Concerning the numerical personhood of God: Irenaeus
Known to our discovery, Irenaeus wrote 5 books titled “Against Heresies”, each numbered in order of their publication. His writings have been used to gain insight into diverse topics such as eschatology, early church heresies, forgeries from the gnostics and more. They have served as an invaluable source of reference in combating latter emergent false doctrines, even up until now. However, in this treatise, Irenaeus’ writings will be employed to gain insight on the christological view of the early church to come to an accurate understanding of the numerical personhood of God. Trinitarians claim that Irenaeus believed that Jesus was God due to explicit statements that do admittedly state so. On the other hand, Unitarians argue that such a claim is rooted in reading verses in isolation and not taking into account the broader context of His writings. For this reason, Unitarians do not believe that Irenaeus thought Jesus to be the one and true ontological God. Due to the strongly conflicting interpretations of Irenaeus’ works between trinitarians and unitarians; in this writing, I will be evaluating the plausibility of both claims by assessing excerpts from His five most popular works, central to this topical discussion, to come to an overall conclusion as to what He most likely believed.
The following is a voluminous list of excerpts that suggest that Irenaeus only believed the Father was truly God:
Against Heresies 5, Chapter 18: “And thus one God the Father is declared, who is above all, and through all, and in all. The Father is indeed above all, and He is the Head of Christ;”
Irenaeus believed there was “one God the Father”. This is diametrically opposed to the trinitarian view which posits the one God is the Father, Son and Holy Ghost
Irenaeus declared that the Father was “the Head of Christ”. This is diametrically opposed to the trinitarian view that posits that the Father and Son are equal
Against Heresies 5, Chapter 18: “He (John) thus plainly points out to those willing to hear, that is, to those having ears, that there is one God, the Father over all, and one Word of God, who is through all, by whom all things have been made; and that this world belongs to Him, and was made by Him, according to the Father’s will,”
Irenaeus interprets the prologue of John as an exposition that attempts to convey to his audience that the Father is God alone and that Jesus is the Word of God. The usage of “of”, insinuates that He is not God but rather derives from God.
Irenaeus does however say the world was made “by” the Word. In contrast, John 1 says “through Him”.
Against 4, Chapter 33: “For to him all things are consistent: he has a full faith in one God Almighty, of whom are all things; and in the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord, by whom are all things, and in the dispensations connected with Him, by means of which the Son of God became man; and a firm belief in the Spirit of God,”
- This passage outlines a monotheistic, subordinate form of Trinitarianism; the Father is declared as the “one God Almighty”, Jesus is declared as “the Son of God” who became man (indicative of a pre-existent Son) and “the Spirit of God” is also declared as a third separate Being.
Against Heresies 4, Chapter 25: “Now I have shown in the third book, that no one is termed God by the apostles when speaking for themselves, except Him who truly is God, the Father of our Lord,”
The apostles only believed the Father was God according to Irenaeus. This is contrary to the constantly purported trinitarian narrative that the apostles believed in the Trinity even though there’s no strong evidence to dogmatically suggest so.
Irenaeus makes a profound statement by saying “except Him who truly is God” in reference to the Father. This use of “truly” could account for why Jesus is called also “God”; There are a number of criterion traits one must possess to be classified as the most High true God. Two relevant ones that Jesus does not possess according to the Scriptures are eternality and omniscience: Jesus is not eternal because He is “begotten” Jesus is not omniscient as “He grew in wisdom”, said that “My Father taught Me”, claimed to not know the hour of His return and lastly, was given revelation from God in John’s apocalyptic writing
Against Heresies 4, Chapter 9: “unless, being converted by repentance, he return to the place from which he had been cast out, confessing one God, the Father, the Creator, and believing [in Him] who was declared by the law and the prophets, who was borne witness to by Christ,”
- Irenaeus makes a creedal statement emphasising the necessity of “confessing one God, the Father”. Had Irenaeus believed in the trinity as trinitarians suppose, this would be a reductive statement.
Against Heresies 4, Chapter 9: “Christ confessing in the plainest manner Him to be Father and God, who said in the law, “Honour thy father and mother; that it may be well with thee.” For the true God did confess the commandment of the law as the word of God, and called no one else God besides His own Father.”
- Irenaeus believed that Christ Himself declared that “no one else (was) God besides His own Father”
Against Heresies 4, Chapter 1: “those who believe in the one and true God, and in Jesus Christ the Son of God; and likewise that the apostles did of themselves term no one else as God, or name [no other] as Lord; and, what is much more important, [since it is true] that our Lord [acted likewise], who did also command us to confess no one as Father, except Him who is in the heavens, who is the one God and the one Father;—“ and “Now to whom is it not clear, that if the Lord had known many fathers and gods, He would not have taught His disciples to know [only] one God, and to call Him alone Father?”
Irenaeus outlines the essentiality of believing “in the one and true God, and in Jesus Christ the Son of God”. It is therefore salient that He saw God and Jesus as distinct Beings, Jesus being the Son of God
Irenaeus claims that the apostles termed only the Father as God and Jesus only as Lord Irenaeus states that Jesus taught His disciples that there is only one God and that one God was the Father. This makes it clear that Irenaeus did not believe Jesus taught that He was God
Against Heresies 3, Chapter 16: “There is therefore, as I have pointed out, one God the Father, and one Christ Jesus,”
- Irenaeus delineates between the “one God the Father” and “one Christ Jesus”
Against Heresies 3, Chapter 9: “the prophets and the apostles confessing the Father and the Son; but naming no other as God, and confessing no other as Lord: and the Lord Himself handing down to His disciples, that He, the Father, is the only God and Lord, who alone is God and ruler of all;—“
Irenaeus states that the prophets, the apostles and Jesus Himself, all harmoniously confessed that the Father “is the only God and Lord” and “alone is God”
Jesus handed down this truth to His disciples
Against Heresies 2, Chapter 35: “Now, that the preaching of the apostles, the authoritative teaching of the Lord, the announcements of the prophets, the dictated utterances of the apostles, and the ministration of the law—all of which praise one and the same Being, the God and Father of all, and not many diverse beings, nor one deriving his substance from different gods or powers,”
- The Lord Jesus, the apostles, prophets and law, all praise “one and the same Being, the God and Father of all” and not a three in one being as trinitarians posit.
Against Heresies 1, Chapter 10: “The Church, though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She believes] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit,”
- Irenaeus announces the general consensus of the Church’s belief concerning the numerical personhood of God: Monotheistic form of subordinationist trinitarianism consisting of 3 Divine Beings but the “one God” is “the Father Almighty”]
Against Heresies 1, Chapter 9: “But if the Word of the Father who descended is the same also that ascended, He, namely, the Only-begotten Son of the only God”
Irenaeus calls Jesus the “Son of the only God”
Definition of only: (1) Solely, (2) Exclusively, (3) No one else besides the said subject
By reason of the use of “only” towards the Father, Jesus cannot be God
Against Heresies 1, Chapter 9: “For when John, proclaiming one God, the Almighty, and one Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten, by whom all things were made, declares that this was the Son of God, this the Only-begotten,”
- Ireanaeus exegeted John 1:1-3 and interpreted it as only the Father being God and the Son, begotten. Therefore, he did not think the Word being called God was literally calling Him God but rather was a literary device
The following is a brief list of excerpts of Irenaeus calling Jesus God:
Against Heresies 5, Chapter 17: “For if no one can forgive sins but God alone, while the Lord remitted them and healed men, it is plain that He was Himself the Word of God made the Son of man, receiving from the Father the power of remission of sins; since He was man, and since He was God, in order that since as man He suffered for us, so as God He might have compassion on us, and forgive us our debts, in which we were made debtors to God our Creator.”
Jesus is not literally being called the ontological God here. Look at the context: Irenaeus argues that only God can forgive sins and therefore goes unto say Jesus received the power of the remission of sins from the Father (the only God). So now Jesus exercises the power of God to forgive sins as God, having being delegated His authority and that’s why Irenaeus says “as God He might have compassion on us”. “God” is in reference to the office within this context. If Irenaeus was calling Jesus the ontological true God it would also be inconsistent with all his writings which repeatedly declare that the Father is the only God.
Against Heresies 3, Chapter 19: “the Son of man, this is Christ, the Son of the living God. For I have shown from the Scriptures, that no one of the sons of Adam is as to everything, and absolutely, called God, or named Lord. But that He is Himself in His own right, beyond all men who ever lived, God, and Lord, and King Eternal, and the Incarnate Word, proclaimed by all the prophets, the apostles, and by the Spirit Himself, may be seen by all who have attained to even a small portion of the truth.”
While Jesus is said to be God in this passage, the preceding context indicates that this was just a title and wasn’t ontologically calling Him God as He is first said to be “the Son of the Living God” and then Irenaeus makes a comparison between Jesus and all men; none of the sons of Adam have been called “God and Lord” but Jesus, the Son of Man, was honoured with this title. Irenaeus also isn’t calling Jesus eternal but rather “King eternal”; an endless king because He lives forever
Against Heresies 3, Chapter 19: “Carefully, then, has the Holy Ghost pointed out, by what has been said, His birth from a virgin, and His essence, that He is God (for the name Emmanuel indicates this). And He shows that He is a man.... [W]e should not understand that He is a mere man only, nor, on the other hand, from the name Emmanuel, should suspect Him to be God without flesh”
- This passage pretty much sums up why Irenaeus calls Jesus God; in essence He is God because He is the Son of God and therefore inherits His divine nature. However, because He is begotten of the Father, He is not eternal and came after Him, He is the Son of God.
In conclusion, the extensive excerpts from Irenaeus' works consistently emphasise that he believed the Father alone was truly God. Despite occasionally referring to Jesus as "God", Irenaeus repeatedly affirms the supremacy of the Father by referring to Him as the "only God" and “alone” is God. Such language is not congruous with the doctrine of the Trinity which posit that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the one God. By employing dialectical reasoning to produce a synthesis of the seemingly antithetical statements regarding this topic, we can deduce that in the scarce instances that Jesus is called “God”, He was not being literally ascribed to be the Most High true God, but rather a reflection of God because He is begotten of God. Additionally, it also becomes evident that Irenaeus' scarce references to Jesus as "God" were meant to reflect His divine origin, rather than conflate Him as the Most High God. Therefore, while in isolation, certain excerpts of Irenaeus’ works may appear to indicate that He believed Jesus was God; A comprehensive analysis of all his works that integrate his seemingly contradictory statements, clarify, that Irenaeus believed that Father was the only true God.