Stephen Presley: The Clarity of Scripture in Irenaeus of Lyons

In this paper I argue that when Irenaeus uses of the language of “clarity” or manifesto/e in relationship to scripture he often has in mind two concrete portions of scripture: 1) the words of the Lord and 2) the preaching of the apostles. Conversely, the obscure portions of scripture are the writings of the prophets in the Old Testament and the parables of the Lord in the Gospels. Irenaeus believes that the Old Testament in not entirely unclear, because many texts give general instruction about the nature and commands of God and God’s relationship to creatures and the natural world. But the Old Testament remains largely obscure until the incarnation when the Son of God proclaimed his message to the apostles, who subsequently communicated his teaching in their preaching. For Irenaeus, the notion of the “clarity” of scripture is not concerned so much with the “meaning” of an individual text per se, but more simply that the Lord’s words and apostolic testimony are revelation proclaimed openly and necessary for understanding older divine revelation. This two-fold testimony of the Lord’s words and the apostolic testimony means that a faithful interpreter will read the manifest testimony of the Lord’s words and the apostolic writings in continuity and unity with the ambiguous passages of the narratives and prophecies of the Old Testament and the Lord’s parables in order to unite the revealed testimony of God in one harmonious history of salvation.