In my previous post, I discussed C. Michael Patton's (actually, Keith Mathison's) eisegesis-driven abuse of Hippolytus and Cyril of Jerusalem to support the historicity of sola scriptura. In this post, I will discuss Patton's egregious claim Irenaeus of Lyons held to sola scriptura.
Patton (via Mathison) quotes Irenaeus thusly:
“They [heretics] gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures. 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 they [the Apostles] were desirous that these men should be very perfect and blameless in all things, whom also they were leaving behind as their successors, delivering up their own place of government to these men; which men, if they discharged their functions honestly, would be a great boon to the Church, but if they should fall away, the direst calamity. Proofs of the things which are contained in the Scriptures cannot be shown except from the Scriptures themselves.” (Against Heresies, 1:8:1, 3:1:1, 3:3:1, 3:12:9)
Firstly, one should notice what Patton conveniently leaves out. As one commentator ("Basilio") notes, when one examines the entirety of the texts referenced by Patton, it refutes, not supports, his egregious assertion Irenaeus held to sola scriptura; I will reproduce Bailio's comments in full:
Went through Irenaeus as quoted by the blog. I found that the blogger concatenated four verses (Against Heresies, 1:8:1, 3:1:1, 3:3:1, 3:12:9) into 2 continuous paragraphs – without showing in-between chapters and verses. In effect he made it look like Irenaeus was teaching sola scriptura when in actuality he wasn’t.
1:8:1 for example was not about using scriptures alone – it was about ‘How the Valentinians Pervert the Scriptures to Support Their Own Pious Opinions’.
3:1:1 wa not about using scriptures alone – it was about how ‘The Apostles Did Not Commence to Preach the Gospel, or to Place Anything on Record, Until They Were Endowed with the Gifts and Power of the Holy Spirit. They Preached One God Alone, Maker of Heaven and Earth’.
In fact the next chapter was about how ‘The Heretics Follow Neither Scripture Nor Tradition’.
3:3:1 actually spoke about tradition: “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”
3:12:9 Actually did not start with
“Proofs of the things which are contained in the Scriptures…”
but rather
“But while I bring out by these proofs the truths of Scripture, and set forth briefly and compendiously things which are stated in various ways, do thou also attend to them with patience, and not deem them prolix; taking this into account, that proofs [of the things which are] contained in the Scriptures cannot be shown except from the Scriptures themselves.”
It pertains to those contained only in scripture – it did not pertain to everything (inculding traditions that Irenaeus spoke of repreatedly).
I encourage everyone to scrutinize what is written in the blog by going through the actual writings of the early Christians. You will find that the blog is actually contrary to what the early Christians wrote.
In addition to this rather devastating revelation of Patton's abuse of Irenaeus (again, one has to wonder if he has actually read the writings of the early Church Fathers as opposed to relying on cutting-and-pasting from Mathison [and perhaps William Webster/David King]?), when one actually reads Irenaeus, we find that he privileged oral tradition and held to an authoritative teaching of the Church which would be beyond what Patton, a Protestant, would hold to:
Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the Churches, we do put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion, 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 more 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. For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its preeminent authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolic tradition has been preserved continuously by those [faithful men] who exist everywhere. (Against Heresies, 3.2.2)
Notice that Irenaeus mentions that ". . . it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions of al the Churches . . ." What he means by the phrase, "succession of all the Churches" is explained later in the paragraph by the words "that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organised at Rome by the two more 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 . . ." In other words, the "tradition" is identified by that which is presently held by the "successions of bishops." Thus, the "successions of all the Churches" and the "successions of bishops" are the same. It is within this "succession" that Irenaeus says it would be "very tedious" to "reckon up" (or catalogue) what was contained in that "succession."
Evidently, Irenaeus understood that there was a body of tradition contained in the "succession" which was voluminous. It was so voluminous that it would have been "very tedious" to uncover it all. This volume of knowledge cannot refer merely to Scripture, for that was never considered "very tedious" in discovering or collating. It could only refer to unwritten teachings outside of the Bible.
Contra Mathison and other Protestants who claim the early Christian use of "tradition" simply referred to the correct interpretation of Scripture, Irenaeus never understood such tradition as merely the interpreter of Scripture; instead, such tradition has an authority all its own. We can verify his understanding of tradition by noting the issue which is at stake in the above paragraph. The issue concerns those who "assemble in unauthorised meetings." Apparently, there were those in Irenaeus' day who thought that they could abstain from the established places of meeting set up by the Church. It is equally apparent that these men were also making decisions for the Church that were not sanctioned by either Irenaeus or the other Fathers
In speaking against their unauthorised meetings, Irenaeus appeals to ". . . the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organised at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul" as that which is the established authority and place of meeting.
It is obvious by a perusal of the Bible that Irenaeus cannot be referring to Scripture, since nowhere does the Old or New Testaments mention the Church at Rome as being the one and only established authority or place of meeting. Irenaeus is acquiring this "tradition . . . very great . . . and very ancient" from sources external to the Bible, as it has been passed down by Peter and Paul and to the "successions of bishops." moreover, this "tradition" which Irenaeus appeals to is not a mere matter of the correct interpretation of the Bible, since the Bible offers no instance where Rome and its authority is a matter of interpretation.
Another passage from Against Heresies further refutes the utterly fallacious claim Irenaeus held to sola scriptura:
On this account we are bound to avoid them, but to make choice of the thing pertaining to the Church with the utmost diligence, and to lay hold of the tradition of the truth. For how stands the case? 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? (3.4.1)
As we have seen previously with Hippolytus and Cyril of Jerusalem, Irenaeus of Lyons most certainly did not hold to the Protestant doctrine of sola scriptura.