Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, XXVI

St Irenaeus of Lyons (AD 130–202)

1 XXVI

Know thou that every man is either empty or full. For if he has not the Holy Spirit, he has no knowledge of the Creator; he has not received Jesus Christ the Life; he knows not the Father who is in heaven; if he does not live after the dictates of reason, after the heavenly law, he is not a sober-minded person, nor does he act uprightly: such an one is empty. If, on the other hand, he receives God, who says, “I will dwell with them, and walk in them, and I will be their God,” such an one is not empty, but full.

Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, A. Cleveland Coxe (eds.), Buffalo: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885-1896. Public domain: English translation first published 1885-1900 (Ante-Nicene Fathers).

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