Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 2.21.3:
3. These individuals are truly
exposed also by this standard as total strangers to the divine nature and the
goodness of God, and the spiritual excellence; namely, by the fact that among
them error and deception and magical, illusory visions wickedly take place in
full view of people; whereas in the church sympathy and mercy and assurance and
truth for aiding people are performed not only without reward and gratis, but
we ourselves give away our own goods for the health of the people; and since
those who are cured very often are in need of things, they receive them from
us. These [Gnostics], inasmuch as they are filled completely with all
deceitfulness and rebellious inspiration and demoniacal energy and illusory
vision of idolatry, are indeed the precursors of the dragon that, because of
such an illusory vision, will with its tail make a third of the stars rebel and
hurl them to the earth. These, as well as he, must be avoided; and the greater
the illusory vision by which they are said to operate, the more carefully must
they be watched, inasmuch as they have received the greater spirit of
wickedness. And for that reason, if anyone takes note of the daily activity in
their conduct, he will find that it is the very same as the conduct of the
demons. (St. Irenaeus of Lyons: Against Heresies, Book 2
[trans. Dominic J. Unger; Ancient Christian Writers 65; Mahwah, N.J.: The New
Man Press, 2012], 102-3)
Hippolytus of Rome, Treatise on Christ and Antichrist,
60-61:
60. Now, concerning the
tribulation of the persecution which is to fall upon the Church from the
adversary, John also speaks thus: “And I saw a great and wondrous sign in
heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her
head a crown of twelve stars. And she, being with child, cries, travailing in
birth, and pained to be delivered. And the dragon stood before the woman which
was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And
she brought forth a man-child, who is to rule all the nations: and the child
was caught up unto God and to His throne. And the woman fled into the
wilderness, where she hath the place prepared of God, that they should feed her
there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And then when the dragon saw it, he persecuted the woman which
brought forth the man-child. And to
the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the
wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from
the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast (out of his mouth water as a
flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
And the earth helped the woman, and opened her mouth, and swallowed up the
flood which the dragon cast) out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with
the woman, and went to make war with the saints of her seed, which keep the
commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.”
61. By the “woman then clothed
with the sun,” he meant most manifestly the Church, endued with the Father’s
word, whose brightness is above the sun. And by “the moon under her feet” he
referred to her being adorned, like the moon, with heavenly glory. And the
words, “upon her head a crown of twelve stars,” refer to the twelve apostles by
whom the Church was founded. And those, “she, being with child, cries,
travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered,” mean that the Church will not
cease to bear from her heart6 the Word that is persecuted by the
unbelieving in the world. “And she brought forth,” he says, “a man-child, who
is to rule all the nations;” by which is meant that the Church, always bringing
forth Christ, the perfect man-child of God, who is declared to be God and man,
becomes the instructor of all the nations. And the words, “her child was caught
up unto God and to His throne,” signify that he who is always born of her is a
heavenly king, and not an earthly; even as David also declared of old when he
said, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make
Thine enemies Thy footstool.” “And the dragon,” he says, “saw and persecuted
the woman which brought forth the man-child.
And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly
into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a
time, from the face of the serpent.” That refers to the one thousand two
hundred and threescore days (the half of the week) during which the tyrant is
to reign and persecute the Church, which flees from city to city, and seeks
conceal-meat in the wilderness among the mountains, possessed of no other
defence than the two wings of the great eagle, that is to say, the faith of
Jesus Christ, who, in stretching forth His holy hands on the holy tree,
unfolded two wings, the right and the left, and called to Him all who believed
upon Him, and covered them as a hen her chickens. For by the mouth of Malachi
also He speaks thus: “And unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of
righteousness arise with healing in His wings.” (ANF 5:217)
