Spirit and Prophecy

Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 5.6

Irenaeus of Lyons · c. 130–c. 202 AD

God indeed fashions within his own formation, and what follows is adapted to his child. For through the hands of the Father — that is, through the Son and the Spirit — the human person is made according to the likeness of God, yet not as a mere part. The soul and the spirit can be parts of a human being, but the human being is not a part; the perfect human is a blending and union of the soul that takes on the Spirit of the Father and is interwoven with the flesh, which is formed according to the image. That is why the Apostle also says: 'We speak wisdom among the perfect' — calling perfect those who have received the Spirit of God and speak in tongues through the Spirit of God, just as we have heard many brothers speaking in the Church, possessing prophetic gifts, speaking in every language through the Spirit, bringing the hidden things of people into the light for their benefit, and declaring the mysteries of God. The Apostle calls these people 'spiritual' (1 Corinthians 12–14). They exist as spiritual by participation in the Spirit, not by deprivation or interception of the flesh, and not by that alone.

For if someone takes away the substance of the flesh — that is, the formation — and understands only the spirit, he is no longer a spiritual human being but merely the spirit of a human, or the Spirit of God. But when the spirit, blended with the soul, is united to the formation, then, by the outpouring of the Spirit, the perfect human is made; and this is the one who is made according to the image and likeness of God. But if the Spirit is lacking to the soul, that person is truly animal — such a one is carnal, abandoned, imperfect, possessing the image indeed in the formation, yet not taking on the likeness through the Spirit; just as this one is imperfect. So again, if someone removes the image and despises the formation, he can no longer understand the human being, but only some part of a human, as we said before, or something else besides a human. For the formation of the flesh itself, by itself, is not the perfect human; it is the body of a human, and a part. Nor is the soul itself, by itself, the human; it is the soul of a human, and a part. Nor is the Spirit the human; he is called Spirit, not human. But the blending and union of all these things makes the perfect human.

And because of this, the Apostle, explaining himself, set forth the perfect and spiritual human of salvation, saying in the first letter to the Thessalonians: 'May the God of peace sanctify you completely, and may your spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Thessalonians 5:23). And what cause did he have to pray for the integrity and perfection of these three — soul, body, and spirit — except that he knew the salvation of the three, their reunification, to be one and the same? That is why he also says that those are perfect who present these three blameless to the Lord. Therefore, the perfect are those who have the Spirit of God persevering in them, and who have kept their souls and bodies blameless, preserving the faith toward God and keeping the justice toward the neighbor.

And from this he also says that the temple of God is the formation: 'Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple' (1 Corinthians 3:16–17) — clearly calling the body the temple in which the Spirit dwells. Just as the Lord also said of himself: 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up' — but he spoke of the temple of his body. And not only is it a temple, but also the temple of Christ, as he says to the Corinthians: 'Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?' (1 Corinthians 6:15). He is not saying this about some other spiritual man; for that one does not embrace a prostitute. But our body — that is, the flesh which perseveres in holiness and purity — he said are members of Christ; when, however, it embraces a prostitute, the members become those of a prostitute. And because of this he said: 'If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him.' Therefore, to say that the temple of God, in which the Spirit of the Father dwells, and the members of Christ, do not share in salvation but are led to perdition — is that not the utmost blasphemy? For since our bodies are raised not from their own substance but from the power of God, he says to the Corinthians: 'The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power' (1 Corinthians 6:13–14).

Latin

GuoriricaprrurR autem Deus in suo plasmate, et consequens suo puero adaptans. Per manus enim ? Patris, id est, per Filium et Spiritum fit homo secundum similitudinem Dei, sed non pars hominis. Anima autem et spiritus pars hominis esse possunt, homo autem nequaquam: perfectus autem homo commixtio et adunitio est anime: assumentis spiritum Patris, et admixta ei carni, quee est plasmata secundum imaginem Propter quod et Apostolus ait: Sapientiam loquimur inter perfectos; perfectos dicens eos qui perceperunt Spiritum Dei, et Somnibus linguis loquuntur per Spiritum Dei, quemadmodum et Quemadmodum et multos audivimus fratres in ipse loquebatur. Ecclesia, prophetica habentes charismata, et per Spiritum universis linguis loquentes, et absconsa hominum in manifestum producentes ad utilitatem, et mysteria Dei enarrantes, quos et spiritales” Apostolus vocat; secundum participationem Spiritus exsistentes spiritales, sed non secundum defraudationem et interceptionem carnis, et nude hoc ipsum solum. Si enim substantiam tollat aliquis carnis, id est plasmatis, et nude ipsum solum spiritum intelligat, jam non spiritalis homo est quod est tale, sed spiritus hominis, aut Spiritus Dei. Cum autem spiritus hic commixtus anime unitur plasmati, propter effusionem Spiritus spiritalis et perfectus homo factus est : et hic est qui secundum imaginem et similitudinem factus est Dei. Si autem defuerit anime Spiritus, animalis est vere, qui est talis, et carnalis derelictus imperfectus imaginem quidem habens in plasmate, similitudinem vero non assumens per Spiritum; sicut autem hic imperfectus est. Sic iterum si quis tollat imaginem, et spernat plasma, jam non hominem intelligere potest, sed aut partem aliquam hominis, quemadmodum preediximus, vel aliud aliquid preter hominem. Neque enim plasmatio carnis ipsa secundum se homo perfectus est ; sed corpus hominis, et pars hominis. Neque enim et anima ipsa secundum se homo; sed anima hominis, et pars hominis. Neque Spiritus homo: spiritus enim, et non homo vocatur. Commixtio autem et unitio horum omnium perfectum hominem efficit. Et propter hoc Apostolus seipsum exponens, explanavit perfectum et spiritalem salutis hominem, in prima epistola ad Thessalonicenses dicens sic: Deus autem pacis sanctificet vos perfectos, et integer vester spiritus, et anima, et corpus sine querela in adventum Domini Jesu Christi servetur. Et quam utique causam habebat his tribus, id est anime et corpori et spiritui, integram et perfectam © perseverationem precari in adventum Domini, nisi redintegrationem et adunitionem trium, et unam et eandem ipsorum sciebat salutem? Propter quod et perfectos ait eos, qui tria sine querela exhibent Domino. Perfecti igitur, qui et Spiritum in se perseverantem habuerint Dei, et animas et corpora sine querela servaverint, 4 Dei, id est, illam quee ad Deum est, fidem servantes, et eam qui ad proximum est ®justitiam custodientes. 2. Unde et templum Dei plasma esse ait: JVescitis, dicens, quoniam templum Dei estis, et Spiritus Dei habitat in vobis? Si quis templum Dei violaverit, disperdet illum Deus. Templum enim Dei sanctum est, quod estis vos; manifeste templum corpus dicens in quo habitat Spiritus. Quemadmodum et Dominus de se ait : hoc templum, et in tribus diebus suscitabo illud. Hoc autem, inquit, dicebat de corpare suo. Et non tantum templum, sed et templum Christi scit corpora nostra, Corinthiis dicens sic: Nescitis quoniam corpora vestra membra Christi sunt? Tollens ergo membra Christi, faciam membra meretricis? Non de alio homine spiritali dicens hee; non enim ille complectitur meretricem; sed corpus nostrum, id est, caro quae cum sanctimonia perseverat et munditia, membra dixit esse Christi; quando autem complectitur meretricem, membra fieri meretricis. Et propter hoe dixit: Si quis templum Dei violaverit, disperdet illum Templum igitur Dei, in quo spiritus inhabitat Patris, etmembra Christi non participare salutem, sed in perditionem redigi dicere, quomodo non maxime est blasphemize? Quoniam autem corpora nostra, non ex sua substantia, sed ex Dei virtute suscitantur, Corinthiis dicit: Corpus autem non fornicationi, sed et Dominus corpori. Deus autem ' et Dominum suscitavit, et nos suscitabit per virtutem suam.

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