Monday, March 20, 2023

Irenaeus on the Perspicuity of Scripture

  

St. Irenaeus

 

Protestants also cite St. Irenaeus of Lyons (ca. 120-200) as a defender of perspicuity. In his Against Heresies, he wrote:

 

All Scripture, which has been given to us by God, shall be found by us perfectly consistent; and the parables shall harmonize with those passages which are perfectly plain; and those statements the meaning of which is clear, shall serve to explain the parables; and through the many diversified utterances [of Scripture] there shall be heard one harmonious melody in us, praising in hymns that God who created all things. (Against Heresies, 2.28.3)

 

Elsewhere in the same document Irenaeus declares: “The entire Scriptures, the prophets, and the Gospels, can be clearly, unambiguously, and harmoniously, understood by all.” (Against Heresies, 2.27.2) In these passages Irenaeus certainly employed much of the same language as Protestant defenders of perspicuity: “perfectly plain,” “clearly, unambiguously, and harmoniously, understood by all.2 However, this must be squared with Irenaeus’s high view of Church authority.

 

For example, elsewhere in the very same book, Irenaeus appealed to those who were “instituted bishops by the Apostles, and their successors to our own times” as guardians of the apostolic Tradition. (Against Heresies, 3.3.1) Later, he calls the Church the “entrance to life,” and that when a “dispute relative to some important question [arises] among us,” it is appropriate to consult one of the “ancient churches” with apostolic origins who “follow the course of the Tradition” provided by the Apostles. (Against Heresies, 3.4.1) Presumably the disputes he was referring to are those that might arise precisely over the interpretation of Scripture.

 

Furthermore, in Against Heresies he also claimed that in manners of doctrinal dispute, “all churches must agree” with the church in Rome, because of its “superior origins” and its preservation of the “Apostolic tradition.” (Against Heresies, 3.3.2) And again, Christians should “obey those who are the presbyters in the Church, those who, as we have shown, have succession from the Apostles.” (Against Heresies, 4.26.2) Christians should obey not only the presbyters, said Irenaeus, but the bishops in succession from the Apostles, who guard the Scriptures against “falsification” and have a “legitimate and diligent exposition according to the Scriptures, without danger and without blasphemy.” (Against Heresies, 4.33.8) Another quotation from Against Heresies is relevant in quoting in full for what it demonstrates about Irenaeus’ understanding of authority as it relates to scriptural interpretation:

 

Where, therefore, the gifts of the Lord have been placed, there it behooves 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. For these also preserve this faith of ours in one God who created all things; and they increase that love [which we have] for the Son of God, who accomplished such marvelous dispensations for our sake: and they expound the Scriptures to us without dangers, neither blaspheming God, nor dishonoring the patriarchs, not despising the prophets. (Against Heresies, 4.26.5)

 

In sum, Irenaeus in this great ancient text believed that scriptural interpretation cannot be done apart from the guidance of those bearing apostolic authority, namely, the episcopacy. (Casey J. Chalk, The Obscurity of Scripture: Disputing Sola Scriptura and the Protestant Notion of Biblical Perspicuity [Steubenville, Ohio: Emmaus Road Publishing, 2023], 199-201)

 

Separately, in Letter to Florinus, Irenaeus made a strong affirmation of ecclesial interpretive authority and the authoritative role of Tradition, He argued there that certain doctrines are wrong because they were “not in accord with the Church,” and “not handed down to you by the presbyters who came before us.” (5.20.4, in Jurgens, Faith of the Early Fathers, 1:106) In sum, these quotations indicate that Irenaeus understood scriptural interpretation as something that must be guided by holy Tradition and under the supervision of divinely instituted ecclesial authorities. (Ibid., 201)

 

Further Reading:

 

Not By Scripture Alone: A Latter-day Saint Refutation of Sola Scriptura