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Handout #49 |
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The characteristics of the true church |
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| Having discussed the false
doctrines, Irenaeus indicates the features by which the true church may be
recognized. The church proclaims an identical message throughout the
world. So having received this preaching and this faith, the church,
though dispersed throughout the whole world, guards it with care, as
though it lived only in a single dwelling. He believes there is an
identical way, as though it had but one soul and one heart, and it
preaches them, teaches them and hands them down with a unanimous voice, as
though it had but one mouth.
Though languages may differ throughout the world, the content of the
tradition is one and the same. The churches established in Germany do not
have another faith or another tradition, nor do those among the Iberians
(Spain) nor those among the Celts, nor those in the East, in Egypt, in
Libya, nor those which are established at the center of the world (Rome).
Rather, like the sun, this creature of God is one and the same throughout
the world, and likewise this light, which is the preaching of the truth,
shines everywhere and illuminates all men who want to arrive at the
knowledge of the truth. |
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