Papias

EH quotes from the very early five books of Papias of Hierapolis called “Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord”; call this ESL. Carlson (2025) estimates the date of ESL as 110 AD (footnote 48). Papias lived in Hierapolis, which is about 200 km from Ephesus, the city in which John’s Gospel is most likely to have been written, and about 220 km from Smyrna, the home of Polycarp and the younger Irenaeus.

Lightfoot (1889a) has a chapter on Papias, starting at page 142. He sets out the striking lack of good information we have for definite dates of Papias’ life, or ESL.

Although Eusebius quotes from ESL, it is not clear that Eusebius had access to any of Papias’ five books — he may have been quoting from a secondary source — see Stevens (2019).

Polycrates of Ephesus

EH has an extended quote from Polycrates’ letter to Pope Victor about the controversy on the correct day of the year to celebrate Easter.

Virtually all we know about Polycrates is in the letter quoted in EH; from Lightfoot (1889b), p393:

The notices in Irenaeus are further confirmed by the language of his contemporary Polycrates. Polycrates was himself bishop of Ephesus, and the letter of which fragments are preserved (Euseb. H. E. v. 24) was written by him to Victor bishop of Rome, consequently between the years A.D. 189 and a.p. 198 or 199. He there mentions his ‘hoar head’ (πολιᾶς) and speaks of himself as ‘numbering sixty-five years in the Lord’ (ἑξήκοντα πέντε ἔτη ἔχων ἐν Κυρίῳ). Even if this period dates from his birth and not from his conversion, he must have been born within about a quarter of a century after the death of the last surviving Apostle [John], who passed his later years in the Church of Ephesus where Polycrates ruled.

Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria may have been born in Athens, or in Alexandria, in 140-150 AD (Méhat 1966, p54). See Wescott’s (1877) biography for more background.

EH quotes from two of Clement’s books:

• “Who is the rich man who is being saved?” and
• “Hypotyposes”, also known as (with a different transliteration from Greek) “Hypotyposeis”.

Méhat (above), dates both works after the third of Clement’s major works — the Stromata — where he (and Wikipedia) date the Stromata around 203 AD.

Origen of Alexandria

Origen, (c. 185 – c. 253)

• Commentary on the Gospel of John
• Commentary on Genesis

Apollonius of Ephesus

From Wace and Piercy (1911), p35:

Apollonius of Ephesus, so called on the doubtful authority of the writer of Praedestinatus, ed. by Sirmond, who styles him [bishop] of Ephesus, but the silence of Eusebius and all other earlier testimony makes it difficult to lay much stress on this statement.He wrote a work in five books against the Cataphrygian or Montanist heresy. Fragments of the first three books are extant in Eusebius (H. E. y. 18), … Taking for the rise of Montanism the date given in the Chronicon of Eusebius (A.D. 172), this would give about A.D. 210 for the date of this work.

Also see Apollonius’ entry in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.

HE 2.15

So then, when the divine Word had thus come to sojourn among them, the power of Simon [[the Samaritan]] was quenched and destroyed simultaneously with the man himself. But so brilliant was the light of piety that shone upon the minds of Peter’s hearers, that they were not content to be satisfied with hearing him once and no more, nor with the unwritten teaching of the divine message; but besought with all kinds of entreaties Mark, whose Gospel is extant, a follower of Peter, that he would leave them in writing also a memoir of the teaching they had received by word of mouth; nor did they relax their efforts until they had prevailed upon the man; and thus they became the originators of the book of the 2 Gospel according to Mark, as it is called. Now it is said that when the apostle learnt, by revelation of the Spirit, what was done, he was pleased with the men’s zeal, and authorized the book to be read in the churches — Clement has given the story in the sixth book of the Hypotyposeis; [[ See vi. 14. 6, 7]] and the bishop of Hierapolis also, Papias by name, corroborates his testimony.[[See iii. 39. 16.]] And [it is said] that Peter mentions Mark in his former epistle; which also it is said he composed at Rome itself, and indicates the fact when he calls the city, somewhat metaphoric- ally, “Babylon,” in these words: She that is in Babylon, elect together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Mark my son.[[1 Peter. v. 13.]], p48.

McGiffert’s (Eusebius of Caesarea 1890) footnote to this passage traces the early testimony to the sources of Mark.

That Mark wrote the second Gospel under the influence of Peter, or as a record of what he had heard from him, is the universal tradition of antiquity. Papias, in the famous and much-disputed passage (quoted by Eusebius, III. 39, below), is the first to record the tradition. Justin Martyr refers to Mark’s Gospel under the name “Memoirs (ἀπομνημονεύματα) of Peter” (Dial. c. Tryph. 106; the translation in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Am. Ed. Vol. I. p. 252, which refers the αὐτοῦ to Christ, is incorrect; compare Weiss, N. T. Einleitung, p. 44, note 4). Irenæus (Adv. Hær. III. 11. 1, quoted below, V. 8. 2), Tertullian (Adv. Marcionem, IV. 5), and Origen (quoted below, VI. 25) confirm the tradition, which is repeated over and over again by the Fathers.

HE 3.1

Such, then, was the plight of the Jews at that time [[during the Jewish revolt, described by Josephus]]. But when the holy apostles and disciples of our Saviour were dispersed over the whole world, Parthia was allotted to Thomas, according to tradition, while Scythia was allotted to Andrew, and Asia to John,

… with whom [[original footnote: plural (οὑς)]] also he lived, dying at Ephesus. But Peter, it seems, preached in Pontus and Galatia and Bithynia, in Cappadocia and Asia, to those Jews who were of the Dispersion. He also at the last came to Rome, and was crucified head-down- wards; for he requested that he might suffer thus. What need to speak of Paul, who from Jerusalem even unto Illyricum has fully preached the gospel of Christ, and afterwards was martyred at Rome under Nero;

These are the express terms which Origen uses in the third tome of his Commentaries on Genesis.

HE 3.18

18/ It is recorded that at that time the apostle and evangelist John, being still alive, was condemned to dwell in the island of Patmos for his testimony to the divine word. [[Original footnote: Heg. in J. A. Cramer, Anecd. Greca, ii. 88; and C de Boor, 7.U. v. 2. 169.]]

Indeed, Ireneus, in writing about the number of the name of the Antichrist which is to be found in the Apocalypse of John, as it is called, uses these very words in the fifth book of his work Against the Heresies, with reference to John:

But if it were necessary that his name should be announced openly at this present time, it would have been stated by him who also saw the revelation. For it was seen not long ago, but almost in our own generation, at the close of the principate of Domitian. [[AH 5, 30]] p79

HE 3.20

…Now after Domitian had ruled for fifteen years and Nerva had succeeded him in the principate, the Senate of the Romans decreed that Domitian’s honours should be taken away, and that those unjustly banished should return to their own homes, and receive back their property as well. This is recorded by 9 those who wrote the history of the period. At that time, then, the record of our ancient men informs us that the apostle John also took up his abode once more at Ephesus after his exile on the island.

21/ But when Nerva had reigned little more than a year, he was succeeded by Trajan. … (p81)

HE 3.23-25

23/ Moreover, there was still alive in Asia and directing the churches there, he whom Jesus loved,[[John xiii. 23; xxi. 7, 20]] apostle alike and evangelist, even John, having returned from his exile on the island after the death of Domitian. And that he survived up to their day — this account is sufficiently accredited by two witnesses, who may be considered worthy of credit, as men who were ambassadors of the orthodoxy of the Church: seeing that such were Ireneus and Clement the Alexandrian. The former of these indeed writes thus in the second book of his work Against the Heresies, in these very words:

… and all the elders who have come in contact with John, the disciple of the Lord, in Asia testify that John delivered. … For he remained with them until the time of Trajan.[[AH, 2, 33. 3]]

And in the third book of the same work he states this same thing, as follows:

Yea also the church at Ephesus, founded by Paul, and where John remained with them until the time of Trajan, is a truthful witness of the tradition of the apostles. [[AH. 2, 3. 4]]

But Clement both indicated the time, and also adds a story which such as delight in hearing what is beautiful and helpful should most certainly know. It is in his treatise which he entitled Who is the rich man who is being saved? Take and read this writing of his also; it runs as follows:

… hear a tale that is no mere tale, but a true account of John the apostle, which has been handed down and preserved in memory. For when on the death of the tyrant he removed from the island of Patmos to Ephesus, he used to go off, when requested, to the neighbouring districts of the Gentiles also, to appoint bishops in some places, to organize whole churches in others, in others again to appoint to an order some one of those who were indicated by the Spirit. He came, then, also to a certain city at no great distance, whose very name is told by some, and having otherwise refreshed the brethren, he finally looked at the bishop who presided (for he saw a young man of powerful physique, refined appearance and ardent temperament), and said: “This youth I entrust to thee in all earnestness in the presence of the Church and Christ as witnesses.” On the bishop accepting him and making all promises, the apostle again addressed and adjured him in the same words.

Then he went back to Ephesus, while the presbyter took home his youthful charge, brought him up, kept him by his side, cherished and finally enlightened him. After that he relaxed his excessive care and guardianship, thinking that he had placed over him the perfect guard, the seal of the Lord. But the youth grasped his freedom too soon, and to his ruin fell in with certain idle and dissolute fellows of his own age, of evil habits. First they led him on by costly entertainments; then also they would perhaps take him with them as they sallied forth at night to rob; then they urged him to join them in some even greater crime. He for his part little by little adopted their habits; and like a hard-mouthed and powerful horse he left the straight path, took the bit between his teeth, and rushed down the precipice, the more violently because of his strength of character. And completely despairing of his salvation in God, he was no longer minded to commit some slight offence; but, since he had lost his soul once and for all, determined to do a big thing and suffer a like fate with the rest. So he took these same companions and got together a robber band, of which he was an active chief, the most violent, bloody and cruel of them all.

Time passed, and, some necessity having arisen, they called John back; who, when he had set in order the business that brought him thither, said: “Come now, bishop, return us the deposit, which both Christ and I have committed to thee, in the presence of the church over which thou presidest as witness.” At first the bishop was amazed, thinking that he was being falsely accused with regard to money which he had not received; and he could neither believe a charge about what he did not possess, nor disbelieve John. But when the latter said, “It is the youth that I demand, and the soul of our brother,” the old man heaved a deep sigh, and even shed some tears. “That youth,” said he,”is dead.” “How; and by what kind of death?” “He is dead to God,” he replied; “for he turned out a wicked and abandoned person, in short, a robber; and now he has left the Church to haunt the mountain with a troop of men like himself.” The apostle rent his clothes and smote his head with loud lamentation: “A fine guardian,” said he, “I left of our brother’s soul! Howbeit, provide me with a horse at once, and let me have someone to guide the way.”

He rode right from the church, just as he was; and when he came to the spot and was captured by the robbers’ sentry, he neither made to fly nor protested, but cried aloud: “To this end am I come; bring me to your leader.” The latter for a while awaited them, armed as he was. But when he recognized John as he approached, he was filled with shame and turned to flee. Forgetful of his years John followed after him with all his might, crying aloud: “Why dost thou fly from me, my child; from thy own father, from one unarmed and aged? Have pity on me, my child, fear not. Thou hast still hopes of life. I myself will give account to Christ on thy behalf. If need be, I will willingly endure thy death, as the Lord the death which He suffered on behalf of us. For thy sake I will give my own life in place of thine. Stand, believe; Christ has sent me.” On hearing this the robber at first stood still with downcast eyes, then he threw away his arms, then trembled and wept bitterly. But when the old man drew near he embraced him, pleading his cause, as best he could, with groans; being baptized a second time in his tears, and concealing only his right hand. But the apostle gave his pledge and solemn assurance that he had found forgiveness for him from the Saviour; and praying he kneeled down and kissed that same right hand as if it were now purified by his repentance. Thus he brought him back to the church. And making intercession for him with copious prayers, striving with him in continual fastings, subduing his mind with the varied siren-spell of words, he did not depart, as it is said, until he had set him over the church, thus affording a notable example of true repentance and a notable token of regeneration, a trophy of a resurrection that all might see.

24/ I have placed here this extract from Clement both for its historical interest and for the profit of such as shall read it.

But come, let us now indicate also the unquestionable writings of this apostle. And let his Gospel, recognized by the churches under heaven, be first acknowledged. That indeed it has with good reason been reckoned by the ancients in the fourth place after the other three, may be made clear in this way. Those inspired and truly divine men, I mean the apostles of Christ, had purified their lives exceedingly and adorned their souls with every virtue; but in speech they were uncultivated. They verily placed their confidence in the divine, wonder-working power truly bestowed upon them by the Saviour; they neither knew how, nor attempted, to present the teachings of the Master in persuasive and skilful words, but they used only the demonstration of the divine Spirit which was working with them, and the wonder-working power of Christ which found its fulfilment through them. Thus they published the knowledge of the kingdom of heaven throughout the whole world, paying little heed to the desire for writing books. And such was their practice, inasmuch as they were aided by a greater and more than human ministry. For instance, Paul, who excelled them all in the power of composition and in fertility of thought, has committed to writing nothing but the briefest of epistles; although he had countless unutterable things to relate, since he had attained to the sights even of the third heaven, and was caught up to the divine Paradise itself, and deemed worthy to hear the unspeakable words there. And, indeed, the rest of the followers of our Saviour — the twelve apostles, the seventy disciples, and countless others as well—were not without these same experiences

Yet out of them all Matthew and John alone have left us memoirs of the Lord’s discourses; and they, it is recorded, only came to write under compulsion. For Matthew first of all preached to Hebrews; and when he was about to go also to others he committed his Gospel to writing in his native tongue: thus he made his writing compensate those from whom he was departing for the lack of his bodily presence. And when Mark and Luke had already published their Gospels, it is said that John, who all the time had used unwritten preaching, at last came also to write, for the following reason. Those three which we mentioned above having come already into the hands of all, including his own, it is said that he accepted them and attested their truth; but [expressed the opinion] that the narrative only lacked, it seems, an account of what had been done by Christ first of all and at the beginning of the preaching.

And this statement is indeed true. For instance, one can see at a glance that the three evangelists have only recorded the deeds of the Saviour for one year after the shutting up in prison of John the Baptist, and that they indicated this very fact at the beginning of their account. Thus, after the forty days’ fast and the temptation that ensued, Matthew informs us as to the chronology of his work by saying, Now when he heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew from Judea into Galilee;[[Matt. iv. 12.]] and Mark likewise says, Now after that John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee; [[Mark i. 14]], and Luke too, before he begins the acts of Jesus, makes a similar observation, declaring that Herod, in adding to the evil things he had committed, shut up John in prison.[[Luke iti. 19, 20.]]

It is said, then, that the apostle John for these reasons was called upon to give in his Gospel the period which the former evangelists had passed over in silence, and the deeds of the Saviour during that period (and these were before the shutting up of the Baptist); and that he indicated this very fact, when on one occasion he said, This beginning of his marvels did Jesus,[[John ii. 11]] and when on another he mentioned the Baptist, in the midst of an account of the acts of Jesus, as still at that time baptizing in Aenon near to Salim; and that he shows this clearly when he says, For John was not yet cast into prison.[[John iii. 23, 24]]

Therefore John in writing his Gospel gives us the things which Christ did before the Baptist was cast into prison; but the remaining three evangelists mention those done after the shutting up of the Baptist in the dungeon. And anyone who understands this can no longer imagine that the Gospels are at variance with one another, because the Gospel according to John contains the first acts of Christ, but the remaining Gospels contain the record of what He did at the close of the period; but would therefore regard it as natural that, while John passed over in silence the genealogy according to the flesh of our Saviour, inasmuch as it had been previously set down by Matthew and Luke, he should begin with the doctrine of His divinity, since the divine Spirit had reserved that for him as their superior.

This, then, must suffice as to the writing of the Gospel according to John; and we have stated above the cause which led to the writing of that according to Mark. But Luke has himself at the beginning of his treatise prefixed the cause which had led him to its composition: showing that many others had somewhat rashly taken it upon them to compose a narrative of those things of which he had been fully persuaded; and so, feeling himself bound to free us from our doubt and suspicion as to the others, he gave us in his own Gospel the certain record of those events whose truth he had firmly grasped by the aid of his intercourse and stay with Paul and his converse with the other apostles.[[Luke i. 1-4]] So much for our own account of these things. But in a more suitable place we shall endeavour to show by means of quotations from the ancients what others also have said about them.

And as to the treatises of John, the former of the epistles, as well as the Gospel, has been acknowledged as undisputed, both by the men of to-day and by the ancients also; but the remaining two are disputed. As to the Apocalypse, the opinion of the majority is still to this day divided one way or the other. But at the proper time this question also will be likewise decided by the testimony of the ancients.

25/ But now that we have reached this point, it is reasonable to sum up the writings of the New Testament already mentioned. Well then, we must set in the first place the holy quaternion of the Gospels; which are followed by the book of the Acts of the Apostles. After this we must reckon the epistles of Paul; following which we must pronounce genuine the extant former epistle of John, and likewise the epistle of Peter. After these we must place, if it really seem right, the Apocalypse of John, the views that have been held as to which we shall set forth at the proper time. These, then, [are to be placed] among the acknowledged writings. But of those which are disputed, nevertheless familiar to the majority, there is extant the epistle of James, as it is called; and that of Jude; and the second epistle of Peter; and the second and third of John, so named, whether they belong to the evangelist or perhaps to some other of the same name as he. Among the spurious writings there are to be placed also the book of the Acts of Paul, and the Shepherd, as it is called, and the Apocalypse of Peter; and, in addition to these, the extant epistle of Barnabas, and the Teachings of the Apostles, as it is called; and, moreover, as I said, the Apocalypse of John, if it seem right. (This last, as I said, is rejected by some, but 5 others give it a place among the acknowledged writings.)…

The sequence above starts on page 82 of Eusebius of Caesarea (1927).

HE 3.31

Now indeed as regards Paul and Peter, we have already on a former occasion shown both the time and manner of their death, and, as well, the spot where their tabernacles were laid after they departed this life. But as for John, while we have already stated after a fashion the time [of his death],[[HE 3,23]] we must go to the epistle of Polycrates (who was bishop of the community at Ephesus) to show us the place where his tabernacle lies. In writing this epistle to Victor, bishop of the Romans, he mentions John and, together with him, Philip the apostle and his daughters, somewhat as follows :

For indeed in Asia great luminaries have fallen asleep, such as shall rise again at the last day, the day of the Lord’s appearing, when He comes with glory from heaven to seek out all His saints: to wit, Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who has fallen asleep in Hierapolis, [as have] also his two daughters who grew old in virginity, and his other daughter who lived in the Holy Spirit and rests at Ephesus; and, moreover, [there is] John too, who leant back on the Lord’s breast,[[John xiii. 25]] who was [[original footnote: or “became”]] a priest, wearing the sacerdotal plate, both martyr and teacher. He has fallen asleep at Ephesus. (p91)

HE 3.36

36/ But to resume. In their day in Asia a companion of the apostles, Polycarp, was in eminence: he had been entrusted with the episcopate of the church at Smyrna by the eye-witnesses and ministers of the Lord. In his day Papias was well known, also a bishop, but of the community at Hierapolis; as was also Ignatius, he whose name is still to this day on the lips of very many, who was the second in the succession from Peter at Antioch to receive the episcopate.

HE 3.39

39/ But of Papias there are five treatises extant, which also have been entitled Expositions of the Dominical Oracles. These Irenaeus also mentions as his only writings, saying somewhat as follows:

And these things Papias also, who was a hearer of John and a companion of Polycarp, a man of primitive times, attests in writing in the fourth of his books. For there are five books composed by him.[[AH. v. 33]]

So, indeed, says Irenaeus. Nevertheless Papias himself, in the preface to his discourses, makes it plain that he was in no sense a hearer and eye-witness of the holy apostles; but tells us, by the language he uses, that he had received the things pertaining to the faith from those who were their pupils:

But I will not hesitate also to set down for thy benefit, along with the interpretations, all that ever I carefully learnt and carefully recalled from the elders, guaranteeing its truth. For I did not take delight, as most men do, in those who have much to say, but in those who teach what is true; not in those who recall foreign commandments, but in those who recall the commandments given by the Lord to faith, and reaching us from the truth itself. And if anyone chanced to come who had actually been a follower of the elders, I would enquire as to the discourses of the elders, what Andrew or what Peter said, or what Philip, or what Thomas or James, or what John or Matthew or any other of the Lord’s disciples; and the things which Aristion and John the elder, disciples of the Lord, say. For I supposed that things out of books did not profit me so much as the utterances of a voice which liveth and abideth.

Here it is worth while noting that twice in his enumeration he mentions the name John: the former of these Johns he puts in the same list with Peter and James and Matthew and the other apostles, clearly indicating the evangelist; but the latter he places with others, in a separate clause, outside the number of the apostles, placing Aristion before him; and he clearly calls him “elder.” So that he hereby also proves their statement to be true who have said that two persons in Asia have borne the same name, and that there were two tombs at Ephesus, each of which is still to this day said to be John’s. And to these details one must needs pay attention, for it is likely that the second (if one is unwilling to admit that it was the first) saw the Revelation which is extant under the name of John. And Papias, of whom we are now speaking, acknowledges that he received the discourses of the apostles from those who had been their followers, but says that he was himself an actual hearer of Aristion and of John the elder. Certainly he mentions them by name frequently in his treatises and sets forth their traditions.

So much, then, for these points which, it is hoped, we have not adduced to no purpose. But it is right to add to the words of Papias which we have quoted other sayings, in which he relates some other miraculous events likewise, as having come down to him by tradition. It has been shown, indeed, by what has gone before, that Philip the apostle resided in Hierapolis with his daughters; but now it must be pointed out that Papias, their contemporary, mentions that he had a wonderful story from the daughters of Philip. For he relates that the resurrection of a dead body took place in his day; and, on the other hand, he tells of another miraculous happening, concerned with Justus who was surnamed Barsabbas: that he drank a deadly poison and, by the grace of the Lord, suffered no unpleasant effects.

The book of the Acts records that, after the ascension of the Saviour, the holy apostles put forward this Justus along with Matthias and prayed as to the lot [which was to be taken] to fill up the place in their number vacated by the traitor Judas. The passage runs somewhat as follows:

And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said … [[Acts i. 17, 23, 24]]

And the same writer has quoted other things also, as coming to him from unwritten tradition; for instance, certain strange parables of the Saviour and teachings of His, and some other things of a rather mythical character. And among these is his statement that there will be a certain period of a thousand years after the resurrection from the dead, when the kingdom of Christ will be set up in a material order upon this earth. I imagine that he got these ideas through a misinterpretation of the apostolic accounts, for he did not understand what they said mystically and in figurative language. For he evidently was a man of exceedingly small intelligence, as one might say judging from his discourses; nevertheless it was owing to him that so very many churchmen after him adopted a like opinion, taking their stand on the fact that he was a man of primitive times: as, for example, Irenaeus and all others who have given evident expression to like views. And, besides, Papias gives us in his work accounts of the aforesaid Aristion of the sayings of the Lord, and traditions of John the elder.

While we refer scholars to these, we shall now of necessity add to the words of his already quoted a tradition which he has set forth concerning Mark who wrote the Gospel. It is in these words:

This also the elder used to say. Mark, indeed, having been the interpreter of Peter, wrote accurately, howbeit not in order, all that he recalled of what was either said or done by the Lord. For he neither heard the Lord, nor was he a follower of His, but, at a later date (as I said), of Peter ; who used to adapt his instructions to the needs [of the moment], but not with a view to putting together the Dominical oracles in orderly fashion: so that Mark did no wrong in thus writing some things as he recalled them. For he kept a single aim in view: not to omit anything of what he heard, nor to state anything therein falsely.

Such, then, is Papias’ account of Mark. But the following is the statement concerning Matthew :

So then, Matthew compiled the oracles in the Hebrew language ; but everyone interpreted them as he was able.

And the same writer has used testimonies drawn from the former epistle of John, and likewise from that of Peter; and he has set forth, as well, another story about a woman accused falsely of many sins before the Lord, which the Gospel of the Hebrews contains. So much, then, for these things which of necessity we have noted, in addition to what has been already set forth. (p99)

EH 4.18

… And he [[Justin]] writes also that even as late as his day prophetical gifts were a conspicuous feature in the Church. And he mentions the Apocalypse of John, saying clearly that it was the apostle’s. [[Just., Dial. 81]] p126

EH 5.10

Now, it is said that he [[Pantaenus]] displayed such ardent love and zeal for the divine word that he was appointed as a herald of the Gospel of Christ to the nations of the East, and that he journeyed even as far as the land of the Indians. For there were, yes, even still at that time, many evangelists of the word, desirous to contribute an inspired zeal, after the manner of the apostles, for the increase and building up of the divine word. Pantaenus also was one of these, and is mentioned as having gone to India; and the story goes that there he found, in the hands of some persons who had come to know Christ in that land, the Gospel according to Matthew, which had anticipated his arrival; for that Bartholomew, one of the apostles, had preached to them and left behind the writing of Matthew in the actual Hebrew characters, and that it was preserved up to the said time. (p155)

EH 5.18

18/ But an ecclesiastical writer called Apollonius also undertook to refute the Phrygian heresy, as it is called, when it was then still at its height in Phrygia; …

… And he also mentions one Thraseas as a martyr at that time. And he says too, relying on tradition, that the Saviour had ordered His apostles not to depart from Jerusalem for twelve years; and he also makes use of testimonies drawn from the Apocalypse of John; and he records that a dead man had, through the divine power, been raised at Ephesus by John himself;… (p164)

EH 5.22

… In their time [[Pope Victor, Demetrius of Alexandria …]] Bacchyllus was bishop of Corinth in Greece, and Polycrates of the community at Ephesus. (p168)

EH 5.24

But of those bishops in Asia who confidently affirmed that they ought to keep to the custom which they had received from days of yore, Polycrates was the leader. And he too sets forth the tradition which h ad come down to him, in the letter he penned to Victor and the church of the Romans, in the following words:

As for us, then, we keep the day without tampering with it, neither adding, nor subtracting. For indeed in Asia great luminaries have fallen asleep, such as shall rise again on the day of the Lord’s appearing, when He comes with glory from heaven to seek out all his saints: to wit, Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who has fallen asleep in Hierapolis, [as have] also his two daughters who grew old in virginity, and his other daughter who lived in the Holy Spirit and rests at Ephesus; and, moreover, [there is] John too, he who leant back on the Lord’s breast,[[John xiii. 25.]] who was [[original footnote: or “became”]] a priest, wearing the sacerdotal plate, both martyr and teacher. He has fallen asleep at Ephesus. Moreover, Polycarp too at Smyrna, both bishop and martyr; and Thraseas, both bishop and martyr, of Eumenia, who has fallen asleep at Smyrna. And why need I mention Sagaris, bishop and martyr, who has fallen asleep at Laodicea? or the blessed Papirius, or Melito the eunuch who in all things lived in the Holy Spirit, who lies at Sardis, awaiting the visitation from heaven, when he shall rise from the dead? These all observed the fourteenth day for the Pascha according to the Gospel, in no way deviating therefrom, but following the rule of faith. And moreover I also, Polycrates, the least of you all, [do] according to the tradition of my kinsmen, some of whom also I have followed closely. Seven of my kinsmen were bishops, and I am the eighth. And my kinsmen always kept the day when the people put away the leaven. Therefore I for my part, brethren, who number sixty-five years in the Lord and have conversed with the brethren from all parts of the world and traversed the entire range of holy Scripture, am not affrighted by threats. For those better than I have said, We must obey God rather than men.

Then he goes on to add as follows, with reference to the bishops present at his writing who held the same view as he did:

But I could mention the bishops present with me, whom I summoned when ye yourselves desired that I should summon them. And if I were to write their names, the number thereof would be great. But they who know my littleness approved my letter, knowing that I did not wear my grey hairs in vain, but that I have ever lived in Christ Jesus. (p168)

EH 6.14

And in [2] the Hypotyposeis, to speak briefly, he [[Clement]] has given concise explanations of all the Canonical Scriptures, not passing over even the disputed writings, I mean the Epistle of Jude and the.remaining Catholic Epistles, and the Epistle of Barnabas, and the Apocalypse known as Peter’s. And as for the Epistle to the Hebrews, he says indeed that it is Paul’s, but that it was written for Hebrews in the Hebrew tongue, and that Luke, having carefully translated it, published it for the Greeks; hence, as a result of this translation, the same complexion of style is found in this Epistle and in the Acts: but that the [words] “Paul an apostle” were naturally not prefixed. For, says he,

in writing to Hebrews who had conceived a prejudice against him and were suspicious of him, he very wisely did not repel them at the beginning by putting his name.

Then lower down he adds:

But now, as the blessed elder¹ used to say, since the Lord, being the apostle? of the Almighty, was sent to the Hebrews, Paul, through modesty, since he had been sent to the Gentiles, does not inscribe himself as an apostle of the Hebrews, both to give due deference to the Lord and because he wrote to the Hebrews also out of his abundance, being a preacher and apostle of the Gentiles.

And again in the same books Clement has inserted a tradition of the primitive elders with regard to the order of the Gospels, as follows. He said that those Gospels were first written which include the genealogies, but that the Gospel according to Mark came into being in this manner: When Peter had publicly preached the word at Rome, and by the Spirit had proclaimed the Gospel, that those present, who were many, exhorted Mark, as one who had followed him for a long time and remembered what had been spoken, to make a record of what was said; and that he did this, and distributed the Gospel among those that asked him. And that when the matter came to Peter’s knowledge he neither strongly forbade it nor urged it forward. But that John, last of all, conscious that the outward facts had been set forth in the Gospels, was urged on by his disciples, and, divinely moved by the Spirit, composed a spiritual Gospel. This is Clement’s account. (p188)

EH 6:25

… But in the first of his [[Origen’s]] [Commentaries] on the Gospel according to Matthew, defending the canon of the Church, he gives his testimony that he knows only four Gospels, writing somewhat as follows:

… as having learnt by tradition concerning the four Gospels, which alone are unquestionable in the Church of God under heaven, that first was written that according to Matthew, who was once a tax-collector but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, who published it for those who from Judaism came to believe, composed as it was in the Hebrew language. Secondly, that according to Mark, who wrote it in accordance with Peter’s instructions, whom also Peter acknowledged as his son in the catholic epistle, speaking in these terms: She that is in Babylon, elect together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Mark my son.[[1 Pet v. 13]] And thirdly, that according to Luke, who wrote, for those who from the Gentiles [came to believe], the Gospel that was praised by Paul. After them all, that according to John.

And in the fifth of his Expositions on the Gospel according to John the same person says this with reference to the epistles of the apostles:

But he who was made sufficient to become a minister of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit, even Paul, who fully preached the Gospel from Jerusalem and round about even unto Illyricum, did not so much as write to all the churches that he taught; and even to those to which he wrote he sent but a few lines. And Peter, on whom the Church of Christ is built, against which the gates of Hades shall not prevail, has left one acknowledged epistle, and, it may be, a second also; for it is doubted. Why need I speak of him who leaned back on Jesus’ breast,[[John xiii. 25.]] John, who has left behind one Gospel, confessing that he could write so many that even the world itself could not contain them;” and he wrote also the Apocalypse, being ordered to keep silence and not to write the voices of seven thunders? [[Rev. x. 3, 4]] He has left also an epistle of a very few lines, and, it may be, a second and a third; for not all say that these are genuine. Only, the two of them together are not a hundred lines long.

Furthermore, he thus discusses the Epistle to the Hebrews, in his Homilies upon it:

That the character of the diction of the epistle entitled To the Hebrews has not the apostle’s rudeness in speech, who confessed himself rude in speech,[[2.Cor. xi. 6]] that is, in style, but that the epistle is better Greek in the framing of its diction, will be admitted by everyone who is able to discern differences of style. But again, on the other hand, that the thoughts of the epistle are admirable, and not inferior to the acknowledged writings of the apostle, to this also everyone will consent as true who has given attention to reading the apostle.

Further on, he adds the following remarks:

But as for myself, if I were to state my own opinion, I should say that the thoughts are the apostle’s, but that the style and composition belong to one who called to mind the apostle’s teachings and, as it were, made short notes of what his master said. If any church, therefore, holds this epistle as Paul’s, let it be commended for this also. For not without reason have the men of old time handed it down as Paul’s. But who wrote the epistle, in truth God knows. Yet the account which has reached us [is twofold], some saying that Clement, who was bishop of the Romans, wrote the epistle, others, that it was Luke, he who wrote the Gospel and the Acts… (p197)

EH 7.25

25/ Then, in due course, lower down he [[Dionysius]] speaks thus, with reference to the Apocalypse of John :

Some indeed of those before our time rejected and altogether impugned the book, examining it chapter by chapter and declaring it to be unintelligible and illogical, and its title false. For they say that it is not John’s, no, nor yet an apocalypse (unveiling), since it is veiled by its great thick curtain of unintelligibility ; and that the author of this book was not only not one of the apostles, nor even one of the saints or those belonging to the Church, but Cerinthus, the same who created the sect called “Cerinthian” after him, since he desired to affix to his own forgery a name worthy of credit. … … After completing the whole, one might say, of his prophecy, the prophet calls those blessed who observe it, and indeed himself also. For he says: Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book, and I John, he that saw and heard these things. I will not gainsay the fact that he was certainly named John and that this book is by one John, for I fully allow that it is the work of some holy and inspired person. But I should not readily agree that he was the apostle, the son of Zebedee, the brother of James, whose are the Gospel entitled According to John and the Catholic Epistle. For I form my judgment from the character of each and from the nature of the language and from what is known as the general construction of the book, that [the John therein mentioned] is not the same. For the evangelist nowhere adds his name, nor yet proclaims himself, throughout either the Gospel or the Epistle. …

… I hold that there have been many persons of the same name as John the apostle, … But I think that there was a certain other [John] among those that were in Asia, since it is said both that there were two tombs at Ephesus, and that each of the two is said to be John’s. …

… In a word, it is obvious that those who observe their character throughout will see at a glance that the Gospel and Epistle have one and the same complexion. But the Apocalypse is utterly different from, and foreign to, these writings; it has no connexion, no affinity, in any way with them; it scarcely, so to speak, has even a syllable in common with them. … (p237)

John the disciple of the Lord

When referring to John the author, Irenaeus very often uses the set phrase “John, the disciple of the Lord” (14 times of 49 total uses of “John” other than John the Baptist). There are two places where he indicates John by “disciple of the lord”, or “His disciple”, without naming him, although John is clear from the context: AH 3, XI:3, AH 3, XVI:8. He does not use the phrase “disciple of the Lord” of any other person, though he several times refers in general to the “disciples of the Lord” or “His disciples” in AH 2, II:5; AH 3, XII:4-5 (twice); AH 3, XII:13; AH 3, XVI:5; AH 5, XXXIV:3.

So “disciple of [the,our] Lord”, or “the Lord’s disciple” in Irenaeus always means John the author of the Gospel or the letters, or the Apocalypse.

This is similar to the phrasing of Papias, quoted by Eusebius in Eusebius of Caesarea (1890) (EH III. 39, p289). From Lightfoot and Harmer (1891), p529, (quoting Eusebius, quoting Papias):

And again, any occasion when a person came (in my way) who had been a follower of the Elders, I would inquire about the discourses of the elders — what was said by Andrew, or by Peter, or by Philip, or by Thomas or James, or by John or Matthew or any other of the Lord’s disciples, and what Aristion and the Elder John, the disciples of the Lord, say.

John’s Gospel gives its own primary author as “the beloved disciple” (John 21:24), who is not otherwise explicitly named or identified.

The author of the second and third letters of John introduces himself only as “The elder” (2 John 1:1, 3 John 1:1).

Revelation (the Apocalypse) names its source as “[Jesus Christ’s] servant John” (Revelation 1:1)

Irenaeus’ apostles

Irenaeus only ever uses “the Apostle N” or “N the Apostle” for: Paul (17 times); Matthew (once of 17 mentions of “Matthew”) and Peter (once for 48 mentions of “Peter”). He never uses “the Apostle John” or “John the Apostle”.

For Irenaeus, the most representative apostles are Peter and Paul — he criticizes the heretics for claiming to be “superior to his disciples, such as Peter and Paul, and the rest of the apostles” AH 1, XXV:2, and contrasts the heretics’ teaching with that of the apostles with “Therefore let them not any longer assert that Peter and Paul and the other apostles proclaimed the truth …” AH 4, XXXV:2.

In his letters, Paul specifically and often identifies himself as an “apostle of Christ Jesus” (e.g. Romans 1:1, 1 and 2 Corinthians 1), but did not claim to have met Jesus in person.

When referring to apostles, Irenaeus sometimes means:

1. The 12 named apostles; I’ve labeled these references as “12” below.
2. Paul
3. The source of definitive teaching from and about Jesus. I’ve labeled these references as “SA”.

The question at hand is whether Irenaeus, when citing the apostles as general authority (SA), restricted the apostles to the 12 plus Paul.

As background, it is clear from the quotes below that:

1. Irenaeus identifies the author of John’s Gospel as John, the disciple of the Lord: “… John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.” AH 3, I:1. Also: “And to these things does John also, the disciple of the Lord, bear witness, when he speaks thus in the Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. …” AH 5, XVIII:2.
2. The same John, disciple of the Lord, is the author of the Apocalypse: “And. if any one will devote a close attention to those things … which John the disciple of the Lord saw in the Apocalypse,” … AH 4, XXX:4.
3. The same John is the author of letters 1 John and 2 John. AH 1, XVI:3 has “John, the disciple of the Lord … says …” followed by a quote from 2 John. In AH 3, XVI:8: “His disciple, in his Epistle already mentioned,” (quoting 2 John), and later: “Wherefore he again exclaims in his Epistle,” (quoting 1 John).
4. Irenaeus considered John the disciple of the Lord to be an apostle: “[the heretics assert that John] has, by thus speaking, referred to the primary Ogdoad,² in which there was as yet no Jesus, and no Christ, the teacher of John. But that the apostle did not speak concerning their conjunctions, but concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he also acknowledges as the Word of God, he himself has made evident. For, summing up his statements respecting the Word previously mentioned by him, he further declares,”And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” AH 1, IX:2-3.

The question though, is whether Irenaeus is asserting that John — the disciple of the Lord — was also one of the 12. Could he, instead, have been referring to some other John, who was an apostle in the sense of being one of Jesus’ disciples, and therefore, a source of reliable testimony?

Irenaeus does use this second, more general interpretation of apostle, when he argues that John the Baptist could be considered an apostle, because “he actually saw [[Jesus]] when he came, and pointed him out”:

Wherefore the Lord said that He deemed [[John the Baptist]] “more than a prophet.” For all the other prophets preached the advent of the paternal Light, and desired to be worthy of seeing Him whom they preached; but John did both announce [the advent] beforehand, in a like manner as did the others, and actually saw Him when He came, and pointed Him out, and persuaded many to believe on Him, so that he did himself hold the place of both prophet and apostle. For this is to be more than a prophet, because, “first apostles, secondarily prophets;” … AH 3, XI:4.

There is another piece of suggestive evidence that Irenaeus allows other disciples of Jesus to be apostles. He writes: “For that Judas the traitor is the twelfth in order, is agreed upon by all, there being twelve apostles mentioned by name in the Gospel.” AH 2, XX:4; “mentioned by name” weakly implies there may be other apostles not mentioned by name.

AH 1, Preface:1

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,” [[quoting 1 Tim 1:4]] 1, Preface:1 p315 BKV (Paul)

AH 1, III:2

2/ The production, again, of the Duodecad of the Aeons, is indicated by the fact that the Lord was twelve years of age when He disputed with the teachers of the law, and by the election of the apostles, for of these there were twelve. [[Luke vi 13]], AH 1,III:2 p319 BKV (12 Apostles)

AH 1, III:3

3/ They further maintain that the passion which took place in the case of the twelfth Aeon is pointed at by the apostasy of Judas, who was the twelfth apostle, and also by the fact that Christ suffered in the twelfth month. AH 1, III:3 p319 BKV (12)

AH 1, III:5 (John, apostle)

They [[the heretics]] also maintain that John indicated the same thing [[the twofold Houros / Stauros nature of God]] when he said, “The fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge the floor, and will gather the wheat into His garner; but the chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable.” [[Luke 3:17]] By this declaration He set forth the faculty of Horos. For that fan they explain to be the cross (Stauros), which consumes, no doubt, all material objects, as fire does chaff, but it purifies all them that are saved, as a fan does wheat. Moreover, they affirm that the Apostle Paul himself made mention of this cross in the following words … AH 1, III:5, p320 BKV (Paul)

BKV

AH 1, III:6

6/ Such, then, is the account which they all give of their Pleroma, and of the formation of the universe, striving, as they do, to adapt the good words of revelation to their own wicked inventions. And it is not only from the writings of the evangelists and the apostles that they endeavour to derive proofs for their opinions by means of perverse interpretations and deceitful expositions: they deal in the same way with the law and the prophets, which contain many parables and allegories that can frequently be drawn into various senses, according to the kind of exegesis to which they are subjected. AH 1, III:6 p320 BKV (likely thinking of evangelists as Mark, Luke, and apostles as Matthew, John-AJG, Paul and Peter)

AH 1, VIII:1

1/ Such, then, is their system, which neither the prophets announced, nor the Lord taught, nor the apostles delivered, but of which they boast that beyond all others they have a perfect knowledge. They gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures; and, to use a common proverb, they strive to weave ropes of sand, while they endeavour to adapt with an air of probability to their own peculiar assertions the parables of the Lord, the sayings of the prophets, and the words of the apostles, in order that their scheme may not seem altogether without support. AH 1, VIII:1 p326 BKV (SA)

AH 1, VIII:4 (John reference)

Further, they teach that John, the disciple of the Lord, indicated the first Ogdoad, expressing themselves in these words: John, the disciple of the Lord, wishing to set forth the origin of all things, so as to explain how the Father produced the whole, … expresses himself thus: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;…” [[John 1:1]] AH 1, VIII:4 p328, continued intermittently through paragraph 5, p329 BKV

AH 1, IX:2-3

For if he has named the Father, and Charis, and Monogenes, and Aletheia, and Logos, and Zoe, and Anthropos, and Ecclesia, according to their hypothesis, he has, by thus speaking, referred to the primary Ogdoad, in which there was as yet no Jesus, and no Christ, the teacher of John. But that the apostle did not speak concerning their conjunctions, but concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, whom he also acknowledges as the Word of God, he himself has made evident. For, summing up his statements respecting the Word previously mentioned by him, he further declares, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” But, according to their hypothesis, the Word did not become flesh at all, inasmuch as He never went outside of the Pleroma, but that Saviour [became flesh] who was formed by a special dispensation [out of all the Aeons], and was of later date than the Word.

3/ Learn then, ye foolish men, that Jesus who suffered for us, and who dwelt among us, is Himself the Word of God. For if any other of the Aeons had become flesh for our salvation, it would have been probable that the apostle spoke of another. 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, who, according to the good pleasure of the Father, became flesh for the sake of men, the apostle certainly does not speak regarding any other, or concerning any Ogdoad, but respecting our Lord Jesus Christ. AH 1, IX:2-3 p329 BKV(AJG)

AH 1, X:1

1/ The Church, though dispersed throughout, 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; … AH 1, X:1 p330 BKV (SA)

AH 1, X:3

For in reference to these points, and others of a like nature, the apostle exclaims: “Oh! the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God; how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” [Romans XI:33] AH 1, X:3 p331 BKV (Paul)

AH 1, XIII:6

They proclaim themselves as being “perfect,” so that no-one can be compared to them with respect to the immensity of their knowledge, nor even were you to mention Paul or Peter, or any other of the apostles. AH 1, XIII:6 p335 BKV (SA).

AH 1, XVI:3 (John reference)

And John, the disciple of the Lord, has intensified their condemnation, when he desires us not even to address to them the salutation of “good-speed;” for, says he, “He that bids them be of good-speed is a partaker with their evil deeds;” [[2 John 1:10-11]] and that with reason, “for there is no good-speed to the ungodly,” saith the Lord. AH 1, XVI:3 p341 BKV

AH 1, XVIII:3

Jeroboam also, who received the ten sceptres (tribes), and the ten courts of the tabernacle, and the columns of ten cubits [high] , and the ten sons of Jacob who were at first sent into Egypt to buy corn, and the ten apostles to whom the Lord appeared after His resurrection, — Thomas being absent, — represented, according to them, the invisible Decad. AH 1, XVIII:3 p344 BKV (12)

AH 1, XVIII:4

… the number, too, of the apostles; and, in fine, every event which embraces in it the number twelve, — set forth their Duodecad. AH 1, XVIII:4 p344 BKV (12)

AH 1, XXIII:1

1/ Simon the Samaritan was that magician of whom Luke, the disciple and follower of the apostles, says, “But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who beforetime used magical arts in that city, and led astray the people of Samaria, declaring that he himself was some great one, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This is the power of God, which is called great. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had driven them mad by his sorceries.” This Simon, then — who feigned faith, supposing that the apostles themselves performed their cures by the art of magic, and not by the power of God; and with respect to their filling with the Holy Ghost, through the imposition of hands, those that believed in God through Him who was preached by them, namely, Christ Jesus — suspecting that even this was done through a kind of greater knowledge of magic, and offering money to the apostles, thought he, too, might receive this power of bestowing the Holy Spirit on whomsoever he would, — was addressed in these words by Peter: “Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God can be purchased with money: thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God; for I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” He, then, not putting faith in God a whit the more, set himself eagerly to contend against the apostles, in order that he himself might seem to be a wonderful being, and applied himself with still greater zeal to the study of the whole magic art, that he might the better bewilder and overpower multitudes of men. AH 1, XXIII:1 p347 BKV [[Acts 89-24]] (Peter and JsZ).

AH 1, XXV:2

This idea has raised them to such a pitch of pride, that some of them declare themselves similar to Jesus; while others, still more mighty, maintain that they are superior to his disciples, such as Peter and Paul, and the rest of the apostles, whom they consider to be in no respect inferior to Jesus. AH 1, XXV:2, p350 BKV (SA)

AH 1, XXV:5

And in their writings we read as follows, the interpretation which they give [of their views], declaring that Jesus spoke in a mystery to His disciples and apostles privately, and that they requested and obtained permission to hand down the things thus taught them, to others who should be worthy and believing. AH 1, XXV:5, p351 BKV (12)

AH 1, XXVI:2

They use the Gospel according to Matthew only, and repudiate the Apostle Paul, maintaining that he was an apostate from the law. AH 1, XXVI:2, p352 BKV (Paul)

AH 1, XXVI:3

3/ The Nicolaitanes are the followers of that Nicolas who was one of the seven first ordained to the diaconate by the apostles. AH 1, XXVI:3, p352 BKV (?12)

AH 1, XXVI:3 (John reference)

The character of these men is very plainly pointed out in the Apocalypse of John, … AH 1, XXVI:3 p352 BKV

AH 1, XXVII:1

1/ Cerdo was one who took his system from the followers of Simon, and came to live at Rome in the time of Hyginus, who held the ninth place in the episcopal succession from the apostles downwards. AH 1, XXVII:1 p352 BKV (SA)

AH 1, XXVII:2

He [[Marcion]] likewise persuaded his disciples that he himself was more worthy of credit than are those apostles who have handed down the Gospel to us, furnishing them not with the Gospel, but merely a fragment of it. In like manner, too, he dismembered the Epistles of Paul, removing all that is said by the apostle respecting that God who made the world, to the effect that He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and also those passages from the prophetical writings which the apostle quotes, in order to teach us that they announced beforehand the coming of the Lord. AH 1, XXVII:2 p352 BKV (SA, Paul)

AH 1, XXVII:4

4/ But since this man is the only one who has dared openly to mutilate the Scriptures, and unblushingly above all others to inveigh against God, I purpose specially to refute him, convicting him out of his own writings ; and, with the help of God, I shall overthrow him out of those discourses of the Lord and the apostles, which are of authority with him, and of which he makes use. AH 1, XXVII:4 p352-3 BKV (SA)

AH 2, II:5

Now, that this God [[of John 1]] is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul the apostle also has declared, [saying,] “There is one God, the Father, who is above all, and through all things, and in us all.” I have indeed proved already that there is only one God; but I shall further demonstrate this from the apostles themselves, and from the discourses of the Lord. For what sort of conduct would it be, were we to forsake the utterances of the prophets, of the Lord, and of the apostles, that we might give heed to these persons, who speak not a word of sense? AH 2, II:5 p362 BKV (Paul + SA)

AH 2, II:5 (John reference)

His own Word is both suitable and sufficient for the formation of all things, even as John, the disciple of the Lord, declares regarding Him: “All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made.” Now, among the “all things” our world must be embraced. It too, therefore, was made by His Word, as Scripture tells us in the book of Genesis that He made all things connected with our world by His Word. David also expresses the same truth [when he says], “For He spake, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created.” Whom, therefore, shall we believe as to the creation of the world — these heretics who have been mentioned that prate so foolishly and inconsistently on the subject, or the disciples of the Lord, and Moses, who was both a faithful servant of God and a prophet? He at first narrated the formation of the world in these words: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” and all other things in succession; but neither gods nor angels [had any share in the work]. AH 2, II:5, p361-2 BKV

AH 2, IX:1

The Universal Church, moreover, through the whole world, has received this tradition [[that God created the world]] from the apostles. AH 2, IX:1 p369 BKV (SA)

AH 2, XII:8

Let them, then, henceforth seek to set forth some other reasons why the Lord came to be baptized at the age of thirty years, and [explain in some other way] the Duodecad of the apostles; AH 2, XII:8 p373 BKV (12)

AH 2, XX:1

They endeavour, for instance, to demonstrate that passion which, they say, happened in the case of the twelfth Aeon, from this fact, that the passion of the Saviour was brought about by the twelfth apostle, and happened in the twelfth month. AH 2, XX:1 p387 BKV (12)

AH 2, XX:4

For that Judas the traitor is the twelfth in order, is agreed upon by all, there being twelve apostles mentioned by name in the Gospel. AH 2, XX:4 p388 BKV (12)

AH 2, XXI:1-2

1/ If, again, they maintain that the twelve apostles were a type only of that group of twelve Aeons which Anthropos in conjunction with Ecclesia produced, then let them produce ten other apostles as a type of those ten remaining Aeons, who, as they declare, were produced by Logos and Zoe. … [[an extended discussion of the number 12 with relation to the number of apostles]]

2/ … Moreover, we must not keep silence respecting Paul, but demand from them after the type of what Aeon that apostle has been handed down to us …” AH 2, XXI:1-2, p389 BKV (12, Paul)

AH 2, XXII:2

And the time thus referred to is not called “a year” only, but is also named “a day” both by the prophet and by Paul, of whom the apostle, calling to mind the Scripture, says in the Epistle addressed to the Romans, “As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long, as we are counted as sheep to the slaughter.” AH 2, XXII:2 p390 BKV (Paul)

AH 2, XXII:3 (John reference)

… He [[Jesus]] went up to the festival day of the passover, on which occasion it is written, “For many believed in Him, when they saw the signs which He did,” [[John 2:23]] as John the disciple of the Lord records. AH 2, XXII, 3: p390-391 BKV

AH 2, XXII:5 (John, apostle reference)

And how could He have taught, unless He had reached the age of a Master? For when He came to be baptized, He had not yet completed His thirtieth year, but was beginning to be about thirty years of age (for thus Luke, who has mentioned His years, has expressed it: “Now Jesus was, as it were, beginning to be thirty years old,” [[Luke 3:23]] when He came to receive baptism); and, [according to these men,] He preached only one year reckoning from His baptism. On completing His thirtieth year He suffered, being in fact still a young man, and who had by no means attained to advanced age. Now, that the first stage of early life embraces thirty years, and that this extends onwards to the fortieth year, every one will admit; but from the fortieth and fiftieth year a man begins to decline towards old age, which our Lord possessed while He still fulfilled the office of a Teacher, even as the Gospel and all the elders testify; those who were conversant in Asia with John, the disciple of the Lord, [affirming] that John conveyed to them that information. And he remained among them up to the times of Trajan. Some of them, moreover, saw not only John, but the other apostles also, and heard the very same account from them, and bear testimony as to the [validity of] the statement. Whom then should we rather believe? Whether such men as these, or Ptolemaeus, who never saw the apostles, and who never even in his dreams attained to the slightest trace of an apostle? AH 2, XXII:5 p392 BKV (AJG? JsZ? SA)

AH 2, XXIV:4 (John reference)

Again, five men are said to have been with the Lord when He obtained testimony from the Father, — namely, Peter, and James, and John, and Moses, and Elias. AH 2, XXIV:4 p395 BKV

AH 2, XXV:1

1/ If any one, however, say in reply to these things, What then? Is it a meaningless and accidental thing, that the positions of names, and the election of the apostles, and the working of the Lord, and the arrangement of created things, are what they are? — we answer them: Certainly not; … Nor should they seek to prosecute inquiries respecting God by means of numbers, syllables, and letters. For this is an uncertain mode of proceeding, on account of their varied and diverse systems, and because every sort of hypothesis may at the present day be, in like manner, devised by any one; AH 2, XXV:1 p396 BKV (12)

AH 2, XXVIII:3

As the apostle has said on this point, that, when other things have been done away, then these three, “faith, hope and charity, shall endure.” AH 2, XXVIII:3 p399 BKV (Paul)

AH 2, XXVIII:7

And that God fore-knew that this would happen, the Scriptures do in like manner demonstrate, since He prepared eternal fire from the beginning for those who were [afterwards] to transgress [His commandments]; but the cause itself of the nature of such transgressors neither has any Scripture informed us, nor has an apostle told us, nor has the Lord taught us. AH 2, XXVIII:7 p401 BKV (SA)

AH 2, XXVIII:9

9/ But if any lover of strife contradict what I have said, and also what the apostle affirms, that “we know in part, and prophesy in part,” AH 2, XXVIII:9 p402 BKV (Paul)

AH 2, XXX:7-9

7/ … Paul expressly testifies that there are spiritual things when he declares that he was caught up into the third heaven, … But since he (Paul) has described that assumption of himself up to the third heaven as something great and pre-eminent, it cannot be that these men ascend above the seventh heaven, for they are certainly not superior to the apostle. … but it is therefore thus far permitted even without the body to behold spiritual mysteries which are the operations of God, who made the heavens and the earth, and formed man, and placed him in paradise, so that those should be spectators of them who, like the apostle, have reached a high degree of perfection in the love of God.

8/ This Being, therefore, also made spiritual things, of which, as far as to the third heaven, the apostle was made a spectator, … AH 2, XXX:7-9 p405 BKV (Paul)

AH 2, XXX:9

He is the God of Abraham, … whom Christ reveals, whom the apostles make known to us, and in whom the Church believes. AH 2, XXX:9 p406 BKV (SA)

AH 2, XXXI:2

And so far are they from being able to raise the dead, as the Lord raised them, and the apostles did by means of prayer, and as has been frequently done in the brotherhood on account of some necessity — … AH 2, XXXI:2 p407 BKV (SA)

AH 2, XXXV:4

4/ Now, that the preaching of the apostles, the authoritative teaching of the Lord, the announcements of the prophets, the dictated utterances of the apostles,[ [footnote 3]] …

[[Contents of footnote 3]] The words are “apostolorum dictatio,” probably referring to the letters of the apostles, as distinguished from their preaching already mentioned. AH 2 XXXV:4 p413 BKV (SA)

AH 3, Preface

… the only true and life-giving faith, which the Church has received from the apostles and imparted to her sons. For the Lord of all gave to His apostles the power of the Gospel, through whom also we have known the truth, … AH 3, Preface p414 BKV (SA).

AH 3, I:1

1/ We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith. For it is unlawful to assert that they preached before they possessed “perfect knowledge,” as some do even venture to say, boasting themselves as improvers of the apostles. For, after our Lord rose from the dead, [the apostles] were invested with power from on high when the Holy Spirit came down [upon them], were filled from all [His gifts], and had perfect knowledge; they departed to the ends of the earth, preaching the glad tidings of the good things [sent] from God to us, and proclaiming the peace of heaven to men, who indeed do all equally and individually possess the Gospel of God. Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia. … AH 3, I:1 p414 BKV (Acts 2 isn’t clear on who received the holy spirit at Pentecost, although the 12 is implied)

AH 3, II:2

2/ But, again, when we refer them to that tradition which originates from the apostles, [and] which is preserved by means of the successions of presbyters in the Churches, they object to tradition, saying that they themselves are wiser not merely than the presbyters, but even than the apostles, because they have discovered the unadulterated truth. For [they maintain] that the apostles intermingled the things of the law with the words of the Saviour; and that not the apostles alone, but even the Lord Himself, spoke as at one time from the Demiurge, at another from the intermediate place, and yet again from the Pleroma, but that they themselves, indubitably, unsulliedly, and purely, have knowledge of the hidden mystery: … AH 3, II:2 p416 BKV (SA)

AH 3, III:1

1/ It is within the power of all, therefore, in every Church, who may wish to see the truth,, to contemplate clearly the tradition of the apostles manifested throughout the whole world; and we are in a position to reckon up those who were by the apostles instituted bishops in the Churches, and [to demonstrate] the succession, of these men to our own times; those who neither taught nor knew of anything like what these [heretics] rave about. For if the apostles had known hidden mysteries, which they were in the habit of imparting to “the perfect” apart and privily from the rest, they would have delivered them especially to those to whom they were also committing the Churches themselves. AH 3, III:1 p415 BKV (SA)

AH 3, III:2

… we do put to confusion all those who … assemble in unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I say,] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops. AH 3, III:2 p415 BKV (SA)

AH 3, III:3-4

3/ The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate. Of this Linus, Paul makes mention in the Epistles to Timothy. To him succeeded Anacletus ; and after him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement was allotted the bishopric. This man, as he had seen the blessed apostles, and had been conversant with them, might be said to have the preaching of the apostles still echoing [in his ears] , and their traditions before his eyes. Nor was he alone [in this], for there were many still remaining who had received instructions from the apostles. In the time of this Clement, no small dissension having occurred among the brethren at Corinth, the Church in Rome despatched a most powerful letter to the Corinthians, exhorting them to peace, renewing their faith, and declaring the tradition which it had lately received from the apostles, proclaiming the one God, omnipotent, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Creator of man, who brought on the deluge, and called Abraham, who led the people from the land of Egypt, spake with Moses, set forth the law,, sent the prophets, and who has prepared fire for the devil and his angels. From this document, whosoever chooses to do so, may learn that He, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, was preached by the Churches, and may also understand the apostolical tradition of the Church, since this Epistle is of older date than these men who are now propagating falsehood, and who conjure into existence another god beyond the Creator and the Maker of all existing things. To this Clement there succeeded Evaristus. Alexander followed Evaristus; then, sixth from the apostles, Sixtus was appointed; after him, Telephorus, who was gloriously martyred; then Hyginus; after him, Pius; then after him, Anicetus. Soter having succeeded Anicetus, Eleutherius does now, in the twelfth place from the apostles, hold the inheritance of the episcopate. In this order, and by this succession, the ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles, and the preaching of the truth, have come down to us. And this is most abundant proof that there is one and the same vivifying faith, which has been preserved in the Church from the apostles until now, and handed down in truth.

4/ But Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried [on earth] a very long time, and, when a very old man, gloriously and most nobly suffering martyrdom, departed this life, having always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles, and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are true. To these things all the Asiatic Churches testify, as do also those men who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present time, — a man who was of much greater weight, and a more stedfast witness of truth, than Valentinus, and Marcion, and the rest of the heretics. He it was who, coming to Rome in the time of Anicetus caused many to turn away from the aforesaid heretics to the Church of God, proclaiming that he had received this one and sole truth from the apostles, — that, namely, which is handed down by the Church. There, are also those who heard from him that John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, “Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within.” And Polycarp himself replied to Marcion, who met him on one occasion, and said, “Dost thou know me?” “I do know thee, the first-born of Satan.” Such was the horror which the apostles and their disciples had against holding even verbal communication with any corrupters of the truth; as Paul also says, “A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject ; knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.” There is also a very powerful Epistle of Polycarp written to the Philippians, from which those who choose to do so, and are anxious about their salvation, can learn the character of his faith, and the preaching of the truth. Then, again, the Church in Ephesus, founded by Paul, and having John remaining among them permanently until the times of Trajan, is a true witness of the tradition of the apostles. AH 3, III:3-4 p416 BKV (SA)

AH 3, IV:1

1/ Since therefore we have such proofs, it is not necessary to seek the truth among others which it is easy to obtain from the Church; since the apostles, like a rich man [depositing his money] in a bank, lodged in her hands most copiously all things pertaining to the truth: … Suppose there arise a dispute relative to some important question among us, should we not have recourse to the most ancient Churches with which the apostles held constant intercourse, and learn from them what is certain and clear in regard to the present question? For how should it be if the apostles themselves had not left us writings? Would it not be necessary, [in that case,] to follow the course of the tradition which they handed down to those to whom they did commit the Churches? AH 3, IV:1 p416-7 BKV (SA)

AH 3, IV:2

Thus, by moans of that ancient tradition of the apostles, they do not suffer their mind to conceive anything of the [doctrines suggested by the] portentous language of these teachers, among whom neither Church nor doctrine has ever been established. AH 3, IV:2 p417 BKV (SA)

AH 3, V:1

1/ Since, therefore, the tradition from the apostles does thus exist in the Church, and is permanent among us, let us revert to the Scriptural proof furnished by those apostles who did also write the Gospel, in which they recorded the doctrine regarding God, pointing out that our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth,[[John 14:6]] and that no lie is in Him. As also David says, prophesying His birth from a virgin, and the resurrection from the dead, “Truth has sprung out of the earth.” The apostles, likewise, being disciples “of the truth, are above all falsehood; for a lie has no fellowship with the truth, just as darkness has none with light, but the presence of the one shuts out that of the other. AH 3, V:1 p417 BKV (AJG - where AJG is an apostle).

AH 3, V:1

Neither did His disciples make mention of any other God, or term any other Lord, except Him, who was truly the God and Lord of all, as these most vain sophists affirm that the apostles did with hypocrisy frame their doctrine according to the capacity of their hearers, … but [[the heretics claim]] to those who are capable of comprehending the unnameable Father, they did declare the unspeakable mystery through parables and enigmas: so that the Lord and the apostles exercised the office of teacher not to further the cause of truth, but even in hypocrisy, and as each individual was able to receive it! AH 3, V:1 p418 BKV (SA)

AH 3, V:2

… For the apostles, who were commissioned to find out the wanderers, and to be for sight to those who saw not, and medicine to the weak, certainly did not address them in accordance with their opinion at the time, but according to revealed truth. AH 3, V:2 p418 BKV (SA)

AH 3, V:3

And again, the apostles taught the Gentiles that they should leave vain stocks and stones, which they imagined to be gods, and worship the true God, … AH 3, V:3 p418 BKV (SA)

AH 3, VI:1

1/ Therefore neither would the Lord, nor the Holy Spirit, nor the apostles, have ever named as God, definitely and absolutely, him who was not God, unless he were truly God … AH 3, VI:1 p418 BKV

AH 3, VI:5

5/ And the Apostle Paul also, saying, “For though ye have served them. which are no gods; ye now know God, or rather, are known of God,” AH 3, VI:5 p420 BKV (Paul)

AH 3, VII:2

2/ From many other instances also, we may discover that the apostle [[Paul]] frequently uses a transposed order in his sentences, due to the rapidity of his discourses, and the impetus of the Spirit which is in him. … So therefore, in such passages, the hyperbaton must be exhibited by the reading, and the apostle’s meaning following on, preserved; … AH 3, VII:2 p420-1 BKV (Paul)

AH 3, VIII:1

1/ This calumny, then, of these men, having been quashed, it is clearly proved that neither the prophets nor the apostles did ever name another God, or call [him] Lord, except the true and only God. AH 3, VIII:1 p421 BKV (SA)

AH 3, IX:1

1/ This, therefore, having been clearly demonstrated here (and it shall yet be so still more clearly), that neither the prophets, nor the apostles, nor the Lord Christ in His own person, did acknowledge any other Lord or God, but the God and Lord supreme: 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; — it is incumbent on us to follow, if we are their disciples indeed, their testimonies to this effect. For Matthew the apostle … declares that John, when preparing the way for Christ, … AH 3, IX:1 p422 BKV (SA, then “Matthew the Apostle”. Notice we never see “John the Apostle”).

AH 3, X:1

1/ Luke also, the follower and disciple of the apostles, … AH 3, X:1 p423 BKV (Paul, SA)

AH 3, XI:1-2 (John reference)

1/ John, the disciple of the Lord, preaches this faith, and seeks, by the proclamation of the Gospel, to remove that error which by Cerinthus had been disseminated among men, and a long time previously by those termed Nicolaitans, who are an offset of that “knowledge” falsely so called, that he might confound them, and persuade them that there is but one God, who made all things by His Word; … The disciple of the Lord therefore desiring to put an end to all such doctrines, and to establish the rule of truth in the Church, that there is one Almighty God, who made all things by his Word, … thus commenced His teaching in the Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. …” [[John 1:1]] BKV

2/ John, however, does himself put this matter beyond all controversy on our part, when he says, “He was in this world, and the world was; made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own [things], and His own [people] received Him not.” [[John 1:10-11]] AH 3, XI:1-2, p426 BKV

AH 3, XI:3 (John as “the Lord’s disciple”)

Therefore the Lord’s disciple, pointing them all out as false witnesses, says, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” [[John 1:14]] AH 3, XI:3, p427 BKV

AH 3, XI:4

Wherefore the Lord said that He deemed him [[John the Baptist]] “more than a prophet.” For all the other prophets preached the advent of the paternal Light, and desired to be worthy of seeing Him whom they preached; but John did both announce [the advent] beforehand, in a like manner as did the others, and actually saw Him when He came, and pointed Him out, and persuaded many to believe on Him, so that he did himself hold the place of both prophet and apostle. For this is to be more than a prophet, because, “first apostles, secondarily prophets;” but all things from one and the same God Himself. AH 3, XI:4 p427 BKV (John the Baptist as apostle, who “saw him when he came”)

AH 3, XI:7-8 (John reference)

7/ … Those, again, who separate Jesus from Christ, alleging that Christ remained impassible, but that it was Jesus who suffered, preferring the Gospel by Mark, if they read it with a love of truth, may have their errors rectified. Those, moreover, who follow Valentinus, making copious use of that according to John, to illustrate their conjunctions, shall be proved to be totally in error by means of this very Gospel, as I have shown in the first book. Since, then, our opponents do bear testimony to us, and make use of these [documents], our proof derived from them is firm and true. BKV

8/ It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For, since there are four zones of the world in which we live, and four principal winds, while the Church is scattered throughout all the world, and the “pillar and ground” of the Church is the Gospel and the spirit of life; it is fitting that she should have four pillars, breathing out immortality on every side, and vivifying men afresh. From which fact, it is evident that the Word, the Artificer of all, He that sitteth upon the cherubim, and contains all things, He who was manifested to men, has given us the Gospel under four aspects, but bound together by one Spirit. As also David says, when entreating His manifestation, “Thou that sittest between the cherubim, shine forth.” For the cherubim, too, were four-faced, and their faces were images of the dispensation of the Son of God. For, [as the Scripture] says, “The first living creature was like a lion,” symbolizing His effectual working, His leadership, and royal power; the second [living creature] was like a calf, signifying [His] sacrificial and sacerdotal order; but “the third had, as it were, the face as of a man,” — an evident description of His advent as a human being; “the fourth was like a flying eagle,” pointing out the gift of the Spirit hovering with His wings over the Church. And therefore the Gospels are in accord with these things, among which Christ Jesus is seated. For that according to John relates His original, effectual, and glorious generation from the Father, thus declaring, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Also, “all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made.” For this reason, too, is that Gospel full of all confidence, for such is His person. AH 3, XI:7,8 p428 BKV

AH 3, XI:9

We must conclude, moreover, that these men (the Montanists) cannot admit the Apostle Paul either. … AH 3, XI:9 p429 BKV (Paul)

AH 3, XI:9

… Indeed, they [[who are from Valentinus]] have arrived at such a pitch of audacity, as to entitle their comparatively recent writing “the Gospel of Truth,” though it agrees in nothing with the Gospels of the Apostles, so that they have really no Gospel which is not full of blasphemy. For if what they have published is the Gospel of truth, and yet is totally unlike those which have been handed down to us from the apostles, any who please may learn, as is shown from the Scriptures themselves, that that which has been handed down from the apostles can no longer be reckoned the Gospel of truth. … let us proceed also to the remaining apostles, and inquire into their doctrine with regard to God; then, in due course we shall listen to the very words of the Lord. AH 3, XI:9 p429 BKV (SA)

AH 3, XI:9 (John reference)

9/ These things being so, all who destroy the form of the Gospel are vain, unlearned, and also audacious; those, [I mean,] who represent the aspects of the Gospel as being either more in number than as aforesaid, or, on the other hand, fewer. The former class [do so], that they may seem to have discovered more than is of the truth; the latter, that they may set the dispensations of God aside. For Marcion, rejecting the entire Gospel, yea rather, cutting himself off from the Gospel, boasts that he has part in the [blessings of] the Gospel. Others, again (the Montanists), that they may set at nought the gift of the Spirit, which in the latter times has been, by the good pleasure of the Father, poured out upon the human race, do not admit that aspect [of the evangelical dispensation] presented by John’s Gospel, in which the Lord promised that He would send the Paraclete; but set aside at once both the Gospel and the prophetic Spirit. AH 3, XI:9 p429 BKV

AH 3, XII:1

1/ The Apostle Peter, therefore, after the resurrection of the Lord, and His assumption into the heavens, being desirous of filling up the number of the twelve apostles, and in electing into the place of Judas any substitute who should be chosen by God, thus addressed those who were present … — thus leading to the completion of the apostles, according to the words spoken by David. AH 3, XII:1 p429-430 BKV (Peter, 12. Notice “The Apostle Peter”)

AH 3, XII:2

… Peter says to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Thus the apostles did not preach another God, or another Fulness; nor, that the Christ who suffered and rose again was one, while he who flew off on high was another, and remained impassible; but that there was one and the same God the Father, and Christ Jesus who rose from the dead; AH 3, XII:2 p430 BKV (Peter)

AH 3, XII:3 (John reference)

3/ Again, when Peter, accompanied by John, had looked upon the man lame from his birth, before that gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, sitting and seeking alms, he said to him, “Silver and gold I have none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And immediately his legs and his feet received strength; and he walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.” [[Acts 3:6-8]] AH 3, XII:3, p430 BKV

AH 3, XII:3 (John reference)

Peter, together with John, preached to them this plain message of glad tidings, that the promise which God made to the fathers had been fulfilled by Jesus; … AH 3, XII:3 p431 BKV

AH 3, XII:4-5

4/ For this reason, too, when the chief priests were assembled, Peter, full of boldness, said to them, “Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, …” … thus the apostles did not change God, but preached to the people that Christ was Jesus the crucified One, whom the same God that had sent the prophets, being God Himself, raised up, and gave in Him salvation to men.

5/ They were confounded, therefore, both by this instance of healing (“for the man was above forty years old on whom this miracle of healing took place”), and by the doctrine of the apostles, and by the exposition of the prophets, when the chief priests had sent away Peter and John. [These latter] returned to the rest of their fellow-apostles and disciples of the Lord, that is, to the Church, and related what had occurred, and how courageously they had acted in the name of Jesus. The whole Church, it is then said, “when they had heard that, lifted up the voice to God with one accord, …”. …These [are the] voices of the Church from which every Church had its origin; these are the voices of the metropolis of the citizens of the new covenant; these are the voices of the apostles; these are voices of the disciples of the Lord, the truly perfect, who, after the assumption of the Lord, were perfected by the Spirit, and called upon the God who made heaven, and earth, and the sea, … For it is said, “The place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness” to everyone that was willing to believe. “And with great power,” it is added, “gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,” … AH 3, XII:4-5 p431 BKV (Peter, 12. Notice, the “voices of the apostles; these are the voices of the disciples of the Lord, the truly perfect …”)

AH 3, XII:6

6/ But as some of these men impudently assert that the apostles, when preaching among the Jews, could not declare to them another god besides Him in whom they (their hearers) believed, we say to them, that if the apostles used to speak to people in accordance with the opinion instilled into them of old, no one learned the truth from them, nor, at a much earlier date, from the Lord. AH 3, XII:6 p432 BKV (SA)

AH 3, XII:7

7/ From the words of Peter, therefore, which he addressed in Caesarea to Cornelius the centurion, and those Gentiles with him, to whom the word of God was first preached, we can under- stand what the apostles used to preach, the nature of their preaching, and their idea with regard to God. … The apostles, therefore, did preach the Son of God, of whom men were ignorant; … Can it really be, that Peter was not at that time as yet in possession of the perfect knowledge which these men discovered afterwards? According to them, therefore, Peter was imperfect, and the rest of the apostles were imperfect ; and so it would be fitting that they, coming to life again, should become disciples of these men, in order that they too might be made perfect. But this is truly ridiculous. These men, in fact, are proved to be not disciples of the apostles, but of their own wicked notions. To this cause also are due the various opinions which exist among them, inasmuch as each one adopted error just as he was capable [of embracing it]. But the Church throughout all the world, having its origin firm from the apostles, perseveres in one and the same opinion with regard to God and His Son. AH 3, XII:7 p432-3 BKV (Peter - ?12 - SA)

AH 3, XII:9

But that all his [[Paul’s]] Epistles are consonant to these declarations [[from Acts]], I shall, when expounding the apostle, … AH 3, XII:9 p434 BKV (Paul)

AH 3, XII:10

10/ And still further, Stephen, who was chosen the first deacon by the apostles, AH 3, XII:10 p434 BKV (12)

AH 3, XII:11

11/ And that the whole range of the doctrine of the apostles proclaimed one and the same God, … — they who wish may learn from the very words and acts of the apostles, and may contemplate the fact that this God is one, above whom is no other. … But if any one, “doting about questions,” do imagine that what the apostles have declared about God should be allegorized, let him consider my previous statements, in which I set forth one God as the Founder and Maker of all things, and destroyed and laid bare their allegations; and he shall find them agreeable to the doctrine of the apostles, and so to maintain what they used to teach, and were persuaded of, that there is one God, the Maker of all things. AH 3, XII:11 p434 BKV (SA)

AH 3, XII:12

Since, therefore, they have been deserted by the paternal love, and puffed up by Satan, being brought over to the doctrine of Simon Magus, they have apostatized in their opinions from Him who is God, and imagined that they have themselves discovered more than the apostles, by finding out another god; and [maintained] that the apostles preached the Gospel still somewhat under the influence of Jewish opinions, but that they themselves are purer [in doctrine], and more intelligent, than the apostles. AH 3, XII:12 p434 BKV (SA)

AH 3, XII:13

13/ But that both the apostles and their disciples thus taught as the Church preaches, and thus teaching were perfected, wherefore also they were called away to that which is perfect — Stephen, teaching these truths, when he was yet on earth, saw the glory of God, and Jesus on His right hand, and exclaimed, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” … AH 3, XII:13 p435 BKV (?12 presumably classifying Stephen as a disciple)

AH 3, XII:13

14/ This is shown in a still clearer light from the letter of the apostles, which they forwarded neither to the Jews nor to the Greeks, but to those who from the Gentiles believed in Christ, confirming their faith. For when certain men had come down from Judea to Antioch — where also, first of all, the Lord’s disciples were called Christians, because of their faith in Christ — and sought to persuade those who had believed on the Lord to be circumcised, and to perform other things after the observance of the law; and when Paul and Barnabas had gone up to Jerusalem to the apostles on account of this question, and the whole Church had convened together, Peter thus addressed them: “Men, brethren, ye know how that from the days of old …” [[Acts 15:7-11]] …

And when these things had been said, and all had given their consent, they wrote to them after this manner: “The apostles, and the presbyters, [and] the brethren, unto those brethren from among the Gentiles who are in Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia, greeting:” [[Acts 15:22-23]] AH 3, XII:13 p436 BKV (?12-SA)

AH 3, XII:15 (John, apostle reference)

He [[Peter]] persuaded, at the same time, those that were with him, and pointed out that, unless the Holy Ghost had rested upon them, there might have been some one who would have raised objections to their baptism. And the apostles who were with James allowed the Gentiles to act freely, yielding us up to the Spirit of God. But they themselves, while knowing the same God, continued in the ancient observances; so that even Peter, fearing also lest he might incur their reproof, although formerly eating with the Gentiles, because of the vision, and of the Spirit who had rested upon them, yet, when certain persons came from James, withdrew himself, and did not eat with them. And Paul said that Barnabas likewise did the same thing. Thus did the apostles, whom the Lord made witnesses of every action and of every doctrine — for upon all occasions do we find Peter, and James, and John present with Him — scrupulously act according to the dispensation of the Mosaic law, showing that it was from one and the same God …” AH 3, XII:15 p436 BKV (12)

AH 3, XIII:1

1/ With regard to those (the Marcionites) who allege that Paul alone knew the truth, and that to him the mystery was manifested by revelation, let Paul himself convict them, when he says, that one and the same God wrought in Peter for the apostolate of the circumcision, and in himself for the Gentiles. Peter, therefore, was an apostle of that very God whose was also Paul; and Him whom Peter preached as God among those of the circumcision, and likewise the Son of God, did Paul [declare] also among the Gentiles. For our Lord never came to save Paul alone, nor is God so limited in means, that He should have but one apostle who knew the dispensation of His Son. AH 3, XIII:1 p436 BKV (Paul, Peter)

AH 3, XIII:2-3

For why did the Lord send the twelve apostles to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, if these men did not know the truth? How also did the seventy preach, unless they had themselves previously known the truth of what was preached? Or how could Peter have been in ignorance, to whom the Lord gave testimony, that flesh and blood had not revealed to him, but the Father, who is in heaven? Just, then, as “Paul [was] an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father,” [so with the rest;] the Son indeed leading them to the Father, but the Father revealing to them the Son.

3/ But that Paul acceded to [the request of] those who summoned him to the apostles, on account of the question [which had been raised], and went up to them, with Barnabas, to Jerusalem, not without reason, but that the liberty of the Gentiles might be confirmed by them, he does himself say, in the Epistle to the Galatians: … If, then, any one shall, from the Acts of the Apostles, carefully scrutinize the time concerning which it is written that he went up to Jerusalem on account of the forementioned question, he will find those years mentioned by Paul coinciding with it. Thus the statement of Paul harmonizes with, and is, as it were, identical with, the testimony of Luke regarding the apostles. AH 3, XIII:2-3 p437 BKV (12, Paul)

AH 3, XIV:1

That he [[Luke]] was not merely a follower, but also a fellow-labourer of the apostles, but especially of Paul, Paul has himself declared also in the Epistles, … AH 3, XIV:1 p437-8 BKV (SA)

AH 3, XIV:2

“I have not shunned,” he [[Paul, Acts 20:27]] says, “to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” Thus did the apostles simply, and without respect of persons, deliver to all what they had themselves learned from the Lord. AH 3, XIV:2 p438 BKV (Paul, SA)

AH 3, XIV:4

But the followers of Valentinus must give up their utterly vain talk; for they have taken from that [Gospel] many occasions for their own speculations, to put an evil interpretation upon what he has well said. If, on the other hand, they feel compelled to receive the remaining portions also, then, by studying the perfect Gospel, and the doctrine of the apostles, they will find it necessary to repent, that they may be saved from the danger [to which they are exposed]. AH 3, XIV:4 p439 BKV (SA)

AH 3, XV:1

1/ But again, we allege the same against those who do not recognise Paul as an apostle: that they should either reject the other words of the Gospel which we have come to know through Luke alone, and not make use of them; or else, if they do receive all these, they must necessarily admit also that testimony concerning Paul, … AH 3, XV:1 p439 BKV (Paul)

AH 3, XV:1

Those, therefore, who do not accept of him [[Paul]] [as a teacher], who was chosen by God for this purpose, that he might boldly bear His name, as being sent to the forementioned nations, do despise the election of God, and separate themselves from the company of the apostles. For neither can they contend that Paul was no apostle, when he was chosen for this purpose; nor can they prove Luke guilty of falsehood, when he proclaims the truth to us with all diligence. It may be, indeed, that it was with this view that God set forth very many Gospel truths, through Luke’s instrumentality, which all should esteem it necessary to use, in order that all persons, following his subsequent testimony, which treats upon the acts and the doctrine of the apostles, and holding the unadulterated rule of truth, may be saved. His testimony, therefore, is true, and the doctrine of the apostles is open and stedfast, holding nothing in reserve; nor did they teach one set of doctrines in private, and another in public. AH 3, XV:1 p439 BKV (Paul, SA)

AH 3, XV:3

3/ But let us revert to the same line of argument [hitherto pursued]. For when it has been manifestly declared, that they who were the preachers of the truth and the apostles of liberty termed no one else God, or named him Lord, except the only true God the Father, and His Word, who has the pre-eminence in all things; it shall then be clearly proved, that they (the apostles) confessed as the Lord God Him who was the Creator of heaven and earth, who also spoke with Moses, gave to him the dispensation of the law, and who called the fathers; and that they knew no other. The opinion of the apostles, therefore, and of those (Mark and Luke)³ who learned from their words, concerning God, has been made manifest. AH 3, XV:3 p440 BKV (SA, but Mark and Luke distinguished from the apostles, implying Matthew and John are apostles).

AH 3, XVI:1-2

1/ But there are some who say that Jesus was merely a receptacle of Christ, upon whom the Christ, as a dove, descended from above, … I judge it necessary therefore to take into account the entire mind of the apostles regarding our Lord Jesus Christ, and to show that not only did they never hold any such opinions regarding Him; but, still further, that they announced through the Holy Spirit, that those who should teach such doctrines were agents of Satan, sent forth for the purpose of overturning the faith of some, and drawing them away from life.

2/ That John knew the one and the same Word of God, and that He was the only begotten, and that he became incarnate for our salvation, Jesus Christ our Lord, I have sufficiently proved from the word of John himself. And Matthew, too, recognising one and the same Jesus Christ, exhibiting his generation as a man from the Virgin, even as God did promise David that He would raise up from the fruit of his body an eternal King, having made the same promise to Abraham a long time previously, says: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” AH 3, XVI:1-2 p440 BKV (AJG is an apostle, as is Matthew)

AH 3, XVI:3

3/ Paul, when writing to the Romans, has explained this very point: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, predestinated unto the Gospel of God, which He had promised by His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, …” AH 3, XVI:3 p441 BKV (Paul of himself)

AH 3, XVI:5 (His disciples)

Therefore did the Lord also say to His disciples after the resurrection, “O thoughtless ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken ! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?” [[Luke 24:25-26]] AH 3, XVI:5, p442 BKV

AH 3, XVI:5 (John reference)

The Gospel, therefore, knew no other son of man but Him who was of Mary, who also suffered; and no Christ who flew away from Jesus before the passion; but Him who was born it knew as Jesus Christ the Son of God, and that this same suffered and rose again, as John, the disciple of the Lord, verifies, saying: “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have eternal life in His name,” [[John 20:31]] … AH 3, XVI:5, p442 BKV

AH 3, XVI:8 (John as “His disciple”)

These are they against whom the Lord has cautioned us beforehand; and His disciple, in his Epistle already mentioned, commands us to avoid them, when he says: “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Take heed to them, that ye lose not what ye have wrought.” [[2 John 1:7-8]] And again does he say in the Epistle: “Many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit which separates Jesus Christ is not of God, but is of antichrist.” [[2 John 4:1-3]] These words agree with what was said in the Gospel, that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” [[John 1:14]]

Wherefore he again exclaims in his Epistle, “Every one that believeth that Jesus is the Christ, has been born of God;” [[1 John 5:1]] AH 3, XVI:8, p443 BKV

AH 3, XVI:9

But that the apostle did know Him as one, both who was born and who suffered, namely Christ Jesus, he again says in the same Epistle: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized in Christ Jesus were baptized in His death? that like as Christ rose from the dead, so should we also walk in newness of life.” [[Romans VI:3-4]] AH 3, XVI:9 p443 BKV (Paul)

AH 3, XVII:1

1/ It certainly was in the power of the apostles to declare that Christ descended upon Jesus, or that the so-called superior Saviour [came down] upon the dispensational one, or he who is from the invisible places upon him from the Demiurge; but they neither knew nor said anything of the kind: [[then quotes Matthew 10:20, Matthew 28:19]]. AH 3, XVII:1 p444 BKV (Matthew)

AH 3, XVII:4

4/ The Spirit, therefore, descending under the predestined dispensation, and the Son of God, the Only-begotten, who is also the Word of the Father, coming in the fulness of time, having become incarnate in man for the sake of man, and fulfilling all the conditions of human nature, our Lord Jesus Christ being one and the same, as He Himself the Lord doth testify, as the apostles confess, and as the prophets announce, … AH 3, XVII:4 p445 BKV (SA)

AH 3, XIX:2

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. Now, the Scriptures would not have testified these things of Him, if, like others, He had been a mere man. [[Various OT quotes follow]] AH 3, XIX:2 p449 BKV (SA)

AH 3, XXI:3-4

For the apostles, since they are of more ancient date than all these [heretics], agree with this aforesaid translation [[of Isiah 7:14]]; and the translation harmonizes with the tradition of the apostles. For Peter, and John, and Matthew, and Paul, and the rest successively, as well as their followers, did set forth all prophetical [announcements], just as the interpretation of the elders contains them.

4/ For the one and the same Spirit of God who proclaimed by the prophets what and of what sort the advent of the Lord should be, did by these elders give a just interpretation of what had been truly prophesied; and He did Himself, by the apostles, announce that the fulness of the times of the adoption had arrived, that the kingdom of heaven had drawn nigh, and that He was dwelling within those that believe on Him who was born Emmanuel of the Virgin. AH 3, XXI:3-4 p452 BKV (Isaiah 7:14 only cited by Matthew; John’s gospel does not refer to the Virgin birth - presumably either confusion, or oral testimony).

AH 3, XXII:1

The Apostle Paul, moreover, in the Epistle to the Galatians, … AH 3, XXII:1 p454 BKV (Paul)

AH 3, XXII:2 (John reference)

… nor, again, would John His disciple have said, when writing of Him, “But Jesus, being wearied with the journey, was sitting [to rest];” … [[John 4:6]] AH 3, XXII:2 p454 BKV

AH 3, XXIV:1

But [it has, on the other hand, been shown], that the preaching of the Church is everywhere consistent, and continues in an even course, and receives testimony from the prophets, the apostles, and all the disciples … “For in the Church,” it is said, “od hath set apostles, prophets, teachers,” [[1 Corinithians 12:28]] and all the other means through which the Spirit works; AH 3, XXIV:1 p458 BKV (SA)

AH 4, Preface:1

And since they allege that the Creator originated from a defect or apostasy, so have they also taught that Christ and the Holy Spirit were emitted on account of this defect, and that the Saviour was a product of those Aeons who were produced from a defect; so that there is nothing but blasphemy to be found among them. In the preceding book, then, the ideas of the apostles as to all these points have been set forth, [to the effect] that not only did they, “who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word” [[Luke 1:2]] of truth, hold no such opinions, but that they did also preach to us to shun these doctrines, [[2 Timothy 2:23]] foreseeing by the Spirit those weak-minded persons who should be led astray. AH 4, Preface:1 p462 BKV (SA)

AH 4, I:1

… and likewise that the apostles did of themselves term no one else as God, or name [no other] as Lord … AH 4, I:1 p463 BKV (SA)

AH 4, I:2

The apostles, too, according to these men’s showing, are proved to be transgressors of the commandment, since they confess the Creator as God, and Lord, and Father, as I have shown — if He is not alone God and Father. Jesus, therefore, will be to them the author and teacher of such transgression, inasmuch as He commanded: that one Being should be called Father, [[Matthew 23:9]] thus imposing upon them the necessity of confessing the Creator as their Father, as has been pointed out. AH 4 I:2 p463 BKV (Matthew, SA)

AH 4, II:3 (John reference)

3/ But since the writings (literae) of Moses are the words of Christ, He does Himself declare to the Jews, as John has recorded in the Gospel: “If ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, neither will ye believe My words.” [[John 5:46-47]] AH 4, II:3 p464 BKV

AH 4, IV:1

The fruit, therefore, having been sown throughout all the world, she (Jerusalem) was deservedly forsaken, and those things which had formerly brought forth fruit abundantly were taken away; for from these, according to the flesh, were Christ and the apostles enabled to bring forth fruit. AH 4, IV:1 p466 BKV (SA)

AH 4, V:4

4/ Righteously also the apostles, being of the race of Abraham, left the ship and their father, and followed the Word. AH 4, V:4 p467 BKV

AH 4, VI:1 (John, apostle reference)

1/ For the Lord, revealing Himself to His disciples, that He Himself is the Word, who imparts knowledge of the Father, and reproving the Jews, who imagined that they had [the knowledge of] God, while they nevertheless rejected His Word, through whom God is made known, declared, “No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whom the Son has willed to reveal [Him].” [[Matthew 11:27; Luke 10:22]] Thus hath Matthew set it down, and Luke in like manner, and Mark [[see Roberts footnote below]] the very same; for John omits this passage. They, however, who would be wiser than the apostles, write [the verse] in the following manner: “No man knew the Father, but the Son; nor the Son, but the Father, and he to whom the Son has willed to reveal [Him];” … AH 4, VI:1 p468 BKV (maybe Matthew and AJG)

Roberts footnote: “Not now to be found in Mark’s Gospel.”

AH 4, VIII:3

For David had been appointed a priest by God, although Saul persecuted him. For all the righteous possess the sacerdotal rank. And all the apostles of the Lord are priests, who do inherit here neither lands nor houses, but serve God and the altar continually. AH 4, VIII:3 p471 BKV (SA)

AH 4, X:1 (John reference)

1/ Wherefore also John does appropriately relate that the Lord said to the Jews: “Ye search the Scriptures, in which ye think ye have eternal life; these are they which testify of me. And ye are not willing to come unto Me, that ye may have life.” [[John 5:39-40]] AH 4, X:1 p473 BKV

AH 4, XII:5

…, the Lord, exposing his covetousness, said to him, “If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell all that thou hast, and distribute to the poor; and come, follow me;” promising to those who would act thus, the portion belonging to the apostles (apostolorum partem). AH 4, XII:5 p476 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XIV:2 (John reference)

Thus, in a variety of ways, He adjusted the human race to an agreement with salvation. On this account also does John declare in the Apocalypse, “And His voice as the sound of many waters.” [[Revelation 1:15]] AH 4, XIV:2, p479 BKV

AH 4, XV:1

Luke also has recorded that Stephen, who was the first elected into the diaconate by the apostles, and who was the first slain for the testimony of Christ, spoke regarding Moses as follows … AH 4, XV:1 p480 BKV (12)

AH 4, XV:2

But why say I these things [[adaptation for hardness of heart]] concerning the Old Testament? For in the New also are the apostles found doing this very thing, on the ground which has been mentioned, Paul plainly declaring, “But these things I say, not the Lord.” And again: “But this I speak by permission, not by commandment.” And again: “Now, as concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.” But further, in another place he says: “That Satan tempt you not for your incontinence.” If, therefore, even in the New Testament, the apostles are found granting certain precepts in consideration of human infirmity, because of the incontinence of some, … AH 4, XV:2 p480 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XVI:1

For “we,” says the apostle, “have been circumcised with the circumcision made without hands.” [[Colossians 2:11]] And the prophet declares, “Circumcise the hardness of your heart.” But the Sabbaths taught that we should continue day by day in God’s service. “For we have been counted,” says the Apostle Paul, “all the day long as sheep for the slaughter;” AH 4, XVI:1 p482 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XVII:5

And the cup likewise, which is part of that creation to which we belong, He confessed to be His blood, and taught the new oblation of the new covenant ; which the Church receiving from the apostles, offers to God throughout all the world, AH 4, XVII:5 p484 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XVII:6 (John reference)

Since, therefore, the name of the Son belongs to the Father, and since in the omnipotent God the Church makes offerings through Jesus Christ, He says well on both these grounds, “And in every place incense is offered to My name, and a pure sacrifice.” Now John, in the Apocalypse, declares that the “incense” is “the prayers of the saints.” [[Revelation 5:8]] AH 4, XVII:6 p484 BKV

AH 4, XVIII:6 (John reference)

The altar, then, is in heaven (for towards that place are our prayers and oblations directed); the temple likewise [is there], as John says in the Apocalypse, “And the temple of God was opened:” [[Revelation 11:19]] the tabernacle also: “For, behold,” He says, “the tabernacle of God, in which He will dwell with men.” [[Revelation 21:3]] AH 4, XVIII:6 p486 BKV

AH 4, XX:2

In accordance with this, too, does the apostle say, “There is one God, the Father, who is above all, and in us all.” [[Ephesians 4:6]]. AH 4, XX:2 p488 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XX:6

But the apostle expounded this very passage, when he said, “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit; …” [[1 Corinthians 12:4]] AH 4, XX:6 p489 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XX:11 (John reference)

John also, the Lord’s disciple, when beholding the sacerdotal and glorious advent of His kingdom, says in the Apocalypse: “I turned to see the voice that spake with me …” … But when John could not endure the sight (for he says, “I fell at his feet as dead;” [[Revelation 1:17]] that what was written r might come to pass: “No man sees God, and shall live” [[Exodus 33:20]]), and the Word reviving him, and reminding him that it was He upon whose bosom he had leaned at supper, when he put the question as to who should betray Him, declared: “I am the first and the last, and He who liveth, and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore, and have the keys of death and of hell.” [[Revelation 1:17]] AH 4, XX:11 p491 BKV

AH 4, XX:12

And for this reason, Paul declares that the “unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband.” Then again, the prophet names his children, “Not having obtained mercy,” and “Not a people,” in order that, as says the apostle, “what was not a people may become a people; and she who did not obtain mercy may obtain mercy. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said, This is not a people, there shall they be called the children of the living God.” That which had been done typically through his actions by the prophet, the apostle proves to have been done truly by Christ in the Church. AH 4, XX:12 p492 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XXI:1-2

1/ But that our faith was also prefigured in Abraham, and that he was the patriarch of our faith, and, as it were, the prophet of it, the apostle has very fully taught, when he says in the Epistle to the Galatians “He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, … So then they which be of faith shall be blessed with faithful Abraham.” For which [reasons the apostle] declared that this man was not only the prophet of faith, …

2/ The history of Isaac, too, is not without a symbolical character. For in the Epistle to the Romans, the apostle declares AH 4, XXI:1-2 p492-3 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XXI:3 (John reference)

For to this end was the Lord born, the type of whose birth he set forth beforehand, of whom also John says in the Apocalypse: “He went forth conquering, that He should conquer.” [[Revelation 6:2]] AH 4, XXI:3, p493 BKV

AH 4, XXIII:2

For this reason, too, did the apostles, collecting the sheep which had perished of the house of Israel, and discoursing to them from the Scriptures, prove that this crucified Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God; AH 4, XXIII:2 p495 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XXIV:1

1/ Wherefore also Paul, since he was the apostle of the Gentiles, says, … As I have pointed out in the preceding book, the apostle did, in the first place, instruct the Gentiles to depart from the superstition of idols, AH 4, XXIV:1 p495 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XXVI:2

2/ Wherefore it is incumbent to obey the presbyters who are in the Church, — those who, as I have shown, possess the succession from the apostles; those who, together with the succession of the episcopate, have received the certain gift of truth, according to the good pleasure of the Father. AH 4, XXVI:2 p497 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XXVI:4

4/ From all such persons, therefore, it behoves us to keep aloof, but to adhere to those who, as I have already observed, do hold the doctrine of the apostles, and who, together with the order of priesthood (presbyterii ordine), display sound speech and blameless conduct for the confirmation and correction of others. AH 4, XXVI:4 p497 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XXVI:4

In this strain also the Apostle Paul, inasmuch as he had a good conscience, said to the Corinthians … AH 4, XXVI:4 p498 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XXVI:5

Paul then, teaching us where one may find such [[faithful servants]], says, “God hath placed in the Church, first, apostles; secondly, prophets ; thirdly, teachers.” Where, therefore, the gifts of the Lord have been placed, there it behoves us to learn the truth, [namely,] from those who possess that succession of the Church which is from the apostles, and among whom exists that which is sound and blameless in conduct, as well as that which is unadulterated and incorrupt in speech. AH 4, XXVI:5 p498 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XXVII:1

1/ As I have heard from a certain presbyter, who had heard it from those who had seen the apostles, and from those who had been their disciples, the punishment [declared] in Scripture was sufficient for the ancients in regard to what they did without the Spirit’s guidance. AH 4, XXVII:1 p498 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XXVII:4

4/ Since therefore, beyond all doubt and contradiction, the apostle [[following quote of 1 Corinthians]] shows that there is one and the same God, … and the apostle says, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? …” [[1 Corinthians 6:9]] … And again does the apostle say, “Let no man deceive you with vain words; …” [[Ephesians 5:6]] … here also does the apostle likewise say: “For the wrath of God shall be revealed from heaven …” [[Romans 1:18] … So says the apostle, in like manner, in the Epistle to the Thessalonians: … AH 4, XXVII:4 p500 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XXVIII:3

For if He had not so come, it follows that these men could not have become the slayers of their Lord; and if He had not sent prophets to them, they certainly could not have killed them, nor the apostles either. AH 4, XXVIII:3 p501 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XXVIII:3

Unless, then, the Jews had become the slayers of the Lord (which did, indeed, take eternal life away from them), and, by killing the apostles and persecuting the Church, had fallen into an abyss of wrath, we could not have been saved. AH 4, XXVIII:3 p501 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XXVIII:3

For the apostle does also say in the Second [Epistle] to the Corinthians: AH 4, XXVIII:3 p501 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XXIX:1

In accordance with this word, therefore, does the apostle say, in the Second [Epistle] to the Corinthians: AH 4, XXIX:1 p502 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XXX:4 (John reference)

And if any one will devote a close attention to those things which are stated by the prophets with regard to the [time of the] end and those which John the disciple of the Lord saw in the Apocalypse, he will find that the nations [are to] receive the same plagues universally, as Egypt then did particularly. AH 4, XXX:4 p504 BKV

AH 4, XXXII:1

1/ After this fashion also did a presbyter [[perhaps Polycarp]] a disciple of the apostles, reason with respect to the two testaments, proving that both were truly from one and the same God. AH 4, XXXII:1 p505 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XXXII:1

… and the Apostle Paul [says] in like manner, “There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father, who is above all, and through all, and in us all” [[Ephesians 4:5-6]] AH 4, XXXII:1 p506 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XXXII:2

2/ For all the apostles taught that there were indeed two testaments among the two peoples; but that it was one and the same God who appointed both for the advantage of those men (for whose sakes the testaments were given) who were to believe in God, I have proved in the third book from the very teaching of the apostles; and that the first testament was not given without reason, or to no purpose, or in an accidental sort of manner; AH 4, XXXII:2 p506 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XXXIII:8

8/ True knowledge is [that which consists in] the doctrine of the apostles, and the ancient constitution s of the Church throughout all the world, AH 4, XXXIII:8 p508 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XXXIII:11

And the apostle in like manner says [of them], “Who shall be punished with everlasting death from the face of the Lord, …” [[2 Thessalonians 1:9]] AH 4, XXXIII:11 p509 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XXXIV:1

… read with earnest care that Gospel which has been conveyed to us by the apostles, and read with earnest care the prophets, and you will find that the whole conduct, and all the doctrine, and all the sufferings of our Lord, were predicted through them. AH 4, XXXIV:1 p511 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XXXIV:2

To this effect, also Paul, His apostle, says in the Epistle to the Romans, … AH 4, XXXIV:2 p511 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XXXIV:4

But if the law of liberty, that is, the word of God, preached by the apostles (who went forth from Jerusalem) throughout all the earth, … AH 4, XXXIV:4 p512 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XXXV:2

2/ But if, when the Saviour came to this earth, He sent His apostles into the world to proclaim with accuracy His advent, and to teach the Father’s will, … Therefore let them not any longer assert that Peter and Paul and the other apostles proclaimed the truth, but that it was the scribes and Pharisees, and the others, through whom the law was propounded. But if, at His advent, He sent forth His own apostles in the spirit of truth, and not in that of error, He did the very same also in the case of the prophets … AH 4, XXXV:2 p513 BKV (?12, SA)

AH 4, XXXVI:3

…; on which day He [[Jesus]] declares that it shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city and house which shall not receive the word of His apostles. AH 4, XXXVI:3 p516 BKV (12)

AH 4, XXXVI:5

The Lord, therefore, who has called us everywhere by the apostles, is He who called those of old by the prophets, as appears by the words of the Lord; and although they preached to various nations, the prophets were not from one God, and the apostles from another; but, [proceeding] from one and the same, some of them announced the Lord, others preached the Father, and others again foretold the advent of the Son of God, while yet others declared Him as already present to those who then were afar off. AH 4, XXXVI:5 p517 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XXXVI:6

… for this is the wedding garment, of which also the apostle speaks, “Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up by immortality.” [[2 Corinthians 5:5]] … Wherefore also the Apostle Paul says in the Epistle to the Romans, “… Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also; for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.” Both the Lord, then, and the apostles announce as the one only God the Father, Him who gave the law … AH 4, XXXVI:6 p517 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XXXVI:8

If, then, those who do believe in Him through the preaching of His apostles throughout the east and west shall recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven, … AH 4, XXXVI:8 p518 BKV (SA)

AH 4, XXXVII:1

… Rejecting therefore the good, and as it were spuing it out, they shall all deservedly incur the just judgment of God, which also the Apostle Paul testifies in his Epistle to the Romans, …” “But glory and honour,” he says, “to every one that doeth good.” [[Romans 2:7]] God therefore has given that which is good, as the apostle tells us in this Epistle, … AH 4, XXXVII:1 p518-9 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XXXVII:4

If then [[quoting 1 Corinthians 6]] it were not in our power to do or not to do these things, what reason had the apostle, and much more the Lord Himself, to give us counsel to do some things, and to abstain from others? AH 4, XXXVII:4 p519 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XXXVII:7

On this account also Paul the Apostle says to the Corinthians, “Know ye not, that they who run in a racecourse, do all indeed run, but one receiveth the prize? …” … Since, then, this power has been conferred upon us, both the Lord has taught and the apostle has enjoined us the more to love God, that we may reach this [prize] for ourselves by striving after it. AH 4, XXXVII:7 p520 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XXXVIII:2

2/ And on this account does Paul declare to the Corinthians, “I have fed you with milk, not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it.” … As, therefore, the apostle had the power to give them strong meat — for those upon whom the apostles laid hands received the Holy Spirit, who is the food of life [eternal] — … AH 4, XXXVIII:2 p521 BKV (Paul)

AH 4, XLI:4

But it is necessary to subjoin to this composition, in what follows [[book 5 of AH]], also the doctrine of Paul after the words of the Lord, to examine the opinion of this man, and expound the apostle, … and to demonstrate from that same Paul, from whose [writings] they press questions upon us, that they are indeed utterers of falsehood, but that the apostle was a preacher of the truth, and that he taught all things agreeable to the preaching of the truth; … Arranging, then, in another book, the rest of the words of the Lord, which He taught concerning the Father not by parables, but by expressions taken in their obvious meaning (sed simpliciter ipsis dictionibus), and the exposition of the Epistles of the blessed apostle, I shall, with God’s aid, furnish thee with the complete work of the exposure and refutation of knowledge, falsely so called … AH 4, XLI:4 p525 BKV (Paul)

AH 5, Preface

Then I have pointed out the truth, and shown the preaching of the Church, which the prophets proclaimed (as I have already demonstrated), but which Christ brought to perfection, and the apostles have handed down, from whom the Church, receiving [these truths], and throughout all the world alone preserving them in their integrity (bene), has transmitted them to her sons. Then also — having disposed of all questions which the heretics propose to us, and having explained the doctrine of the apostles, and clearly set forth many of those things which were said and done by the Lord in parables … AH 5, Preface p526 BKV (SA)

AH 5, II:2

By His own blood he redeemed us, as also His apostle declares, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins.” [[Colossians 1:14]] AH 5, II:2 p528 BKV (Paul)

AH 5, III:1

The Apostle Paul has, moreover, in the most lucid manner, pointed out … in the second [Epistle] to the Corinthians: “… Gladly therefore shall I rather glory in infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” What, therefore? (as some may exclaim:) did the Lord wish, in that case, that His apostles should thus undergo buffeting, and that he should endure such infirmity? Even so it was; the word says it. AH 5, III:1 p529 BKV (Paul, SA)

AH 5, V:1

In paradise certainly, as the Scripture declares: “And God planted a garden [paradisum] eastward in Eden, and there He placed the man whom He had formed.” And then afterwards, when [man] proved disobedient, he was cast out thence into this world. Wherefore also the elders who were disciples of the apostles tell us that those who were translated were transferred to that place (for paradise has been prepared for righteous men, such as have the Spirit; in which place also Paul the apostle, when he was caught up, heard words which are unspeakable as regards us in our present condition), and that there shall they who have been translated remain until the consummation [of all things], as a prelude to immortality. AH 5, V:1 p531 BKV (SA, Paul)

AH 5, VI:1

For this reason does the apostle declare, “We speak wisdom among them that are perfect,” [[1 Corinthians 2:6]] … In like manner we do also hear many brethren in the Church, who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light for the general benefit the hidden things of men, and declare the mysteries of God, whom also the apostle terms “spiritual,” … AH 5 VI:1 p531 BKV (Paul)

AH 5, VI:1

And for this cause does the apostle, explaining himself, make it clear that the saved man is a complete man as well as a spiritual man; saying thus in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians, … AH 5 VI:1 p532 BKV (Paul)

AH 5, VI:2

And not only does he (the apostle) acknowledge our bodies to be a temple, but even the temple of Christ, saying thus to the Corinthians, “Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? …” AH 5 VI:2 p532 BKV (Paul)

AH 5, VIII:1

1/ But we do now receive a certain portion of His Spirit, tending towards perfection, and preparing us for incorruption, being little by little accustomed to receive and bear God; which also the apostle terms “an earnest,” that is, a part of the honour which has been promised us by God, where he says in the Epistle to the Ephesians, … AH 5, VIII:1 p533 BKV (Paul)

AH 5, XVIII:2 (John reference)

And to these things does John also, the disciple of the Lord, bear witness, when he speaks thus in the Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made.” [[John 1:1-3]] And then he said of the Word Himself: “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. To His own things He came, and His own people received Him not. However, as many as did receive Him, to these gave He power to become the sons of God, to those that believe in His name.” [[John 1:10-13]] And again, showing the dispensation with regard to His human nature, John said: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” [[John 1:14]] AH 5, XVIII:2 p546 BKV

AH 5, XX:1

1/ Now all these [heretics] are of much later date than the bishops to whom the apostles committed the Churches; which fact I have in the third book taken all pains to demonstrate. … But the path of those belonging to the Church circumscribes the whole world, as possessing the sure tradition from the apostles, and gives unto us to see that the faith of all is one and the same, since all receive one and the same God the Father, … AH 5, XX:1 p547-8 BKV (SA)

AH 5, XXV:2

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, AH 5, XXV:2 p553 BKV (SA)

AH 5, XXVI:1 (John reference)

1/ In a still clearer light has John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the Lord’s disciples what shall happen in the last times, and concerning the ten kings who shall then arise, among whom the empire which now rules [the earth] shall be partitioned. AH 5, XXVI:1 p554 BKV

AH 5, XXVI:2

That before the Lord’s appearance Satan never dared to blaspheme God, inasmuch as he did not yet know his own sentence, because it was contained in parables and allegories; but that after the Lord’s appearance, when he had clearly ascertained from the words of Christ and His apostles that eternal fire has been prepared for him as he apostatized from God of his own free-will, and likewise for all who unrepentant continue in the apostasy, he now blasphemes, … AH 5, XXVI:2 p555 BKV

AH 5, XXVIII:2 (John reference)

… and at the proper time sending such a man, “that they may believe a lie, that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but consented to unrighteousness;” whose coming John has thus described in the Apocalypse: “And the beast which I had seen was like unto a leopard, and his feet as of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; …” [[Revelation 13:2]] John says further: “And he shall order an image of the beast to be made, and he shall give breath to the image, so that the image shall speak; and he shall cause those to be slain who will not adore it.” AH 5, XXVIII:2 p557 BKV

AH 5, XXX:1 (John reference)

1/ Such, then, being the state of the case, and this number being found in all the most approved and ancient copies [of the Apocalypse], and those men who saw John face to face bearing their testimony [to it]; while reason also leads us to conclude that the number of the name of the beast, [if reckoned] according to the Greek mode of calculation by the [value of] the letters, contained in it, will amount to six hundred and sixty and six;… AH 5, XXX:1 p558 BKV

AH 5, XXXIII:4 (John reference)

The predicted blessing, therefore, belongs unquestionably to the times of the kingdom, when the righteous shall bear rule upon their rising from the dead; when also the creation, having been renovated and set free, shall fructify with an abundance of all kinds of food, from the dew of heaven, and from the fertility of the earth: as the elders who saw John, the disciple of the Lord, related, that they had heard from him how the Lord used to teach in regard to these times, and say: The days will come, in which vines shall grow, each having ten thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand twigs, and in each true twig ten thousand shoots, and in each one of the shoots ten thousand clusters, and on every one of the clusters ten thousand grapes, and every grape when pressed will give five and twenty metretes of wine. And when any one of the saints shall lay hold of a cluster, another shall cry out, “I am a better cluster, take me; bless the Lord through me.” In like manner [the Lord declared] that a grain of wheat would produce ten thousand ears, and that every ear should have ten thousand grains, and every grain would yield ten pounds (quinque bilibres) of clear, pure, fine flour; and that all other fruit-bearing trees, and seeds and grass, would produce in similar proportions (secundum congruentiam iis consequentem); and that all animals feeding [only] on the productions of the earth, should [in those days] become peaceful and harmonious among each other, and be in perfect subjection to man. BKV

4/ And these things are borne witness to in writing by Papias, the hearer of John, and a companion of Polycarp, in his fourth book; for there were five books compiled (συντεταγμενα) by him. And he says in addition, “Now these things are credible to believers.” And he says that, “when the traitor Judas did not give credit to them, and put the question, ‘How then can things about to bring forth so abundantly be wrought by the Lord?’ the Lord declared, ‘They who shall come to these [times] shall see.’” AH 5, XXXIII:4, p562 BKV

AH 5, XXXIV:2 (John reference)

Again John also says the very same in the Apocalypse: “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.” [[Revelation 20:6]] AH 5, XXXIV:2, p564 BKV

AH 5, XXXIV:3 (disciples of the Lord)

Now, in the preceding book I have shown that, all the disciples of the Lord are Levites and priests, they who used in the temple to profane the Sabbath, but are blameless.” AH 5, XXXIV:3, p564 BKV

AH 5, XXXV:2 (John reference)

And in the Apocalypse John saw this new [Jerusalem] descending upon the new earth. [[Revelation 21:2]] … When these things, therefore, pass away above the earth, John, the Lord’s disciple, says that the new Jerusalem above shall [then] descend, as a bride adorned for her husband; [[Revelation 21:2]] and that this is the tabernacle of God, in which God will dwell with men. AH 5, XXXV:2 p566 BKV

AH 5, XXXVI:1-3 (John, apostle reference)

But when this [present] fashion [of things] passes away, and man has been renewed, and flourishes in an incorruptible state, so as to preclude the possibility of becoming old, [then] there shall be the new heaven and the new earth, in which the new man shall remain [continually], always holding fresh converse with God. And since {or, that) these things shall ever continue without end, Isaiah declares, “For as the new heavens and the new earth which I do make, continue in my sight, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.” And as the presbyters say, Then those who are deemed worthy of an abode in heaven shall go there, others shall enjoy the delights of paradise, and others shall possess the splendour of the city; for everywhere the Saviour shall be seen according as they who see Him shall be worthy. BKV

2/ [They say, moreover], that there is this distinction between the habitation of those who produce an hundred-fold, and that of those who produce sixty-fold, and that of those who produce thirty-fold: for the first will be taken up into the heavens, the second will dwell in paradise, the last will inhabit the city; and that it was on this account the Lord declared, “In My Father’s house are many mansions.” [[John 14:2]] For all things belong to God, who supplies all with a suitable dwelling-place; even as His Word says, that a share is allotted to all by the Father, according as each person is or shall be worthy. And this is the couch on which the guests shall recline, having been invited to the wedding. The presbyters, the disciples of the apostles, affirm that this is the gradation and arrangement of those who are saved, and that they advance through steps of this nature; also that 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, even as it is said by the apostle, “For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” [[1 Cor 15:25-26]] For in the times of the kingdom, the righteous man who is upon the earth shall then forget to die. “But when He saith, All things shall be subdued unto Him, it is manifest that He is excepted who did put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.” [[1 Cor 15:27-28]] BKV (SA, Paul)

3/ John, therefore, did distinctly foresee the first “resurrection of the just,” [[Luke 14:14]] and the inheritance in the kingdom of the earth; and what the prophets have prophesied concerning it harmonize [with his vision]. For the Lord also taught these things, when He promised that He would have the mixed cup new with His disciples in the kingdom. The apostle, too, has confessed that the creation shall be free from the bondage of corruption, [so as to pass] into the liberty of the sons of God. [[Romans 8:21]] AH 5, XXXVI:2-3 p567 BKV (Paul)

Letter to Florinus (John, apostle)

From Roberts (Roberts and Donaldson (1885a)), above, p568 (Roberts, Keble fragment #II, likely genuine). Notes from Roberts):

This interesting extract we also owe to Eusebius, who (ut sup.) took it from the work De Ogdoade, written after this former friend of Irenaeus had lapsed to Valentinianism. Florinus had previously held that God was the author of evil, which sentiment Irenaeus opposed in a treatise, now lost, called περι μοναρχιας.

Text:

These opinions, Florinus, that I may speak in mild terms, are not of sound doctrine ; these opinions are not consonant to the Church, and involve their votaries in the utmost impiety; these opinions, even the heretics beyond the Church’s pale have never ventured to broach ; these opinions, those presbyters who preceded us, and who were conversant with the apostles, did not hand down to thee. For, while I was yet a boy, I saw thee in Lower Asia with Poly- carp, distinguishing thyself in the royal court, and endeavouring to gain his approbation. For I have a more vivid recollection of what occurred at that time than of recent events (inasmuch as the experiences of childhood, keeping pace with the growth of the soul, become incorporated with it) ; so that I can even describe the place where the blessed Polycarp used to sit and discourse — his going out, too, and his coming in — his general mode of life and personal appearance, together with the discourses which he delivered to the people; also how he would speak of his familiar intercourse with John, and with the rest of those who had seen the Lord; and how he would call their words to remembrance. Whatsoever things he had heard from them respecting the Lord, both with regard to His miracles and His teaching, Polycarp having thus received [information] from the eye-witnesses of the Word of life, would recount them all in harmony with the Scriptures. These things, through God’s mercy which was upon, me, I then listened to attentively, and treasured them up not on paper, but in my heart; and I am continually, by God’s grace, revolving these things accurately in my mind. And I can bear witness before God, that if that blessed and apostolical presbyter had heard any such thing, he would have cried out, and stopped his ears exclaiming as he was wont to do: “O good God, for what times hast Thou reserved me, that I should endure these things?” And he would have fled from the very spot where, sitting; or standing, he had heard such words. This fact, too, can be made clear, from his Epistles — which he despatched, whether to the neighbouring Churches to confirm them, or to certain of the brethren, admonishing and exhorting them.

Letter to Victor on observance of Easter

Roberts, p568-9 (Roberts, Keble fragment #III, likely genuine). Note from Roberts:

We are indebted again to Eusebius for this valuable fragment from the Epistle of Irenaeus to Victor Bishop of Rome (Hist. Eccl. , v. 24 ; copied also by Nicephorus, iv. 39) . It appears to have been a synodical epistle to the head of the- Roman Church, the historian saying that it was written by Irenaeus, “in the name of (ἐκ προσοπτου) those brethren over whom he ruled, throughout Gaul.

Text:

For the controversy is not merely as regards; the day, but also as regards the form itself of the fast. For some consider themselves bound to fast one day, others two days, others still more, while others [do so during] forty : the diurnal and the nocturnal hours they measure out together as their [fasting] day. And this variety among the observers [of the fasts] had not its origin in our time, but long before in that of our predecessors, some of whom probably, being” not very accurate in their observance of it, handed down to posterity the custom as it had, through simplicity or private fancy, been [introduced among them] . And yet nevertheless all these lived in peace one with another, and we also keep peace together. Thus, in fact, the difference [in observing] the fast establishes the harmony of [our common] faith. And the presbyters preceding Soter in the government of the Church which thou dost now rule — I mean, Anicetus and Pius, Hyginus and Telesphorus, and Sixtus — did neither themselves observe it [after that fashion], nor permit those with them to do so. Notwithstanding this, those who did not keep [the feast in this way] were peacefully disposed towards those who came to them from other dioceses in which it was [so] observed, although such observance was [felt] in more decided contrariety [as presented] to those who did not fall in with it ; and none were ever cast out [of the Church] for this matter. On the contrary, those presbyters who preceded thee, and who did not observe [this custom], sent the Eucharist to those of other dioceses who did observe it. And when the blessed Polycarp was sojourning in Rome in the time of Anicetus, although a slight controversy had arisen among them as to certain other points, they were at once well inclined towards each other [with regard to the matter in hand], not willing that any quarrel should arise between them upon this head. For neither could Anicetus persuade Polycarp to forego the observance [in his own way], inasmuch as these things had been always [so] observed by John the disciple of our Lord, and by other apostles with whom he had been conversant ; nor, on the other hand, could Polycarp succeed in persuading Anicetus to keep [the observance in his way], for he maintained that he was bound to adhere to the usage of the presbyters who preceded him. And in this state of affairs they held fellowship with each other ; and Anicetus conceded to Polycarp in the Church the celebration of the Eucharist, by way of showing him respect ; so that they parted in peace one from the other, maintaining peace with the whole Church, both those who did observe [this custom] and those who did not.

Fragment XXXI in Roberts

Roberts, p573 (Keble fragment #XXIX, “doubtful”):

For the Judge of the whole world is thus proclaimed, who, having been hidden in the heart of the earth in a tomb for three days, and having become a great tree, has stretched forth His branches to the ends of the earth. Sprouting out from Him, the twelve apostles, having become fair and fruitful boughs, were made a shelter for the nations as for the fowls of heaven, under which boughs, all having taken refuge, as birds flocking to a nest, have been made partakers of that wholesome and celestial food which is derived from them. p573

Roberts Fragment XXXVI

Roberts p574, Keble #XXXV, “probably” genuine:

… and “the word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart,” [[Romans 10:8]] as the same apostle [[Paul]] declares, being easy of comprehension to those who are obedient.

Roberts fragment XXXVII

Roberts p574, Keble #XXXVI, “probably” genuine:

Those who have become acquainted with the secondary (i.e., under Christ) constitutions of the apostles, are aware that the Lord instituted a new oblation, in the new covenant, according to [the declaration of] Malachi the prophet.

Roberts fragment XXXVIII

Roberts p575, Keble #XXXVII, “probably” genuine:

The apostles ordained, that “we should not judge any one in respect to meat or drink, or in regard to a feast day, or the new moons, or the sabbaths.” [[Colossians 2:16]]

Roberts fragment XL

Roberts p575, Keble #XXXIX “doubtful”:

… For thus, according to the holy apostle, the sin of fornication is perpetrated against the body, as involving also sin against the temple of God. [[1 Corinthians 3:16-17]]

Roberts fragment LIV

Roberts p577, Keble Syriac fragment e, inside insertion from “not old” Armenian manuscript, unclear if genuine:

… He [[Jesus]] gathered the apostles together, and preached the kingdom of heaven …; He manifested Himself in the body, was suspended upon a beam of wood, and raised from the dead; shown to the apostles, and, having been carried up to heaven, sitteth on the right hand of the Father, …