Irenaeus of Lyons · a new plain-English translation from the original language
Chapter XXXII. The overthrow of the heretics in those points on which they do not agree even with Valentinus. And this too — their impious view about conduct, which says that they must engage in absolutely any deed, however evil, in order... For he who commits adultery is excluded, but so is he who merely wishes to commit adultery; and not only he who kills is guilty of murder unto condemnation, but also he who is angry with his brother without cause; and he commanded not only not to hate men but to love even enemies; and he required abstaining not merely from false oaths but from any oath whatsoever; and forbade not merely speaking ill of one's neighbors, but not even to call anyone 'Raca' or 'fool' — otherwise such a one will be liable to the fire of Gehenna; and he demanded not merely refraining from a blow, but even, once struck, offering the opposite cheek in turn; and not only not to refuse what belongs to another, but even, if one's own goods are taken away, not to do any harm to the takers, but for those who are ill-treated to be magnanimous, and to show kindness toward such people, and to pray for them, that by repenting they may be saved — in none of this imitating the insolence and lust and pride of the rest of mankind. When, then, this man whom they boast of as their master, and whom they say had a soul much better and stronger than the rest, with such great care commanded certain things to be done as good and excellent, and commanded abstention not only from certain deeds but even from the very thoughts that lead to such deeds, as being evil and harmful and worthless — how is it that, while calling such a one their master, stronger and better than the rest, they are not ashamed to teach openly the very opposite of his doctrine? And if indeed there were no such thing as evil, or again as good, but only human opinion, by which certain things are supposed unjust and others just, he certainly would not have said, in his teaching: 'The righteous shall gleam as brightly as the sun within their Father's kingdom, while the wicked, and those who do not do the works of righteousness, he will send into eternal fire, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.' The overthrow of the heretics in these matters, in which they do not agree even with Valentinus. And further, though they say that one ought, in every deed and in every course of life, if it can be done, to accomplish everything to perfection in a single lifetime's undertaking, yet as regards the things that pertain to virtue — the laborious, glorious, skillful things which even everyone agrees are good — they are found making no attempt at all. For if it were necessary to go through every deed and every kind of activity, then first of all everyone would have to learn every art, whatever is achieved either in reasoned discourse, or in practical works, or is taught through self-discipline and acquired through labor and study and perseverance — for instance, every branch of music, and calculation, and geometry, and astronomy, and everything occupied with reasoned discourse; further, the whole of medicine, and the science of herbs, and whatever has been devised for human health; and painting, and the making of statues, and metalworking, and stonework, and the like; and besides these, every kind of farming, and veterinary art, and shepherding, and the crafts, which are said to run through every trade — those concerned with the sea, and those that train the body, and hunting, and soldiery, and the arts of ruling, and however many there are — of which a man, laboring his whole life long, could not learn even a tenth part, or a thousandth. Of none of these do they even attempt to learn, these people who say that one must engage in every kind of deed — yet toward pleasures, and lust, and shameful acts they incline readily; and by their own doctrine they stand self-condemned, since they lack all the things listed above, and so will go to the correction of fire. These men, indeed, aping the doctrines of Epicurus alongside the apathy taught by the Cynics, boast of Jesus as their master — Jesus, who steered his followers clear not merely of wicked actions but of wicked speech and thought as well, as we have shown. Yet they say that they have souls from the same circuit as Jesus, and that they are like him, and sometimes even better than he; and when it comes to the works which he did for the benefit and strengthening of men, they are found to accomplish nothing like it, nothing comparable, nothing that can even be set beside it. But if they do accomplish anything, it is worked through magic, as we have said, and they attempt to deceive the unwary fraudulently, providing no fruit or benefit at all to those on whom they claim to work their powers; instead they bring forward unweaned children and deceive people's eyes, showing phantasms that vanish at once, not lasting even a moment — and so they show themselves like not to Jesus our Lord but to Simon the magician. And from this it is settled that on the third day the Lord came back from among the dead, showing himself to the disciples, and was received up into heaven in their sight — while these men, dying and not rising, and manifesting themselves to no one, are convicted of having nothing whatever in common with Jesus. But if they say that the Lord himself did these things through phantasm, we will show, by bringing them back to the prophetic writings, that everything about him was foretold and also firmly accomplished in fact, and that he alone is the Son of God. It is on account of this that, in his name, those who are truly his disciples, having received grace from him, accomplish good works for the benefit of the rest of mankind, each according to the gift he has received from him. Some indeed drive out demons truly and surely, so that those who have been cleansed of the wicked spirits often even come to believe and join the Church; others possess advance knowledge of coming events, along with visions and prophetic speech; others still, by laying on of hands, heal the sick and restore them to health. Indeed, people have been raised up who have persevered with us for many years. And what more shall I say? It is impossible to number the gifts which throughout the whole world the Church, having received them from God in the name of Jesus Christ crucified under Pontius Pilate, performs every day for the benefit of the nations, neither deceiving anyone nor taking money from anyone for it. For as she has freely received from God, so she freely ministers. Nor does she work anything by invocation of angels, or by incantations, or by any other depraved curiosity, but directing her prayers purely and openly and plainly to the Lord who made all things, and by invoking the name belonging to our Lord Jesus Christ, she accomplishes powerful deeds for men's good, not for their seduction. If, then, even now the name of our Lord Jesus Christ confers benefits, and heals surely and truly all who everywhere believe in him — but not the name of Simon, nor of Menander, nor of Carpocrates, nor of anyone else — it is plain that, having become man, he lived among his own creation, and genuinely accomplished everything through God's power, in keeping with the purpose held by the universe's Father, exactly as had been foretold by the prophets. What these things were will be set out in the demonstrations drawn from the prophets that follow.