5.7.1
VII. Ταῦτα ὁ Εἰρήναιος ἀκολούθως ταῖς προδιεξοδευθείσαις ἡμῖν ὑπογραφὰς ἱστορίαις ἐν οἷς ἐπέγραφεν, πέντε οὐαὶ τὸν ἀριθμόν, Ἐλέγχου καὶ ἀνατροπῆς τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως, ἐν δευτέρῳ τῆς αὐτῆς ὑποθέσεως, ὅτι δὴ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ὑποδείγματα τῆς θείας καὶ παραδόξου δυνάμεως ἐν ἐκκλησίαις τισὶν ὑπολέλειπτο, διὰ τούτων ἐπισημαίνεται, λέγων· “τοσοῦτον δὲ ἀποδέουσιν τοῦ νεκρὸν ἐγεῖραι, καθὼς ὁ κύριος ἤγειρεν καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι διὰ προσευχῆς καὶ ἐν τῆ ἀδελφότητι πολλάκις διὰ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον καὶ τῆς κατὰ τόπον ἐκκλησίας πάσης αἰτησαμένης μετὰ νηστείας καὶ λιτανείας πολλῆς ἐπέστρεφεν τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ τετελευτηκότος καὶ ἐχαρίσθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος ταῖς εὐχαῖς τῶν ἁγίων.’’ καὶ αὗθίς φησιν μεθ’ ἕτερα· “εἰ δὲ καὶ τὸν κύριον φαντασιωδῶς τὰ τοιαῦτα πεποιηκέναι φήσουσιν, ἐπὶ τὰ προφητικὰ ἀνάγοντες αὐτούς, ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπιδείξομεν πάντα οὕτως περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ προειρῆσθαι καὶ γεγονέναι βεβαίως καὶ αὐτὸν μόνον εἶναι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ θεοῦ· δι’ ὃ καὶ ἐν τῶ ἐκείνου ὀνόματι οἱ ἀληθῶς αὐτοῦ μαθηταί, πάρ’ αὐτοῦ λαβόντες τὴν χάριν ἐπιτελοῦσιν ἐπ’ εὐεργεσίᾳ τῆ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀνθρώπων, καθὼς εἷς ἕκαστος τὴν δωρεὰν εἴληφεν παρ’ αὐτοῦ. οἱ μὲν γὰρ δαίμονας ἐλαύνουσιν βεβαίως καὶ ἀληθῶς, ὥστε πολλάκις καὶ πιστεύειν ἐκείνους αὐτοὺς τοὺς καθαρισθέντας ἀπὸ τῶν πονηρῶν πνευμάτων καὶ εἶναι ἐν τῆ ἐκκλησίᾳ, οἱ δὲ καὶ πρόγνωσιν ἔχουσιν τῶν μελλόντων καὶ ὀπτασίας καὶ ῥήσεις προφητικάς, ἄλλοι δὲ τοὺς κάμνοντας διὰ τῆς τῶν χειρῶν ἐπιθέσεως ἰῶνται καὶ ὑγιεῖς ἀποκαθιστᾶσιν, ἤδη δέ, καθὼς ἔφαμεν, καὶ νεκροὶ ἠγέρθησαν καὶ παρ’. σὺν ἡμῖν ἔτεσιν ἱκανοῖς, καί, τί γάρ; οὐκ δ’ ἔστιν ἀριθμὸν εἰπεῖν τῶν χαρισμάτων ὧν κατὰ παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου ἢ ἐκκλησία παρὰ θεοῦ λαβοῦσα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ τοῦ σταυρωθέντος ἐπί Ποντίου Πιλάτου ἑκάστης ἡμέρας ἐπ’ εὐεργεσίᾳ τῇ τῶν ἐθνῶν ἐπιτελεῖ, μήτε ἐξαπατῶσά τινας μήτε ἐξαργυριζομένη· ὡς γὰρ δωρεὰν εἴληφεν παρὰ θεοῦ, δωρεὰν καὶ διακονεῖ.’’ καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ δὲ τόπῳ ὁ αὐτὸς γράφει· “καθὼς καὶ πολλῶν ἀκούομεν ἀδελφῶν ἐν τῆ ἐκκλησίᾳ προφητικὰ χαρίσματα ἐχόντων καὶ παντοδαπαῖς λαλούντων διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος καὶ τὰ κρύφια τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰς φανερὸν ἀγόντων ἐπὶ τῷ συμφέροντι καὶ τὰ μυστήρια τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκδιηγουμένων ” ταῦτα καὶ περὶ τοῦ διαφορὰς χαρισμάτων μέχρι καὶ τῶν δηλουμένων χρόνων παρὰ τοῖς ἀξίοις διαμεῖναι.
VII. These things Irenaeus recounts, according to the extracts which we have made already, in the books, five in number, to which he gave the title of Refutation and Overthrow of Knowledge falsely so-called, and in the second book of this work he proves in the following words that manifestations of the divine and marvellous power had remained in some churches even as far as his time: “But they fall so far short of raising the dead, as did the Lord and his apostles through prayer, and often among the brethren, because of necessity and at the request of the whole church in the neighbourhood, with fasting and much supplication, the spirit of him who had died returned, and the man was given to the prayers of the saints.” And again he says after other things: “But if they say that the Lord has done all these things merely in appearance, we will take them back to the prophetic writings, and show from them that all these things had been foretold concerning him, and that they certainly happened, and that he alone is the Son of God; for which cause also his true disciples, having received grace from him, use it in his name for the benefit of the rest of men, even as each has received the gift from him. For some drive out demons with certainty and truth, so that often those who have themselves been cleansed from the evil spirits believe and are in the church, and some have foreknowledge of things to be, and visions and prophetic speech, and others cure the sick by the laying on of hands and make them whole, and even as we have said, the dead have been raised and remained with us for many years. And why should I say more? It is not possible to tell the number of the gifts which the church throughout the whole world, having received them from God in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, uses each day for the benefit of the heathen, deceiving none and making profit from none. For as it received freely from God, it ministers also freely.” And in another place the same author writes: “Just as also we hear many brethren in the church who have gifts of prophecy, and who speak through the Spirit with all manner of tongues, and who bring the hidden things of men into clearness for the common good, and expound the mysteries of God” — these things also show that varieties of gifts remained among the worthy even up to the time spoken of.