{"collection":"chr","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/chr/ecf/001/0010785.htm","path":"chr/ecf/001/0010785.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/chr/ecf/001/0010785.htm","text":"1. 3632 As it has been clearly demonstrated that p. 446 the Word, who existed in the beginning with God, by whom all things were made, who was also always present with mankind, was in these last days, according to the time appointed by the Father, united to His own workmanship, inasmuch as He became a man liable to suffering, [it follows] that every objection is set aside of those who say, \u201cIf our Lord was born at that time, Christ had therefore no previous existence.\u201d For I have shown that the Son of God did not then begin to exist, being with the Father from the beginning; but when He became incarnate, and was made man, He commenced afresh 3633 the long line of human beings, and furnished us, in a brief, comprehensive manner, with salvation; so that what we had lost in Adam\u2014namely, to be according to the image and likeness of God\u2014that we might recover in Christ Jesus.\n2. For as it was not possible that the man who had once for all been conquered, and who had been destroyed through disobedience, could reform himself, and obtain the prize of victory; and as it was also impossible that he could attain to salvation who had fallen under the power of sin,\u2014the Son effected both these things, being the Word of God, descending from the Father, becoming incarnate, stooping low, even to death, and consummating the arranged plan of our salvation, upon whom [Paul], exhorting us unhesitatingly to believe, again says, \u201cWho shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring down Christ; or who shall descend into the deep? that is, to liberate Christ again from the dead.\u201d 3634 Then he continues, \u201cIf thou shall confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shall be saved.\u201d 3635 And he renders the reason why the Son of God did these things, saying, \u201cFor to this end Christ both lived, and died, and revived, that He might rule over the living and the dead.\u201d 3636 And again, writing to the Corinthians, he declares, \u201cBut we preach Christ Jesus crucified;\u201d 3637 and adds, \u201cThe cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?\u201d 3638\n3. But who is it that has had fellowship with us in the matter of food? Whether is it he who is conceived of by them as the Christ above, who extended himself through Horos, and imparted a form to their mother; or is it He who is from the Virgin, Emmanuel, who did eat butter and honey, 3639 of whom the prophet declared, \u201cHe is also a man, and who shall know him?\u201d 3640 He was likewise preached by Paul: \u201cFor I delivered,\u201d he says, \u201cunto you first of all, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures.\u201d 3641 It is plain, then, that Paul knew no other Christ besides Him alone, who both suffered, and was buried, and rose gain, who was also born, and whom he speaks of as man. For after remarking, \u201cBut if Christ be preached, that He rose from the dead,\u201d 3642 he continues, rendering the reason of His incarnation, \u201cFor since by man came death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead.\u201d And everywhere, when [referring to] the passion of our Lord, and to His human nature, and His subjection to death, he employs the name of Christ, as in that passage: \u201cDestroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died.\u201d 3643 And again: \u201cBut now, in Christ, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.\u201d 3644 And again: \u201cChrist has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth upon a tree.\u201d 3645 And again: \u201cAnd through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died;\u201d 3646 indicating that the impassible Christ did not descend upon Jesus, but that He Himself, because He was Jesus Christ, suffered for us; He, who lay in the tomb, and rose again, who descended and ascended,\u2014the Son of God having been made the Son of man, as the very name itself doth declare. 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, \u201cThe Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me,\u201d 3647 \u2014pointing out both the anointing Father, the anointed Son, and the unction, which is the Spirit.\n4. The Lord Himself, too, makes it evident who it was that suffered; for when He asked the disciples, \u201cWho do men say that I, the Son of man, am?\u201d 3648 and when Peter had replied, \u201cThou art the Christ, the Son of the living God;\u201d and when he had been commended by Him [in these words], \u201cThat flesh and blood had not revealed it to him, but the Father who is in heaven,\u201d He made it clear that He, the Son of man, is Christ the Son of the living God. \u201cFor from that time forth,\u201d it is said, \u201cHe began to show to His disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, p. 447 and suffer many things of the priests, and be rejected, and crucified, and rise again the third day.\u201d 3649 He who was acknowledged by Peter as Christ, who pronounced him blessed because the Father had revealed the Son of the living God to him, said that He must Himself suffer many things, and be crucified; and then He rebuked Peter, who imagined that He was the Christ as the generality of men supposed 3650 [that the Christ should be], and was averse to the idea of His suffering, [and] said to the disciples, \u201cIf any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; and whosoever will lose it for My sake shall save it.\u201d 3651 For these things Christ spoke openly, He being Himself the Saviour of those who should be delivered over to death for their confession of Him, and lose their lives.\n5. If, however, He was Himself not to suffer, but should fly away from Jesus, why did He exhort His disciples to take up the cross and follow Him,\u2014that cross which these men represent Him as not having taken up, but [speak of Him] as having relinquished the dispensation of suffering? For that He did not say this with reference to the acknowledging of the Stauros (cross) above, as some among them venture to expound, but with respect to the suffering which He should Himself undergo, and that His disciples should endure, He implies when He says, \u201cFor whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; and whosoever will lose, shall find it.\u201d And that His disciples must suffer for His sake, He [implied when He] said to the Jews, \u201cBehold, I send you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify.\u201d 3652 And to the disciples He was wont to say, \u201cAnd ye shall stand before governors and kings for My sake; and they shall scourge some of you, and slay you, and persecute you from city to city.\u201d 3653 He knew, therefore, both those who should suffer persecution, and He knew those who should have to be scourged and slain because of Him; and He did not speak of any other cross, but of the suffering which He should Himself undergo first, and His disciples afterwards. For this purpose did He give them this exhortation: \u201cFear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to send both soul and body into hell;\u201d 3654 [thus exhorting them] to hold fast those professions of faith which they had made in reference to Him. For He promised to confess before His Father those who should confess His name before men; but declared that He would deny those who should deny Him, and would be ashamed of those who should be ashamed to confess Him. And although these things are so, some of these men have proceeded to such a degree of temerity, that they even pour contempt upon the martyrs, and vituperate those who are slain on account of the confession of the Lord, and who suffer all things predicted by the Lord, and who in this respect strive to follow the footprints of the Lord\u2019s passion, having become martyrs of the suffering One; these we do also enrol with the martyrs themselves. For, when inquisition shall be made for their blood, 3655 and they shall attain to glory, then all shall be confounded by Christ, who have cast a slur upon their martyrdom. And from this fact, that He exclaimed upon the cross, \u201cFather, forgive them, for they know not what they do,\u201d 3656 the long-suffering, patience, compassion, and goodness of Christ are exhibited, since He both suffered, and did Himself exculpate those who had maltreated Him. For the Word of God, who said to us, \u201cLove your enemies, and pray for those that hate you,\u201d 3657 Himself did this very thing upon the cross; loving the human race to such a degree, that He even prayed for those putting Him to death. If, however, any one, going upon the supposition that there are two [Christs], forms a judgment in regard to them, that [Christ] shall be found much the better one, and more patient, and the truly good one, who, in the midst of His own wounds and stripes, and the other [cruelties] inflicted upon Him, was beneficent, and unmindful of the wrongs perpetrated upon Him, than he who flew away, and sustained neither injury nor insult.\n6. This also does likewise meet [the case] of those who maintain that He suffered only in appearance. For if He did not truly suffer, no thanks to Him, since there was no suffering at all; and when we shall actually begin to suffer, He will seem as leading us astray, exhorting us to endure buffering, and to turn the other 3658 cheek, if He did not Himself before us in reality suffer the same; and as He misled them by seeming to them what He was not, so does He also mislead us, by exhorting us to endure what He did not endure Himself. [In that case] we shall be even above the Master, because we suffer and sustain what our Master never bore or endured. But as our Lord is alone truly Master, so the Son of God is truly good and patient, the Word of God the Father having been made the Son of man. For He fought and conquered; for He was man contending for the fathers, 3659 and p. 448 through obedience doing away with disobedience completely: for He bound the strong man, 3660 and set free the weak, and endowed His own handiwork with salvation, by destroying sin. For He is a most holy and merciful Lord, and loves the human race.\n7. Therefore, as I have already said, He caused man (human nature) to cleave to and to become, one with God. For unless man had overcome the enemy of man, the enemy would not have been legitimately vanquished. And again: unless it had been God who had freely given salvation, we could never have possessed it securely. And unless man had been joined to God, he could never have become a partaker of incorruptibility. For it was incumbent upon the Mediator between God and men, by His relationship to both, to bring both to friendship and concord, and present man to God, while He revealed God to man. 3661 For, in what way could we be partaken of the adoption of sons, unless we had received from Him through the Son that fellowship which refers to Himself, unless His Word, having been made flesh, had entered into communion with us? Wherefore also He passed through every stage of life, restoring to all communion with God. Those, therefore, who assert that He appeared putatively, and was neither born in the flesh nor truly made man, are as yet under the old condemnation, holding out patronage to sin; for, by their showing, death has not been vanquished, which \u201creigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam\u2019s transgression.\u201d 3662 But the law coming, which was given by Moses, and testifying of sin that it is a sinner, did truly take away his (death\u2019s) kingdom, showing that he was no king, but a robber; and it revealed him as a murderer. It laid, however, a weighty burden upon man, who had sin in himself, showing that he was liable to death. For as the law was spiritual, it merely made sin to stand out in relief, but did not destroy it. For sin had no dominion over the spirit, but over man. For it behoved Him who was to destroy sin, and redeem man under the power of death, that He should Himself be made that very same thing which he was, that is, man; who had been drawn by sin into bondage, but was held by death, so that sin should be destroyed by man, and man should go forth from death. For as by the disobedience of the one man who was originally moulded from virgin soil, the many were made sinners, 3663 and forfeited life; so was it necessary that, by the obedience of one man, who was originally born from a virgin, many should be justified and receive salvation. Thus, then, was the Word of God made man, as also Moses says: \u201cGod, true are His works.\u201d 3664 But if, not having been made flesh, He did appear as if flesh, His work was not a true one. But what He did appear, that He also was: God recapitulated in Himself the ancient formation of man, that He might kill sin, deprive death of its power, and vivify man; and therefore His works are true.\nAgain a Syriac fragment supplies some important words. See Harvey, vol. ii. p. 440.\n446:3633\nSo the Syriac. The Latin has, \u201cin seipso recapitulavit,\u201d He summed up in Himself. [As the Second Adam, 1 Cor. xv. 47.]\n446:3634 446:3635 446:3636 446:3637 446:3638 446:3639 446:3640 446:3641\n1 Cor. 15:3, 4.\n446:3642 446:3643 446:3644 446:3645 446:3646 446:3647 446:3648 447:3649 447:3650\nLiterally, \u201csupposing Him to be Christ according to the idea of men.\u201d\n447:3651 447:3652 447:3653 447:3654 447:3655 447:3656 447:3657 447:3658 447:3659\n\u201cPro patribus, \u1f00\u03bd\u03c4\u1f76 \u03c4\u1ff6\u03bd \u03c0\u03b1\u03c4\u03c1\u1ff6\u03bd. The reader will here observe the clear statement of the doctrine of atonement, whereby alone sin is done away.\u201d\u2014Harvey.\n448:3660 448:3661\nThe Latin text, \u201cet facere, ut et Deus assumeret hominem, et homo se dederet Deo,\u201d here differs widely from the Greek preserved by Theodoret. We have followed the latter, which is preferred by all the editors.\n448:3662 448:3663 448:3664","title":"Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol I: IREN\u00c6US: Chapter XVIII.\u2014Continuation of the...","type":"page"}