tongue
is the pen of a ready writer. Fairer in beauty than the sons
of men: grace is poured forth into Thy lips: therefore hath God blessed Thee for ever. Gird Thy sword upon Thy
thigh, O mighty One. Press on in Thy fairness and in Thy beauty,
and prosper and reign, because of truth, and of meekness,
and of righteousness: and Thy right hand shall instruct Thee
marvellously. Thine arrows are sharpened, O mighty One; the
people shall fall under Thee; in the heart of the enemies
of the King [the arrows are fixed]. Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of equity
is the sceptre of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness,
and hast hated iniquity; therefore thy God(1) hath anointed Thee with
the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.
CHAP.
LXIII. And speaking
in other words, which also have been already quoted,[he says]:
'Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of rectitude
is the sceptre of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness,
and hast hated iniquity: therefore God, even thy God, hath
anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.
[He hath anointed Thee] with myrrh, and oil, and cassia from
Thy garments, from the ivory palaces, whereby they made Thee
glad. Kings' daughters are in Thy honour. The queen stood
at Thy right hand, clad in garments embroidered with gold.(6)
Hearken, O daughter, and behold, and incline thine ear, and
forget thy people and the house of thy father; and the King
shall desire thy beauty: because he is thy Lord, and thou
shalt worship Him.'(7) Therefore these words testify explicitly that
He is witnessed to by Him who established these things,(8)
as deserving to be worshipped, as God and as Christ.
CHAP.
CXXVI. "But if you knew, Trypho," continued I, "who
He is that is called at one time the Angel
of great counsel,(7) and a Man by Ezekiel, and like the Son
of man by Daniel, and
a Child by Isaiah, and Christ and God to be worshipped by
David, and Christ and a Stone by many, and Wisdom by Solomon,
and Joseph and Judah and a Star by Moses, and the East by
Zechariah, and the Suffering One and Jacob and Israel by Isaiah
again, and a Rod, and Flower, and Corner-Stone, and
Son of God, you would not have blasphemed Him who has now come, and been born, and suffered, and ascended to
heaven; who shall also come again, and then your twelve tribes
shall mourn. For if you had understood what has
been written by the prophets, you would not have denied that He was God,
Son of the only, unbegotten, unutterable God…And what follows
in the writings of Moses I quoted and explained; "from
which I have demonstrated," I said, "that He who
is described as God appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to
Jacob, and the other patriarchs, was appointed under the
authority of the Father and Lord, and ministers to His will."
Then I went on to say what I had not said before: "And
so, when the people desired to eat flesh, and Moses had lost
faith in Him, who also there is called the Angel, and
who promised that God would give them to satiety, He
who is both God and the Angel, sent by the Father, is described
as saying and doing these things.
CHAP.
CXXVII. …Therefore neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor any other man, saw
the Father and ineffable Lord of all, and also of Christ,
but [saw] Him who was according to His will His Son, being
God, and the Angel because He ministered to His will;
whom also it pleased
Him to be born man by the Virgin; who
also was fire when He conversed with Moses from the bush.
Irenaeus
–
AGAINST
HERESIES, BOOK II
CHAP.
XXX. 9. But there is
one only God, the Creator--He who is above every Principality,
and Power, and Dominion, and Virtue: He
is Father, He is God, He the Founder, He the Maker, He the
Creator, who made those things by Himself, that is, through
His Word and His Wisdom--heaven and earth, and the seas,
and all things that are in them: He is just; He is good; He
it is who formed man, who planted paradise, who made the world,
who gave rise to the flood, who saved Noah; He
is the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob, the God of the living: He it is whom the law proclaims,
whom the prophets preach, whom Christ reveals, whom the apostles
make known s to us, and in whom the Church believes. He is
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: through His Word, who
is His Son, through Him He is revealed and manifested to all
to whom He is revealed; for those [only] know Him to whom
the Son has revealed Him. But the Son, eternally co-existing with the
Father, from of old, yea, from the beginning, always reveals
the Father to Angels, Archangels, Powers, Virtues, and all
to whom He wills that God should be revealed.
Irenaeus
–
AGAINST
HERESIES, BOOK III
CHAP.
IX. 3. For Christ did
not at that time descend upon Jesus, neither was Christ one
and Jesus another: but the Word of God--who is the Saviour
of all, and the ruler of heaven and earth, who
is Jesus, as I have already pointed out, who
did also take upon Him flesh, and was anointed by the Spirit
from the Father--was made Jesus Christ... For
inasmuch as the Word of God was man from the root of Jesse,
and son of Abraham, in this respect did the Spirit of God
rest upon Him, and anoint Him to preach the Gospel to the
lowly. But inasmuch
as He was God, He did not judge according to glory, nor
reprove after the manner of speech.
CHAP.
XX. 3. For in the name of Christ is implied, He that anoints,
He that is anointed, and the unction itself with which He
is anointed. And it
is the Father who anoints, but the Son who is anointed by
the Spirit, who is the unction, as the Word declares by Isaiah, "The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me,"(15)--pointing
out both the anointing Father, the anointed Son, and the unction,
which is the Spirit.
Irenaeus
–
AGAINST
HERESIES, BOOK IV
PREFACE.
Now man is a mixed organization of soul and flesh, who was formed after the likeness of God,
and moulded by His hands, that is, by the Son and Holy Spirit,
to whom also He said, "Let Us make man."(1)
CHAP.
VII. 4. For the Son,
who is the Word of God, arranged these things beforehand from
the beginning, the Father being in no want of angels, in order
that He might call the creation into being, and form man,
for whom also the creation was made; nor,
again, standing in need of any instrumentality for the framing
of created things, or for the ordering of those things
which had reference to man; while, [at the same time,] He
has a vast and unspeakable number of servants. For
His offspring and His similitude(12) do minister to Him in
every respect; that is, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Word
and Wisdom; whom all the angels serve, and to whom they are
subject.
CHAP.
XX. 12. Thus also did Rahab the harlot, while condemning herself,
inasmuch as she was a Gentile, guilty of all sins, nevertheless receive the three spies,(8)
who were spying out all the land, and hid them at her home;
[which three were] doubtless [a type of] the
Father and the Son, together with the Holy Spirit.
CHAP.
XXXVIII. 3. And thus in all things God has the pre-eminence, who alone is uncreated, the first
of all things, and the primary cause of the existence of all,
while all other things remain under God's subjection. But
being in subjection to God is continuance in immortality,
and immortality is the glory of the uncreated One. By this arrangement, therefore, and these harmonies, and a sequence
of this nature, man, a created and organized being, is rendered after the image and likeness of the uncreated God, -the Father
planning everything well and giving His commands, the Son
carrying these into execution and performing the work of creating,
and the Spirit nourishing and increasing [what is made], but
man making progress day by day, and ascending towards the
perfect, that is, approximating
to the uncreated One.
Irenaeus
–
AGAINST
HERESIES, BOOK V.
CHAP.
VI. 1. Now God shall be glorified in His handiwork, fitting
it so as to be conformable to, and modelled after, His own
Son. For by the hands of the Father, that is, by
the Son and the Holy Spirit, man, and not [merely] a part
of man, was made in the likeness of God.
NOTE:
This first quote contains merely a brief, minor point of interest.
Here Irenaeus attests that man was made after the image of
the pre-incarnate Word.
Irenaeus
–
AGAINST
HERESIES, BOOK IV
CHAP.
XXXIII. 4. But who else is superior to, and more eminent than,
that man who was formed after the likeness of God, except
the Son of God, after
whose image man was created? And for this reason He did
in these last days(12) exhibit the similitude; [for] the
Son of God was made man, assuming the ancient production [of
His hands] into His own nature,(13) as I have shown in
the immediately preceding book.
NOTE:
In the quotes below, Justin and Irenaeus assert that the Angel
of the Lord in the Old Testament was the pre-incarnate Word.
Justin
Martyr –
THE
SECOND APOLOGY OF JUSTIN
CHAP.
CXXVII. Therefore neither
Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor any other man, saw the
Father and ineffable Lord of all, and also of Christ, but
[saw] Him who was according to His will His Son, being God,
and the Angel because He ministered to His will; whom
also it pleased Him to be born man by the Virgin; who
also was fire when He conversed with Moses from the bush.
Dialogue
of Justin –
PHILOSOPHER
AND MARTYR, WITH TRYPHO, A JEW
CHAP.
CXXVI. "But if you knew, Trypho," continued I, "who
He is that is called at one time the Angel
of great counsel,(7)…For Moses says somewhere in Exodus
the following: 'The Lord spoke to Moses, and said to him,
I am the Lord, and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to
Jacob, being their God; and my name I revealed not to them,
and I established my covenant with them.'(1) … And what follows
in the writings of Moses I quoted and explained; "from
which I have demonstrated," I said, "that He who
is described as God appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to
Jacob, and the other patriarchs, was appointed under the
authority of the Father and Lord, and ministers to His will."
Then I went on to say what I had not said before: "And so, when the people desired to eat
flesh, and Moses had lost faith in Him, who also there is
called the Angel, and who promised that God would give
them to satiety, He who is both God and the Angel, sent by the Father, is described as
saying and doing these things.
CHAP.
CXXVIII. "And
that Christ being Lord, and God the Son of God,
and appearing formerly in power as Man, and Angel, and in
the glory of fire as at the bush, so also was manifested at
the judgment executed on Sodom, has been demonstrated fully
by what has been said."
Irenaeus
–
AGAINST
HERESIES, BOOK IV
CHAP.
X. 1. "For if ye had believed Moses, ye would also have
believed Me; for he wrote of Me;"(7) [saying this,] no doubt, because the Son of God is implanted everywhere
throughout his writings: at one time, indeed, speaking with
Abraham, when about to eat with him; at another time with
Noah, giving to him the dimensions [of the ark]; at another;
inquiring after Adam; at another, bringing down judgment upon
the Sodomites; and again, when He becomes visible,(8) and
directs Jacob on his journey, and
speaks with Moses from the bush.(9) And it would be endless
to recount [the occasions] upon which the Son of God is shown
forth by Moses.
CHAP.
XXIX. 2. …As the Word
spake to Moses from the bush: "And I am sure that
the king of Egypt
will not let you go, unless by a mighty hand."(10)
