August: Day 23: Teaching 2: Holy Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons

August: Day 23: Teaching 2:
Holy Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons
 
(There Is No Salvation Outside the Church)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Hieromartyr Irenaeus, a native of Smyrna, received his higher education in pagan schools, but when he heard the teaching of Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, he became his disciple, received Holy Baptism from him and was sent by him to preach in Gaul, where at that time Bishop Pothinus of Lyons, who was also a disciple of Saint Polycarp, was already preaching.

Irenaeus, ordained a priest by Bishop Pothinus, was his zealous assistant in spreading the Christian faith in Gaul, where until that time little was known about the successes of the evangelical preaching. Irenaeus and Pothinus laid the foundations of churches in the cities of Lyons and Vienne. Thus, these churches were firmly established by them, that they did not waver even during the cruel persecution from the pagans, who rose up with fury in defense of their gods; and this persecution was terrible, especially in the year 177, when it was expressed in a whole series of interrogations, tortures and executions. At this time, Bishop Pothinus of Lyons himself died a martyr along with many of his flock.

When this persecution, in the midst of which God had preserved Irenaeus, had somewhat abated, the Christians of Lyons chose Irenaeus as successor to the Holy Bishop Pothinus (in the year 178). And he fulfilled his episcopal service with zeal. "In a short time he transformed the whole city into a Christian city by preaching." He persecuted heretics with both oral and written denunciations. Irenaeus insisted most of all on turning to simple faith in the word of God and to the leadership of the Church. "A healthy mind, walking the safe path," he says, "is concerned only with what God has given to man and subjected to our knowledge; and this is what is before our eyes, what is openly and clearly expressed in the Holy Scriptures. It is better to be ignorant and draw near to the Lord through love, than to be knowledgeable and at the same time an enemy of God."

Rebelling against the speculations of heretics, Irenaeus sees only one salvation in the leadership of the Church: “The Church,” he says, “is scattered throughout the universe, but keeps the faith as if it occupied one house. It believes equally, as if it had one heart, one soul; it preaches unanimously, as if it had one mouth. As the sun, God’s creation is one and the same throughout the world, so the same preached faith shines everywhere, enlightens everyone, leading to the knowledge of the truth.” In another place, Saint Irenaeus writes: “One should not seek truth from others, which is easily borrowed from the Church; for in it, as in a rich treasury, the Apostles have placed in full everything that belongs to the truth, so that everyone who wishes can receive from it the drink of life. She is the door of life” ("Against Heresies", bk. 3, ch. 4).

Thus, the great shepherd Irenaeus labored to the end, straining all his powers to spread the truth and destroy lies and errors. Finally, he sealed his righteous life with a martyr's death during the cruel fifth persecution of Christians in the year 202, when the Lyon Church suffered especially. "Rivers of Christian blood then flowed through the streets of Lyon; so many Lyon Christians died at that time that it was impossible to collect their numbers or names."

Saint Irenaeus was beheaded along with many thousands (up to 19,000) of Christian martyrs.

II. Let us pay attention, brethren, to the words of the Holy Hieromartyr Irenaeus about the Holy Church of God, who testified to their truth with his holy martyric blood.

Only in the Orthodox Church is there truth, only through it, like a door, can one enter the Kingdom of God and inherit eternal life; outside the Church there is error, lies, sin and eternal destruction.

And the word of God, the testimonies of the Holy Fathers, the history of the Church, and the considerations of reason - everything convinces us that outside the Church there is no salvation.

a) Jesus Christ, according to the saying of the Holy Apostle Paul, is the Head of the Church, and He is also the Savior of the Body; therefore, in order to have a share in His salvation, it is necessary to be a member of His Body, i.e. to be a member of the Holy Orthodox Church (Eph. 5:23).

The Holy Apostle Peter teaches that baptism saves us using the image of Noah's Ark. All who were saved from the great flood were saved only in the Ark of righteous Noah; so all who received eternal salvation found it in the one Orthodox Church.

b) The Holy Fathers also teach that there is no salvation outside the Church.

Saint Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, celebrated today by the Church, says: “Those who do not resort to the Church do not participate in the energy of the Holy Spirit, and therefore deprive themselves of the blessed life.”

Cyprian teaches: “He cannot have God as a Father who does not have the Church as his Mother.”

Blessed Augustine teaches: “Outside the Church a person can have everything except salvation. He can have honors, he can have the mysteries, he can sing Alleluia, he can say Amen, he can hold the Gospel, he can have faith in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and preach it; but nowhere except in the Orthodox Catholic Church can he find salvation.”

He also says in another place: “Everyone who has separated himself from communion with the Church, even if his life was worthy of praise, for that one iniquity, by which he has torn himself away from union with Christ, he will not have life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.”

c) Paying attention to the history of the Church, we see that only in the Orthodox Church are there holy saints of God, holy relics, holy miraculous icons, from which flow various miracles of God's mercy. "Our Orthodox Church is true," says one archshepherd and teacher of the fatherland, "because God Himself glorified many of its holy members by the incorruptibility of their relics and many miraculous powers. These miraculous powers of many members of our holy Church were accomplished in ancient times, as we see in the writings of the Holy Fathers, were accomplished in medieval times, as the true history of the holy Church tells us, and were accomplished in modern times and are accomplished now, as you can inquire in the Lavra of the Kiev Caves, in the Lavra of Saint Sergius, in Voronezh and very many other places" (From the conversations of Gregory, Archbishop of Kazan).

Turning further attention to the history of the Church, we are struck by the remarkable fact that almost all the persecutors of the Church of God, if they did not repent, were punished from above and often died a painful death.

The first persecutor of Christians, the Roman Emperor Nero, was overthrown from the throne and disappeared without a trace.

Domitian, similar in cruelty to Nero, was captured by the enemy and killed by them.

Decius was killed in war, and his body was eaten by wild animals and pecked by birds.

Valerian was taken prisoner by the Persians and there he was assigned to the most humiliating office; he was obliged to bend his back and offer it as a step for the Persian king every time he mounted his horse. And when Valerian died, they flayed his skin and hung him up to the shame of the Romans.

Diocletian fell into a severe illness, which was further aggravated by the grief and self-will of the people who had overthrown his statues; finally, he lost his mind and starved himself to death.

Maximinus Hercules, having renounced the throne, poisoned himself.

The chief culprit of the tenth and last persecution, Galerius, was struck with an incurable disease, which, despite all the efforts and skill of the doctors, grew stronger and stronger, so that finally even the doctors could not come close to him, because of the unbearable stench coming from his wounds. In the midst of such terrible torments, he recognized the power of the Christian God, remembered all his cruelties against Christians and issued a decree to stop the persecution. But since the persecutor's conversion was not deep, death ended his torment.

Maximian, the accomplice and successor of Galerius' cruelties, had a death no less painful. Abandoned by all his confidants, he decided to commit suicide - he took poison and suffered the most terrible torments for four days, not only in his body but also in his soul; for in his illness the Heavenly Judge Himself appeared to him and threatened him with His justice. Finally, with the most cruel torments, as if in the midst of torture, the impious Maximian cast out his soul.

Thus, almost all the bitter persecutors of Christians experienced the deserved wrath of the just and impartial God, while Constantius Chlorus, who patronized Christians, ruled his country peacefully and prosperously and died peacefully. In the person of his son Constantine the Great, the Lord was preparing His chosen one, who was to give peace and freedom to the Holy Church.

d) And common sense convinces us that only in union with the Church can one receive salvation, and outside this union there is eternal and inevitable destruction. First of all, we must admit that every person is born with Adam's (ancestral) sin and after that commits a great many different sins. Meanwhile, the Holy Scriptures say that "nothing unclean can enter the Heavenly Kingdom." And when he commits sins, he feels a heaviness and anxiety in his conscience that make him unhappy. Who can remove this heaviness from him and calm his conscience? Who can cleanse him of the sinful filth that closes his entrance to the Heavenly Kingdom? No one else but the Church in the mysteries of baptism and repentance established by the Lord for Christians. Apart from the Church, no one and nothing can do this.

Furthermore, we see and know that all those who are outside the Christian Church (pagans, Muslims, Jews, etc.) live poorly, not according to conscience, not in the way that a reasonable being - a human - ought to live; we also know that they cannot live otherwise, as they do not have a reliable and higher guide - the Holy Spirit, who leads to all truth. Although, regrettably, there are also among Christians those who do not live according to Christian principles, nonetheless, it is only within the Christian Church that we have the opportunity to lead a fully pious life and to attain the highest degree of holiness, as demonstrated by the lives of the saints. Here we have the highest example of life in the sinless God-man (Christ the Savior), and a faithful and great guide to holy living and illumination in the person of the Holy Spirit. "What is impossible for man," it is said in the word of God, "is possible for God," that is, if we sincerely desire and strive for a life pleasing to God, then the Holy Spirit will help us with His grace and will accomplish for us what we are unable to do due to our weakness.

III. Brethren! Let us firmly adhere to the holy Orthodox Church, outside of which eternal destruction awaits us. May we always remember the words of Saint Irenaeus of Lyons: “Those who do not resort to the Church do not participate in the energy of the Holy Spirit, and therefore deprive themselves of the blessed life.”

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.