together, and once for all, so as to conceive by them, she ought to have brought forth once
for all the offspring of those from whose forms she had once for all conceived.
6. Why was it, too, that, beholding the angels along with the Saviour, she did indeed
conceive their images, but not that of the Saviour, who is far more beautiful than they? Did
He not please her; and did she not, on that account, conceive after His likeness?444 How
was it, too, that the Demiurge, whom they can call an animal being, having, as they maintain,
his own special magnitude and figure, was produced perfect as respects his substance; while
that which is spiritual, which also ought to be more effective than that which is animal, was
sent forth imperfect, and he required to descend into a soul, that in it he might obtain form,
and thus becoming perfect, might be rendered fit for the reception of perfect reason? If,
then, he obtains form in mere earthly and animal men, he can no longer be said to be after
the likeness of angels whom they call lights, but [after the likeness] of those men who are
here below. For he will not possess in that case the likeness and appearance of angels, but
of those souls in whom also he receives shape; just as water when poured into a vessel takes
the form of that vessel, and if on any occasion it happens to congeal in it, it will acquire the
form of the vessel in which it has thus been frozen, since souls themselves possess the figure445
of the body [in which they dwell]; for they themselves have been adapted to the vessel [in
which they exist], as I have said before. If, then, that seed [referred to] is here solidified and
formed into a definite shape, it will possess the figure of a man. and not the form of the angels.
How is it possible, therefore, that that seed should be after images of the angels, seeing it
has obtained a form after the likeness of men? Why, again, since it was of a spiritual nature,
had it any need of descending into flesh? For what is carnal stands in need of that which is
387
spiritual, if indeed it is to be saved, that in it it may be sanctified and cleared from all impur-
ity, and that what is mortal may be swallowed up by immortality;446 but that which is spir-
itual has no need whatever of those things which are here below. For it is not we who benefit
it, but it that improves us.
7. Still more manifestly is that talk of theirs concerning their seed proved to be false,
and that in a way which must be evident to every one, by the fact that they declare those
444 Or, “on beholding Him.”
445 As Massuet here remarks, we may infer from this passage that Irenæus believed souls to be corporeal, as
being possessed of a definite form,—an opinion entertained by not a few of the ancients. [And, before we censure
them, let us reflect whether their perceptions of “the carnal mind” as differing from the spirit of a man, may not
account for it. 1 Thess. v. 23.]
446 Comp. 1 Cor. xv. 44; 2 Cor. v. 4. [As a Catholic I cannot accept everything contained in the Biblical Psy-
chology of Dr. Delitzsch, but may I entreat the reader who has not studied it to do so before dismissing the ideas
of Irenæus on such topics. A translation has been provided for English readers, by the Messrs. T. & T. Clark of
Edinburgh, 1867.]
997
Chapter XIX.—Absurdities of the heretics as to their own origin: their opinions…