Did Irenaeus Have A Nicene View of the Trinity?

The question is anachronistic, but Irenaeus makes four key judgments about God and Christ that both Nicaea and the New Testament do. In this narrow sense, Irenaeus has a Nicene view of the Trinity.

Irenaeus of Lyon (c. 130–202) lived and wrote in the 100s. He learned at the feet of Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 69–155), who knew John and other apostles (AH 3.3; EH 5.20). Given his time and context, it would seem inappropriate to ask if Irenaeus had a Nicene view of the Trinity, since the Council of Nicaea occurred in 325.

But the reason why the question is worth asking is because of a common misunderstanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. It goes like this. Nicaea uses Greek philosophical concepts to explain the Trinity, which were unavailable to the apostles and Christians of the 100s. And thus: the Nicene Dogma is unbiblical and overly philosophical.

Scholars may point out that Origen of Alexandria and Justin Martyr speak of "two Gods" when referring to God and Christ. They also speak of Christ as Word and Image frequently. And so these conceptual frameworks differ from Nicaea's homoousia and possibly even of the Bible itself.

In my view, such an argument is too simplistic and does not perfectly fit the evidence. Christians in the 100s, 200s, and 300s indeed had access to different concepts because of their time and place. Yet when we look at the judgments they render about God and Christ, we often find that they aim to affirm and deny the same things across the eras.

They all seek to affirm that God and Christ have the closest possible relation by using the concepts available to them, that God and Christ are eternal, and that their relation to one another whether as Father and Son, Speaker and Word, God and Image pertains to an intrinsic relation within the life of God.

Irenaeus is not different. As he seeks to articulate the rule of faith, the canon of truth, that centers on the Father, Son, and Spirit, he speaks of God and Christ by using the concepts available to him to repeat the same judgments Scripture makes about God and Christ.

Judgment 1: God the Creator is always with his Word

"There is one only God, the creator—who is above every principality and power and dominion and virtue. He is Father, he is God, the founder, the maker, the creator who made those things by himself (that is, through his Word and his Wisdom)—heaven and earth, the seas, and everything in them. He is just; he is good; he it was who formed humanity, who planted paradise, who made the world, who sent the flood, who saved Noah. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of the living [Mark 12:26, 27]. He it is whom the law proclaims, whom the prophets preach, whom Christ reveals, whom the apostles make known to us, and in whom the Church believes. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through his Word, who is his Son, he is revealed and manifested to all to whom he is revealed—for only those know him to whom the Son has revealed him. But the Son, eternally co-existing with the Father from of old, indeed, from the beginning, always reveals the Father to angels, archangels, powers, virtues, and all those to whom he wills that God should be revealed." (Against Heresies 2.30.9)

Notice that God creates "by himself" which Irenaeus identifies as Word and Wisdom. He then identifies Christ as God's Wisdom who has been "eternally co-existing with the Father from of old, indeed, from the beginning."

Irenaeus thus affirms:

• The one God, who is creator.

• That God created through his Word which is "himself" yet distinguishable by a relation of the Word being His.

• That the Son is God's Word who eternally co-exists with the Father.

This sounds similar to the judgments made in places like John 1, 1 Corinthians 8, and Hebrews 1. For example, 1 Corinthians 8:4–6 says:

"we know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no God but one." For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist."

Here, Paul affirms that "there is no God but one" alluding to Deuteronomy 6:4. Then Paul speaks about God and Christ, who created all things. From God the Father and through Christ the Lord, we exist. Thus, both are included in the definition of the Lord God—"The Lord our God, the Lord is one"—yet are distinguishable by their names (Father God and Jesus Christ the Lord) and taxis (from = Father God, through = Lord Jesus Christ).

It also implies that if God created through Christ, then Christ was always with God. John 1:1 makes this point more clearly by saying, "In the beginning was the Word." In any case, one can see a nearly identical set of judgments about God in Christ in places like Hebrews 1, John 1, and Colossians 1.

Judgment 2: The Word is on the side of Creator, not creation

Irenaeus places the Word of God on the side of creator, naming him Lord. While he usually reserves the title God for the Father (as Scripture generally does), Irenaeus nevertheless identifies the Word of God as the creator, the one God of Israel, along with the Father:

"The creator of the world is truly the Word of God. This is our Lord, who in the last times was made human. Existing now in this world unseen, he contains all things created and is immanent throughout the entire creation, for the Word of God governs and arranges all things. He came to his own in a visible manner, was made flesh, and hung upon the tree, so that he might recapitulate all things in himself" (Against Heresies 5.18.3).

Irenaeus further sees the Word and Wisdom (Christ and Spirit) as standing in a unique relation to the Father in ways completely different than the angels or humanity. He says:

"It was not angels who made or formed us; neither angels nor anything else had the power to make an image of God, except the Word of the Lord. God did not need their assistance to do what he had already determined to do, as if he needed hands. With him the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, were always present, by whom and in whom he freely and spontaneously made all things—to whom he said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness' [Gen 1:26]." (Against Heresies 4.20.1)

Irenaeus says much the same as he did above. The Son and the Spirit were "always present" with God. By the Word and in the Spirit, God created all things. The use of prepositions and names to distinguish the three follows Paul's pattern of distinction as noted above in 1 Corinthians 8:4–6. It was not the angels, Irenaeus claims, that God said "Let us make humankind in our image" but to his Word and Wisdom.

By distinguishing the Word and Wisdom, Son and Spirit, from created angels or humans, Irenaeus places the Son and Spirit on the side of the Creator, not the creature. This maps onto John 1:3 and 10 in which God creates through his Word. Or Hebrews 1:3, which speaks of the Son, "through whom also he created the world." Or Colossians 1:16, which calls the Son the Image of the invisible God and notes: "For by him all things were created" (Col 1:16).

Judgment 3: The Word as Son and God as Father name an intrinsic relation in the life of God

In his On the Apostolic Preaching, Irenaeus points to an intrinsic relation in God, of being Father and Son, that occurs because "He who is born of God is God." In full context, Irenaeus writes:

[47] Therefore, the Father is Lord and the Son is Lord, and the Father is God and the Son is God, since He who is born of God is God, and in this way, according to His being (ὑπόστασις) and power <and> essence (οὐσία), one God is demonstrated; but according to the <economy> (οἰκονομία) of our salvation, there is both Father and Son; since for all invisible and inaccessible to creatures, it is necessary for those who are going to approach God to have access (προσαγωγῇ) to the Father through the Son.

While later Greek language would use the word "being" or ὑπόστασις as the answer to what is three, at this point in time it still refers to what is one of God. Irenaeus, nevertheless, uses the names and their relations to describe what is two in God (Father, Son) and also to explain why in the economy of salvation, we know God as Father and Son.

But the main point that I want to highlight is Irenaeus's judgment that "He who is born of God is God."

That he is born (i.e., begotten) of God means that he is God himself. And he is God not in a relative way as some are called gods in Scripture, Irenaeus notes (he has in mind passages like Psalm 82 and various places in the prophets). Irenaeus explains:

"For we have demonstrated from the Scriptures that none of Adam's sons is in view of himself absolutely called God or named Lord. On the other hand, that He [Christ] is God in a more proper sense than all people who then existed, and is proclaimed as Lord and eternal King, Only-begotten Son and incarnate Word, by all the prophets and apostles, and by the Spirit Himself, can be seen by everyone who has attained to even a modicum of the truth. Now the Scriptures would not have testified these things of Him if, like all others, He were a mere man" (Against Heresies 3.19.2).

What makes Christ God is "the generation from the most high Father" (Against Heresies 3.19.2). Importantly, however, Christ has two generations: one from God the Father and from Mary his mother. Hence, "So this Son of God, our Lord, was both the Word of the Father and the Son of Man" (Against Heresies 3.19.3). This dual generation will matter for the last judgment of Irenaeus that I highlight.

It is vital to know that in this context, Irenaeus affirms that there is one God and no other, and one Lord (Against Heresies 3.6.1). And yet: "Since the Father is truly Lord and the Son truly Lord, the Holy Spirit has fitly designated them by the title of Lord" (Against Heresies 3.6.1).

In summary, Irenaeus judges that:

• The Father and Son have a natural relation of being Father and Son—the Son being born of Father yet eternal and co-existent with him.

• This relation demonstrates that the Son is uniquely God, not in qualified ways such as in Psalm 82 or when the Bible talks about false gods.

Judgment 4: The Word of God makes the invisible God known

"The Son of the Father makes him known from the beginning, since he was with the Father from the beginning… The glory of God is a human being fully alive, and the life of a human being consists in beholding God" (Against Heresies 4.20.7)

Because the Son, as the Word of God, is eternally with the Father, from the beginning, he can uniquely make God known. As John 1:18 says (a passage Irenaeus knows well), "No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known."

Put another way, the reason for the Incarnation of the Logos was so that humans could finally see God. Speaking of the Word become flesh, Irenaeus says, "The glory of God is a human being fully alive, and the life of a human being consists in beholding God."

Expanding on the notion of seeing God in Christ Jesus, Irenaeus writes:

"The Word spoke to Moses, appearing before him just as any one might speak to his friend [Num 12:8]. But Moses desired to see openly the one who was speaking with him, and God said to him, 'You cannot see my face; for no one shall see me and live… See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen' [Exod 33:20–24]. This shows us two truths: it is impossible for a human being to see God, but in the wisdom of God, human beings would see him in the last times, in the depth of a rock—that is, in his coming as a man. That is why the Lord conferred with Moses face to face on the top of a mountain, with Elijah also present, as the gospel relates [Matt 17:3]; in the last days, he thus made good the ancient promise." (4:20.9)

For Irenaeus, the Word pre-existed and is the God whom Moses spoke with. But as the narrative shows, Moses both sought the face of God and yet could not see it directly. And for this reason, the Word became flesh so humans might see God and "in his coming as a man," God "thus made good the ancient promise."

It might be worth saying that this seeing of God involves the gift of glory, immortality, salvation, and much more besides. Speaking of the Word made flesh, Irenaeus says:

"This was so that all things might behold their king, as I have already urged, and that the paternal light might meet with and rest upon the flesh of our Lord. From his resplendent flesh it would come to us, so that humanity might attain immortality, having been invested with the paternal light." (4:20.2)

The Nicene Creed

Irenaeus makes similar judgments to both Nicaea and Scripture about God and Christ. He affirms that God and Christ were always together, both the Creator, relationally intrinsic to the life of God (as Father and Son), and that the Word makes God visible for our salvation.

Judgments

Irenaeus makes similar judgments to both Nicaea and Scripture about God and Christ. He affirms that God and Christ were always together, both the Creator, relationally intrinsic to the life of God (as Father and Son), and that the Word makes God visible for our salvation.

Charted out, it might look like this:

Let me show you the relevant lines in the Nicene Creed (381):

"We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father; through Him all things were made. For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man."

In the Creed, God the Father creates through the Son of God. The way in which the Son is seen to be God from God is precisely because he was "begotten of the Father before all ages" (i.e., eternal). The word "one substance" (homousia) simply stands in for this doctrine—that the Son is God from God because he was begotten of the Father before the ages. Thus, intrinsic to God's life is being Father and Son. And lastly, For us and for our salvation, God the Word became flesh.

These judgments flow from a similar set of texts that Irenaeus used, and they make similar judgments about these texts. In both cases, they cite the language of the apostles, making certain positive and negative judgments while using concepts available to them in their respective time and place.

Nicaea judges the Son as eternal because he is begotten, not made. Irenaeus likewise makes the same judgment. The Son was always with the Father as Son. Both get this from texts like John 1, Hebrews 1, Colossians 1, 1 Corinthians 8 and many other passages.

When it comes to God and Christ, theologians have different emphases (Logos theology, Image Christology, homousia, etc.), but they can have the same judgments about God and Christ despite using different conceptual language.

Granted, it can work in opposite ways. Arius called Jesus God, but then judged that the Son was God by being the first product of the Father and according to will alone. So he used Nicene conceptual language (Christ was God), but his judgments about God and Christ from Scripture did not affirm what Scripture and eventually Nicaea would affirm.

Also, Irenaeus may make all sorts of judgments about various things that could be incorrect or out of sync with Scripture and later theology. This article merely pointed to four judgments of his that correspond to the main pattern of theological affirmation about God and Christ as found in Scripture, the rule of faith, and that rule’s formal presentation in the Nicene Creed.

So yes, Irenaeus did have a Nicene view of the Trinity because Nicaea had a Scriptural view of the Trinity.