332 III. ii. 1. Massuet (_Diss._ I. § 24) says, “Hanc non reprehendit Irenæus, immo in sequentibus probat.” Now, to my apprehension, he does tacitly disapprove the sentiment in the very passage; and however he may acknowledge that there are many _parts_ of Scripture obscure and ambiguous, yet the whole method of his arguing shows incontestably that he thought its voice, on such points as he was discussing with the Gnostics, perfectly unambiguous. 333 II. xxvii. 1. Ὁ ὑγιὴς νοῦς καὶ ἀκίνδυνος καὶ εὐλαβὴς καὶ φιλαληθὴς, ὅσα ἐν τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐξουσίᾳ δέδωκεν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ὑποτέταχε τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ γνώσει, ταῦτα προθύμως ἐκμελετήσει, καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς προκόψει, διὰ τῆς καθημερινῆς ἀσκήσεως ῥᾳδίαν τὴν μάθησιν ἑαυτῷ ποιούμενος. Ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα, τά τε ὑπ᾽ ὄψιν πίπτοντα τὴν ἡμετέραν, καὶ ὅσα φανερῶς καὶ ἀναμφιβόλως αὐτολεξεὶ ἐν ταῖς θείαις γραφαῖς λέλεκται. Et ideo parabolæ debent non ambiguis adaptari: sic enim et qui absolvit, sine periculo absolvit, et parabolæ ab omnibus similiter absolutionem accipient; et a veritate [i. e. per veritatem] corpus integrum, et simili aptatione membrorum, et sine concussione perseverat.—2. Cum itaque universæ Scripturæ et Prophetiæ et Evangelia in aperto et sine ambiguitate et similiter ab omnibus audiri possint, etsi non omnes credunt.——xxviii. 1. Habentes itaque regulam ipsam veritatem, et in aperto positum de Deo testimonium, non debemus per quæstionum declinantes [in] alias atque alias absolutiones ejicere firmam et veram de Deo scientiam: magis autem absolutionem quæstionum in hunc characterem dirigentes, exerceri quidem convenit per inquisitionem mysterii et dispositionis exsistentis Dei; augeri autem in charitate ejus, qui tanta propter nos fecit et facit. Grabe argues from the first of these passages as though _every_ thing which God would have us know or believe were contained in express words in Scripture, and thus incurs the reprehension of Massuet. (_Diss._ III. § 11.) All that can be gathered from it legitimately is, that the things clearly revealed are expressed in Scripture without ambiguity, and that these are the most important. 334 II. x. 1. Omnis autem quæstio non per aliud quod quæritur habebit resolutionem, nec ambiguitas per aliam ambiguitatem solvetur apud eos qui sensum habent, aut ænigmata per aliud majus ænigma; sed ea quæ sunt talia ex manifestis et consonantibus et claris accipiunt absolutiones. 335 I. ix. 4. Οὕτω δὲ καὶ ὁ τὸν κανόνα τῆς ἀληθείας ἀκλινῆ ἐν ἑαυτῷ κατέχων, ὃν διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος εἴληφε, τὰ μὲν ἐκ τῶν γραφῶν ὀνόματα καὶ τὰς λέξεις καὶ τὰς παραβολὰς ἐπιγνώσεται.—x. 1. See p. 91, note 7. 336 IV. xxxii. 1. See p. 77, note 8. 337 IV. xxvi. 4. See p. 80, note 7. 338 IV. xxvi. 2. See p. 80, note 7.