irenaeus covenant relationship and abraham

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Irenaeus: Covenant Relationship and Abraham

Introduction

Abraham is a man who towers over history. Abraham is a man who stands at the genesis

of three great religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). He is a man in whom all men walk

before God. He is a man ―called the friend of God‖ (James 2:23). He is the man whom God

chose and separated from his country his kinsmen and his family, just as God had separated in

the creation. It is in Abraham that God had chosen to create his holy people, his kingdom of

priests, and eventually God will sanctify Abraham through his seed. And through the seed of

Abraham all the nations were blessed with forgiveness of sins, and eternal life.

Abraham functions as the central man in Genesis, and throughout the Pentateuch, in as

much as God‘s identity and his promised blessing are bound to him. Abraham is also an agent of

God‘s creative activity in the world through his separation from the nations and also in the

promised blessing for the nations.1 This creative blessing is apparent almost immediately in the

Abraham narratives when God blesses those who bless Abraham and curses those who curse

him.

The narrative of Abraham‘s life only spans 13 chapters of Genesis but his importance

exceeds that of all other men in the Hebrew Scriptures, as noted by Fretheim; ―Abraham is also

the most frequently mentioned Genesis character in the balance of the Old Testament (forty-two

references) and in the New Testament (eighty-five references).‖2 Perhaps the most notable of

these New Testament references are those of Romans 4 and Galatians 3 in which Paul shows

from the life of Abraham that righteousness is from faith in God and not from works of the law.

1 Fretheim, Terence E. Abraham: Trials of Family and Faith. Studies on personalities of the Old Testament. Columbia, S.C.:

University of South Carolina Press, 2007, 6. 2 Ibid. ix.

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The purpose of this papers it to compare the function of Abraham in the writings of

Irenaeus with those of his Jewish predecessors and contemporaries. I will begin by developing

the function of Abraham within the canon after the death of Abraham in order to demonstrate

that Irenaeus‘ reading of Abraham does in fact fit into the function of Abraham both in the Old

and New Testaments while the typical Jewish function of Abraham does not fit the record of

holy scripture.

Abraham in the Hebrew Bible

It will be helpful to first establish the usage of Abraham in Holy Scriptures as a base line

for our comparison of Irenaeus‘ usage with his contemporaries especially his Jewish

contemporaries and the Jews of the Second Temple. Abraham has a central role in the Hebrew

Scriptures surpassed only by God himself. Abraham is the third man who is said to have walked

with God (Gen 48:15). Abraham is also the friend of God, and it is God‘s remembrance of

Abraham which causes him to relent numerous times from his intention to ―cut off‖ the people of

Israel (Ex. 2:24; 32:13; 2 Kings 13:23; Ps. 105:9). Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are the

determinative men for the People of Israel especially in the Pentateuch where God‘s covenant

relationship with Abraham is the basis for God‘s continuing relationship with a sinful nation.

This covenant relationship has three facets to it: first, Abraham is the locus of the promises of

God, 3

second, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are used to Identify God,4 and finally, Abraham,

3 Rehearsal of the promise to Abraham (swore to your fathers [Abraham]) (Gen. 26:3*; [50:24]; Ex. [6:8]; 13:5, 11; [32:13;

33:1] Num 11:12; [32:11]; Deut. 1:8*, 35; 4:31; 6:10*, 18; 7:12, 13; 8:1, 18; 9:5*; 10:11; 11:9, 21; 13:17; 26:3, 15; 28:11;

29:13*; 30:20*; [34:4]; Judg. 2:1; Jer. 11:5; Ezek 20:42; 47:14; [Luke 1:73; Heb. 6:13]); Remembering the covenant with

Abraham (Ex. 2:24; Lev. 26:42; 2 Kings 13:23; 1 Chr. 16:16; Ps. 105:9; Acts 3:25; 7:8), Promise with Abraham (Ex.

32:13; Deut. 29:13; 1 Chr. 16:16; Ps. 105:9, 42; Acts 7:17; Rom. 4:13, 16; Gal. 3:14, 16, 18, 29; Heb. 6:13, 15; 7:7; 11:17);

this also includes Israelite pleas for God to remember Abraham (Gen. 19:29; Ex. 2:24; 3:15; 32:13; Lev. 26:42; Deut. 9:27;

Ps. 105:42; Luke 16:25). 4 ―The God of Abraham‖ (Gen 26:24; 28:13; 31:42, 53; Ex. 3:6, 15, 16; 4:5; 1 Kings 18:36; 1 Chr. 29:18; 2 Chr. 30:6; Ps. 47:9;

Matt. 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37; Acts 3:13; 7:32). Also the phrase ―God of your father‖ (Gen 31:29; 43:23; 46:3;

49:25; 50:17; Ex. 3:6, 13, 15, 16; Deut. 1:11, 21; 4:1; 6:3; 12:1; 27:3; Josh. 18:3; 1 Chr. 28:9; 2 Chr. 13:12; 28:9; 29:5;

Ezra 8:28; 10:11; Acts 7:32)

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Isaac and Jacob are used to identify the Israelites.5 These facets of the covenant relationship are

not mutually exclusive; in fact there is considerable overlap between the three so that in many

passages it is difficult to determine which facet is primary. But in the end each facet is

ultimately about Jesus Christ who is the author and the subject of every word of Scripture. This

must be born in mind as that rule of faith, that creed which informs our reading of each verse of

scripture. Stated in another way the reader of Holy Scripture must keep in mind that it is all

about God, it is His revelation of who He is as the Creator of the world and also as the Savior of

the world. To forget this theocentric focus of the universe is to error in the same way as Job and

is also an offense against the first commandment.

In the Hebrew Scriptures the covenant relationship is initiated by God‘s call. This is true

of both Noah and Abram, who are both called to service of God, Noah through the building of

the Ark and Abram through his separation from his past, his roots, his family. Abram was called

to be a sojourner in a land that was to be his but was not yet his to possess, he was called to be a

man without a land, He like Christ did not have a place to lay his head (Matt. 8:20; Luke 9:58),

and he was but an alien in the land which his sons were to inherit (Gen. 23:4). It is this covenant

relationship which is central to the Abraham narratives and provides the foundation upon which

the three functions of Abraham are developed in the Hebrew Bible.

As a direct extension of the covenant relationship between God and Abraham is the

notion of Abraham as the locus of the promise. This function of Abraham is evident when God

blesses Isaac (Gen. 26:1-4), Jacob (Gen. 28:13-14), and in God‘s blessing of Abraham and his

5 Gen. 26:3, 24; 28:13; 32:9; Ex. 3:6, 15, 16; Deut. 1:8; 6:10; 9:5; 29:13; 30:20; Josh. 24:2, 3; 1 Chr. 29:18; Is. 51:2; 63:16;

John 8:56; Acts 3:25; 7:32. These references overlap the other two functions, but the use of ―your fathers‖ to show the

clear relationship between those being addressed in the text and Abraham, through whom they are in covenant relationship

with YHWH.

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descendents, it is the initial call of Abraham, and the initial covenant, which is remembered

(Gen. 50:24; Ex. 2:24; 6:8; Deut. 6:10; 29:13; Ps. 105:9; etc.). As Fretheim says;

By calling Abraham in language filed with promises (Gen. 12:1-3), God brings

him into the new day provided by promise. This divine word newly constitutes

Abraham. God‘s new commitment to the relationship with Abraham that

promising entails, makes for a new identity for the one who now responds in trust

and obedience. Abraham now takes into his life the character of the promises

made; he is now one whose future looks like this. The future is not yet, but

because it is promised by one who is faithful to promises his very being takes on

the character of that future, though not apart from mish on faithful response to the

word of God that created his faith in the first place.6

The covenant relationship between YHWH and Abraham is so central to Salvation

history that YHWH is identified with Abraham as soon as the blessing of Isaac, right after the

death of Abraham. He becomes the place where YHWH can be found, YHWH is revealed in

Abraham, so that the descendents of Abraham might find Him. It is in this way that the Lord

commonly identifies himself to the descendents of Abraham beginning with Isaac (Gen. 26:24),

other notable occurrences are to Jacob (Gen. 28:13; 46:3), Moses (Ex. 3:6, 15). It is at the

burning bush that YHWH reveals his name to Moses by which He is to be remembered

throughout all Generations;

God said to Moses, ―I AM WHO I AM.‖ And he said, ―Say this to the people of

Israel, ‗I AM has sent me to you.‘ ‖ 15

God also said to Moses, ―Say this to the

people of Israel, ‗The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the

God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.‘ This is my name forever,

and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations (Ex. 3:14-15).

Very early in the Patriarchal narratives YHWH is inexorably linked to Abraham, God‘s

name, his very essence is bound to Abraham. YHWH‘s communion with Abraham will later be

portrayed by Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, through the use of the marriage metaphor.

YHWH is portrayed as the faithful husband who guards and protects his bride, Israel (Abraham).

The bride is consistently not faithful but runs out after false gods in spite of the gracious gifts of

6 Fretheim 9.

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the bride-groom. But in each case YHWH faithfully calls his bride back to relationship with him

alone, because of the covenant that He made with Abraham the covenant which entwined their

beings, joining two into one flesh (Gen. 2:24).

Similar to this self identification by YHWH is the later ―title‖ or ―name‖ of God as ―the

God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel;‖ on the lips of David (1 Chr. 29:18; Ps.

47:9), and Elijah (1 Kings 18:36). The title also occurs as king Hezekiah pleads with his people

to ―return to the Lord the God of Abraham‖ (2 Chr. 30:5-6).

The covenant relationship between God and Abraham becomes the identity of Israel, as a

nation set apart, ah holy nation, a kingdom of priests. Abraham‘s life becomes a type of the life

of Israel and eventually the life of Israel embodied in one, the second Adam, Jesus Christ.

Fretheim summarizes it this way: ―The story of Abraham is portrayed so as to prefigure the

story of Israel. Abraham is the father of Israel in more than a genealogical sense; Israel‘s story

plays out Abraham‘s story one more time. What Abraham does, his descendents do; he

anticipates Israel‘s history in his own life.‖7

Abraham with in Judaism

Within the Canonical books of the Hebrew canon Abraham‘s function was based upon

the covenant which YHWH had made with him, that is God‘s choosing him (Gen. 12:1-3; 18:18;

22:18). In the Second Temple period exegesis of the Abraham narratives began to be extended

especially exploring his early life in an attempt to explain specifically why God chose Abraham,

to call him out of his father‘s land, and to bless the nations through him. Evans also notes the

veneration of Abraham in the non-canonical Jewish writings but he incorrectly sees the origins of

this veneration specifically in the canonical texts, he says it thusly:

7 Fretheim, 26.

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In subsequent Old Testament and Jewish history Abraham, the ―friend of God‖ (2

Chr. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; cf. James 2:23), emerges as the most venerable of all Jewish

figures (Josh. 24:2-3; Isa. 29:22; 51:2; Ezek 33:24; Mic. 7:20; Sir. 44:19-23). It

was this great respect for, even fascination with, Abraham that led to much of the

interpretation and embellishment found in later Jewish and Christian sources. The

famous patriarch is often mentioned as the ideal example of Jewish piety and

orthodoxy.8

However these texts which Evans lists in support of Abraham as ―the most

venerated of all Jewish figures,‖ along with the biblical veneration of Abraham are better

understood in light of the covenant relationship, that is, the election of Abraham apart from any

value of his own. Then these texts serve to identify God, and Israel, and to recall God‘s

promises to Abraham within which Israel lives (Gen. 26:4; 28:4; Ex. 2:24; 3:6-16; 32:13; 33:1;

Lev. 26:42; Deut 9:5, 27). Joshua 24 is a covenant renewal ceremony which begins with the

retelling of the mighty works of God beginning with the call of Abraham.9 The Isaiah texts as

well lay their focus upon YHWH and Abraham is presented as one who was in relationship with

YHWH,10

and thereby the model for righteousness.11

Beginning in the apocryphal books Abraham‘s function begins to shift from the man

chosen by God to be the embodiment of his promised blessing. These apocryphal books begin to

show an understanding of the deeds of Abraham as examples of righteous works. For example

Tobit in the book by his name exhorts his son Tobias:

Beware of all whoredom, my son, and chiefly take a wife of the seed of thy

fathers, and take not a strange woman to wife, which is not of thy father‘s tribe:

for we are the children of the prophets, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:

8 Evans, 150. 9 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel.

And they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, ―Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel,

‗Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other

gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his

offspring many. I gave him Isaac (Josh. 24:1-3). 10 Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: ―Jacob shall no more be ashamed,

no more shall his face grow pale (Is. 29:22). 11 ―Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to

the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I

called him, that I might bless him and multiply him (Is. 51:1-2).

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remember, my son, that our fathers from the beginning, even that they all married

wives of their own kindred, and were blessed in their children, and their seed shall

inherit the land (Tob. 4:12).

Likewise Judith 8:24-27 offers a plea to remember the works of Abraham, so that you

might do similar things, learning righteous works from him. 1 Maccabees 2:52 also calls on the

Patriarch as a model for righteous living

Call to remembrance what acts our fathers did in their time; so shall ye receive

great honor and an everlasting name. Was not Abraham found faithful in

temptation, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness? Joseph in the time of

his distress kept the commandment and was made lord of Egypt (1 Macc. 2:51-

53).

Second Temple Jewish exegetes filled the early life of Abraham with acts of

righteousness, in order that God‘s election/choosing him might be justified on the basis of his

righteousness. Many stories developed around the deeds of Abraham to show how righteous he

was before God, and that God choose him because of his righteousness. For example the

Midrash on Genesis came to point out ten trials of Abraham all of which he was faithful in. The

lists of these trials vary but ―the sages state clearly that Abraham was tested ten times‖ the

following are the lists according to Rashi and Rambam reproduced from the Stone Edition of the

TANACH.

These ten trials are a testament to the Jewish function of Abraham as the preeminent

righteous man and therefore his life was the primary example for the life of each Israelite. The

Life of Abraham also served as a type of the life of Israel as a nation after him. By his descent

into Egypt in the face of a famine in Canaan he prefigured Israel‘s descent into Egypt in a latter

famine, and their enslavement there.

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The Ten Trials of Abraham12

Rashi Rambam 1 Abraham hid underground for thirteen years from King Nimrod,

who wanted to kill him

Abraham‘s exile from his family and homeland

2 Nimrod flung Abraham into a burning furnace. The hunger in Canaan after God had assured him that he would

become a great nation there.

3 Abraham was commanded to leave his family and homeland. The corruption in Egypt that resulted in the abduction of Sarah.

4 Almost as soon as he arrived in Canaan, he was forced to leave to

escape a famine.

The war with the four kings.

5 Sarah was kidnapped by Pharaoh‘s officials. His marriage to Hagar after having despaired that Sarah would

ever give birth.

6 The kings captured Lot, and Abraham was forced to go to war to

rescue him.

The commandment of circumcision.

7 God told Abraham that his offspring would suffer under four

monarchies.

Abimelech‘s abduction of Sarah.

8 At an advanced age, he was commanded to circumcise himself

and his son.

Driving away Hagar after she had given birth.

9 He was commanded to drive away Ishmael and Hagar. The very distasteful command to drive away Ishmael.

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The binding of Isaac on the altar. The binding of Isaac on the altar.

Jewish Apocalyptic writings also developed further stories to embellish Abraham‘s

righteous virtue further such as the story of how Abraham initially converted to monotheism by

―fleeing to a cave in the desert, he gave himself up to his meditations,‖ finally realizing ―that the

Creator and Regulator of the Universe was the one true God, the only God deserving of

worship.‖13

The Apocalypse of Abraham begins with an embellished story of how Abraham as a

youth saw that the gods which his father fashioned from stone, wood, bronze, and iron were

unable to help themselves and that they would have no shape but that his father Terah had

fashioned them. Then in the seventh chapter of the Apocalypse of Abraham he argues, in his

mind, as a good philosopher with his father showing that all the gods which he worships are not

gods at all but are each inferior and subject to some other god. Then in chapter nine of the

12 Scherman, Rabbi Nosson. TANACH: The Stone Edition (The ArtScroll Series) Brooklyn, New York, Mesorah Publications,

2004, pg 2029. 13 Landman, Isaac. The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia: An Authoritative and Popular Presentation of Jews and Judaism Since

the Earliest Times. New York: Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, 1948, vol 1 pg 36

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Apocalypse of Abraham the author attributes an apocalyptic vision to the righteousness of

Abraham in searching out the one true God.

The book of Jubilees reports that Abraham burned the house of idols in Ur destroying the

idols inside. It also attributes to Abraham the keeping of all of the feasts of later Judaism and as

a result God blesses him ―we eternally blessed him and his seed who are after him in every

generation of the earth because he observed this feast in its (appointed) time according to the

testimony of the heavenly tablets.‖14

Then Jubilees reports that Abraham ―made a feast of first

fruits of the harvest of grain‖ and then ―the LORD appeared to Abram and he said to him, ―I am

God Shaddai. Be pleasing before me and be perfect. And I will make my covenant between me

and you and I will make you increase very much.‖15

Then God proceeds to command

circumcision, in this way the author presents Abraham‘s righteous actions, keeping the Law

before the law was given, as the impetus for God‘s blessing and election of his descendents.

―Abraham‘s greatness is emphasized in other ways as well. It is assumed that he fulfilled all the

613 commandments of the Torah as well as the provisions of the Oral Law.‖16

The Targums also add to the text of Genesis in order to explain why Abram was chosen

by God. Targum pseudo-Jonathan offers a play on the name ֣אּור “Ur” which is very similar to

,light‖ saying― אֹור

It came to pass, when Nimrod cast Abram into the furnace of fire because he

would not worship his idol, and the fire had no power to burn him. Then Haran

was undecided, and he said, “If Nimrod triumphs, I will be on his side: but if

Abram triumphs, I will be on his side.” And when all the people who were there

saw that the fire had no power over Abram, they said to themselves, “Is not

Haran the brother of Abram full of divinations and sorcery? It is he who uttered

charms over the fire so that it would not burn his brother. Immediately fire fell

from the heavens on high and consumed him; and Haran died in the sight of Terah

14 Jubilees 17:28 15 Jubilees 15:3-4 16 Landman, vol 1 pg 36

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his father, being burned in the land of his birth, in the furnace of fire which the

Chaldeans had made for Abram his brother.17

This Targum is attempting to deal with the ambiguity of the call of Abraham explaining

why Abraham was chosen. In the Targam Pseudo-Jonathan to Leviticus we can see the isolation

of the three accounts or reaffirmations of the promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3; 18:18; 22:18).

But (when) in the hour of their need they shall confess their sins, and the sins of

their fathers, with their falseness with which they have acted falsely against My

Word; and that they have acted forwardly also with Me, so that I have

remembered them adversely in the world, and brought them into captivity in the

land of their enemies; behold, then will their proud heart have been broken, and

they will make confession of their sins, and I will remember in mercy the

covenant which I confirmed with Jacob at Bethel, and the covenant which I

covenanted with Isaac at Mount Moriah, and the covenant which I covenanted

with Abraham, between the divided portions, I will remember, and the land of

Israel will I remember in mercy. But the land shall (first) be relinquished and

forsaken you; and enjoy the repose of her remissions all the days that it shall be

deserted by you. And they will receive retribution for their sins: curses instead of

blessings will come upon them, measure for measure: because they shunned the

orders of judgments, and their souls revolted from the covenant of My law.18

Craig A. Evans summarizes the centrality of Abraham in the post-biblical literature:

―Although Moses was greatly respected, if not always obeyed, in my opinion the literature of the

Intertestamental and New Testament periods suggest that Abraham was revered above all

others.‖19

Abraham in the New Testament

The Apostolic writings of the New Testament ignore the Second Temple development of

patriarchal self-righteousness as the basis for their blessing, but it returns to the Old Testament

focus on Abraham as the sacramental element of the promised blessing. Abraham became the

locus of God‘s revelation for the whole world, the revelation of the identity of God, the

17 Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to Genesis 11:28. (italics are added to scripture) 18 Targum Pseudo-Jonathan to Leviticus 26:40-43. 19 Evans, Craig A. Abraham in the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Man of Faith and Failure, [in Flint, Peter W., and Tae Hun Kim. The

Bible at Qumran: Text, Shape, and Interpretation. Studies in the Dead Sea scrolls and related literature. Grand Rapids,

Mich: Eerdmans, 2001, 149.

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revelation of the promised blessing of God, and the revelation of the holy nation the kingdom of

priests.

Matthew opens the New Testament with is ―Pentateuch like‖ genealogy in which he

emphasizes the most significant people and events in the history of Israel, saying ―So all the

generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the

deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ

fourteen generations‖ (Matt. 1:17). But Abraham‘s significance is not due to his own

righteousness, or his being the father of the Israelites as is clear from John the Baptist‘s stern

warning against the Scribes and Pharisees; ―And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‗We have

Abraham as our father,‘ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for

Abraham‖ (Matt. 3:9 cf. Luke 3:8). The Scribes are chastised for not understanding who the

holy nation, the kingdom of priests are, it is not a biological relationship which matters but it is a

baptismal, faith relationship (Gal. 3, Rom. 4).

The New Testament continues the Old Testament functions of Abraham as the locus of

the promised blessing from God (Luke 1:55, 73; Acts 7:8, 17), but now in the New Testament

the promised blessing of the nations is present in the flesh and blood seed of Abraham.

Also continued from the Old Testament is Abraham‘s usage as a means of identifying

God himself as the ―God of Abraham‖ (Matt. 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37; Acts 3:13; 7:32).

Abraham also serves to identify the Israelites in the New Testament as he did to some degree in

the Old Testament (Luke 13:16; 19:9; John 8:33ff; Acts 7:2; 13:26).

The third function finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ and his Body the church in the New

Testament, as he is shown to be the descendent of Abraham in both of the genealogies in

Matthew and Luke. Saint Paul shows in his epistles to the Galatians in chapter 3 and to the

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Romans in chapter 4 & 9, that the church as the body of Christ, the true seed of Abraham, is the

true Israel and the heirs to the promise because they are sons of faithful Abraham, by their

common faith and not by biological descent (cf. the story of Zacchaeus Luke 19:1-10).

As an extension of these three functions carried over from the Hebrew Scriptures,

Abraham becomes associated with the kingdom of God in Matthew and Luke, that is he as the

chosen one of God becomes associated with eternal life and is used by Jesus in this way; ―I tell

you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in

the kingdom of heaven,‖ (Matt. 8:11; cf. Luke 13:28). This is especially apparent in the parable

of the Rich Man and Lazarus where the poor man, Lazarus goes to Abraham‘s bosom after death

(Luke 16:22ff.). In the identification of the kingdom of God through Abraham grows out of the

identification of God himself through Abraham. That these two notions are closely linked is

clear in Jesus‘ use of God‘s self identification through Abraham as proof of the resurrection; And

as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ―‘I am the

God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob‘? He is not God of the dead, but of

the living‖ (Matt. 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37).

In Hebrews chapter 7 the centrality of Abraham is presented as a corporate identity of

Israel focused into one, so that all of Israel gave tithes to Melchizedek, in the same way all men

are freed from death and sin through the God-man, Jesus Christ.

Abraham in Irenaeus

The Gnostics, who were Irenaeus‘ primary opponents, were first and foremost schismatic

in their theology. They were interested in diversity of thought, word and deed. They accepted

diversity in scripture, theology, and in liturgy.20

They also espoused a diversity of gods.

20 Donovan, Mary Ann. One Right Reading?: A Guide to Irenaeus. Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical Press, 1997. Pg 46-48

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Irenaeus and the Church on the other hand held to one God, one Christ, one faith, one story, one

Church, one Salvation, and one Word. The primary force then of his argument is to show that

there is one God, one Christ, one faith, one story from beginning to end. That the God of

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is one and the same God as the Father of Jesus Christ, and the same

God of the orthodox Christian church. The God who called Abraham out of Ur and to Canaan is

the same God whose voice declared ―This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.‖21

―There is one God, Creator of heaven and earth, announced by the law and the prophets; and one

Christ the Son of God.‖22

His primary method of argumentation is therefore to show that the Gnostics have a great

diversity and plurality but the Church has unity, the scriptures have unity, and that God is one.

He begins his refutation of the Gnostics with the doctrine, handed down from Jesus Christ, to the

apostles, to the church. This doctrine is contained in the u`po,qesij, the ―rule of faith.‖

The Church, though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the ends of

the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She

believes] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the

sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who

became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed

through the prophets the dispensations of God, and the advents, and the birth from

a virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension

into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His [future]

manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father ―to gather all things in one,‖

and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that to Christ

Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Saviour, and King, according to the will of the

invisible Father, ―every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth,

and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess‖ to Him, and that

He should execute just judgment towards all; that He may send ―spiritual

wickednesses,‖ and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, together

with the ungodly, and unrighteous, and wicked, and profane among men, into

everlasting fire; but may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the

righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have

21 Matthew 3:17 22Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe, The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol.I : Translations of the Writings of

the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, The Apostolic Fathers With Justin Martyr and Irenaeus. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research

Systems, 1997), 414.

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persevered in His love, some from the beginning [of their Christian course], and

others from [the date of] their repentance, and may surround them with

everlasting glory.23

Based upon this confession of the church and the scriptures, Irenaeus argues against the

Gnostic‘s twisting of the scriptures and their dividing of the scriptures into two gods. They had

invented a schema in which the creator of this world was an inferior being who was unaware of a

greater being but in Jesus this greater being had revealed to men his existence. They had

hijacked the scriptures and twisted them to give support to their invented pleroma. Irenaeus

therefore argues that they have the wrong interpretation of the scriptures because they have

begun with the wrong confession or ―rule of faith.‖

However for Irenaeus‘ argument against the Gnostics his rule of faith can be simplified

even further to deus facit, homo fit, God makes, man is made. This is the fundamental guiding

principle for Irenaeus. Therefore, God‘s creation and redemption are one in the same action of

God, redemption is fundamentally a recreation, a setting right of His initial creation. God does

not just start from scratch though but instead he works through means. He creates through His

Word, and he forms man from the dust of the ground. He destroys by the waters of the flood, but

he also saves all those on the ark by the same water (Gen. 6-9). He builds that same ark through

Noah. God calls Abram that he might bless all the nations through him (Gen. 12:1-3; 18:18;

22:18). As we will see Irenaeus reads Abraham in this sacramental way, as he learned from

Paul, but he also differs from Paul in as much as the false teachers he confronts are different than

those Paul confronted.

In spite of Irenaeus sharing his monotheism and unity of God‘s people with ancient

Jewish writers his treatment of Abraham varies significantly from theirs. While they generally

23Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe, The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol.I : Translations of the Writings of


Systems, 1997), 330.

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focus more on the righteous deeds of Abraham or his virtuous life, Irenaeus looks past the man

Abraham in a way to focus on the two covenants which he embodied. The first covenant when

God chose him from among the Chaldeans so that he might be his God and that he might bless

men through him, and that he might make of him a great multitude. And the second covenant,

that of circumcision and of the Law of Moses.

For Irenaeus it is God who is the primary focus, and so when he speaks of Abraham he is

concerned with the covenantal relationship of God with Abraham. Often Irenaeus uses the title

―the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob‖ to Identify God the father. He

borrows this from the Old Testament but also uses it to distinguish the God of the Old Testament

and father of Jesus Christ from the demiurge which the Gnostics believed was the creator of the

material world but was not the God of The New Testament nor the Father of Christ.

For God needs none of all these things, but is He who, by His Word and Spirit,

makes, and disposes, and governs all things, and commands all things into

existence,—He who formed the world (for the world is of all),—He who

fashioned man,—He [who]279

is the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and

the God of Jacob, above whom there is no other God, nor initial principle, nor

power, nor pleroma,—He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we shall

prove.24

But there is one only God, the Creator—He who is above every Principality, and

Power, and Dominion, and Virtue: He is Father, He is God, He the Founder, He

the Maker, He the Creator, who made those things by Himself, that is, through

His Word and His Wisdom—heaven and earth, and the seas, and all things that

are in them: He is just; He is good; He it is who formed man, who planted

paradise, who made the world, who gave rise to the flood, who saved Noah; He is

the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of the

living: He it is whom the law proclaims, whom the prophets preach, whom Christ

reveals, whom the apostles make known274

to us, and in whom the Church

believes. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: through His Word, who is His

279 This word would perhaps be better cancelled. 24Roberts, Alexander ; Donaldson, James ; Coxe, A. Cleveland: The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol.I : Translations of the Writings of

the Fathers Down to A.D. 325. Oak Harbor : Logos Research Systems, 1997, S. 347 274 ―Tradunt;‖ literally, hand down.

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Son, through Him He is revealed and manifested to all to whom He is revealed;

for those [only] know Him to whom the Son has revealed Him.25

Wherefore I do also call upon thee, LORD God of Abraham, and God of Isaac, and

God of Jacob and Israel, who art the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God

who, through the abundance of Thy mercy, hast had a favour towards us, that we

should know Thee, who hast made heaven and earth, who rulest over all, who art

the only and the true God, above whom there is none other God; grant, by our

Lord Jesus Christ, the governing power of the Holy Spirit; give to every reader of

this book to know Thee, that Thou art God alone, to be strengthened in Thee, and

to avoid every heretical, and godless, and impious doctrine.26

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our

fathers, hath glorified His Son, whom ye delivered up for judgment,169

and denied

in the presence of Pilate, when he wished to let Him go.27

It is clear from these texts that Irenaeus utilizes Abraham to identify the God who The

Christian church workers as the one and same God as the Israelites of old. And so he links the

God of the Christian Church with the Gut of the Patriarchs, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

In contrast to post-biblical Jewish literature, Irenaeus is much more concerned with

God‘s relationship with Abraham than he is with Abraham‘s actions. He utilizes Abraham to

show that the God of the Old Testament is the same God as Christ, ―the Son, who had also been

talking with Abraham.‖28

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.29

25Roberts, Alexander ; Donaldson, James ; Coxe, A. Cleveland: The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol.I : Translations of the Writings of

the Fathers Down to A.D. 325. Oak Harbor : Logos Research Systems, 1997, S. 406 26Roberts, Alexander ; Donaldson, James ; Coxe, A. Cleveland: The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol.I : Translations of the Writings of

the Fathers Down to A.D. 325. Oak Harbor : Logos Research Systems, 1997, S. 419 169 These interpolations are also found in the Codex Bexae. 27Roberts, Alexander ; Donaldson, James ; Coxe, A. Cleveland: The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol.I : Translations of the Writings of

the Fathers Down to A.D. 325. Oak Harbor : Logos Research Systems, 1997, S. 430 28 Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe, The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol.I : Translations of the Writings

of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, The Apostolic Fathers With Justin Martyr and Irenaeus. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research

Systems, 1997), 418. 29Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe, The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol.I : Translations of the Writings of


Systems, 1997), 416.

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He directed them to that God upon whom he believed, and who was truly God;

whom invoking, he exclaimed, ―LORD God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of

Jacob, hear me to-day, and let all this people know that Thou art the God of

Israel.‖ 30

For Irenaeus the focus on Abraham is not on the man himself but is upon his relationship

with God, the central aspect of his usage of Abraham is the covenants which God for his own

sake chose Abraham to be the means through which God‘s Salvation would come to bless the

nations. He does this by identifying God through his covenant relationship with Abraham;

For Matthew the apostle—knowing, as one and the same God, Him who had

given promise to Abraham, that He would make his seed as the stars of heaven,

and Him who, by His Son Christ Jesus, has called us to the knowledge of Himself,

from the worship of stones, so that those who were not a people were made a

people, and she beloved who was not beloved.31

For Irenaeus, Abraham figures predominantly in that in him both the circumcised and the

uncircumcised are united thus showing that there is one God declared in the Old and New

Testaments. But for Irenaeus in Adam‘s sin all men were corrupted and thereby alienated from

God, and became slaves to sin, but in spite of our enmity to God, ―man is actually sought by

God.‖32

Finally Irenaeus follows the Holy Scripture and quite naturally understands those who

trust in Christ as their one and only Savior, to be the sons of Abraham.

The rejoicing of Abraham descending upon those who sprang from him,—those,

namely, who were watching, and who beheld Christ, and believed in Him; while,



Systems, 1997), 419.; 1 Kings 18:36 31Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson and A. Cleveland Coxe, The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol.I : Translations of the Writings of


Systems, 1997), 422. 32 Wingren, Gustaf. Man and the Incarnation: A Study in the Biblical Theology of Irenaeus. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1959,

xiii. He says later on his section on the corruption of man ―Man‘s corruption is therefore both ‗ethical‘ as well as

‗physical‘ in character, involving both sin and death.‖ Also ―In actual fact man‘s rebellion against God does not mean his

independence and freedom, but his bondage to the Lord of rebellion and the father of apostasy – the Devil. There is no

neutrality in the conflict between God and Satan.‖ Wingren 54.

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on the other hand, there was a reciprocal rejoicing which passed backwards from

the children to Abraham, who did also desire to see the day of Christ‘s coming.33

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, and worketh miracles among you, [doeth he it] by the works of the law, or

by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted

unto him for righteousness. Know ye therefore, that they which are of faith, the

same are the children of Abraham. But the Scripture, foreseeing that God would

justify the heathen through faith, announced beforehand unto Abraham, that in

him all nations should be blessed. So then they which be of faith shall be blessed

with faithful Abraham.‖34

Probably one of the clearest evidences in Irenaeus, of our following in the faith of

Abraham is this passage from book four.

Righteously also the apostles, being of the race of Abraham, left the ship and their

father, and followed the Word. Righteously also do we, possessing the same faith

as Abraham, and taking up the cross as Isaac did the wood follow Him. For in

Abraham man had learned beforehand, and had been accustomed to follow the

Word of God. For Abraham, according to his faith, followed the command of the

Word of God, and with a ready mind delivered up, as a sacrifice to God, his only-

begotten and beloved son, in order that God also might be pleased to offer up for

all his seed His own beloved and only-begotten Son, as a sacrifice for our

redemption.35

Conclusion

Abraham was most certainly the central Old Testament figure, Abraham functions as a

type of the true Israel, the Church. In God‘s choosing of Abraham from among the nations, is

the choosing of the Church from among the nations and it parallels God‘s choosing of each man

woman and child from sin, death, and the Devil, through the waters of Baptism. Abraham‘s







Systems, 1997), 467.

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covenant relationship is a type of the relationship that the Church has with YHWH, and each

individual member of the Body of Christ.

Therefore as we read through scripture we read our own story as the sons of Abraham, as

heirs to the promise which God made with Abraham. As a Church we must resist the temptation

to read into Abraham a righteousness other than the ―righteousness of God‖ which was freely

given to him, apart from any works of his own, but counted to him purely by grace. This is the

foundation of our Lutheran theology, but so often we allow a misreading of Abraham into our

Sunday school lessons, and we set up Abraham as a virtuous example for our children and our

sheep. But by allowing the Jewish exemplar reading of Abraham we usher out the heart of

Lutheranism, the doctrine of justification.

Within Judaism Abraham along with the other patriarchs came to be great heroes of faith,

from whom men might learn to ―do‖ the law and thereby earn righteousness. American

Evangelicalism shares this exemplar reading of Abraham and lift him up as the model ―friend of

God‖ who is to be imitated, and so blind sheep flock to devotionals such as the Giants of the Old

Testament series: Lessons on Living From Abraham by Woodrow Kroll, with titles ―The First

Step,‖ Obey All the Way,‖ ―Pledge Your Allegiance.‖ There is little difference between the

Abraham of Judaism of the first century Scribes and Pharisees, and the Abraham of 21st century

American Evangelicalism, or Roman Catholics. But the Abraham of Scripture is much different;

he is a son of Adam, created in the image and likeness of Adam (Gen. 5:3), and not in the image

and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26; 5:1), he is a sinner like all men. Abraham is not a special man

apart from God‘s choosing him and setting him apart from the nations to be the means through

which God would recreate man in his own image and likeness, through the God-Man, Jesus

Christ.

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