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Irenaeus quotes the blessing on one who existed before becoming human, which Jesus speaks in the Gospel of Thomas, but credits it to the prophet Jeremiah. Lactantius also cites it from Jeremiah and says it is true of no one but Jesus.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Gospel of Thomas 1:19
Nag Hammadi
18 The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us how our end will be.” Jesus said, “Have you discovered the beginning, that you are seeking the end? For where the beginning is, there the end will be. Blessed is the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death.” 19 Jesus said, “Blessed is the one who existed before coming into being. If you become my disciples and listen to my words, these stones will serve you. For you have five trees in paradise which do not change, summer or winter, and their leaves do not fall. Whoever knows them will not taste death.” 20 The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us what the kingdom of heaven is like.” He said to them, “It is like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds; but when it falls on plowed soil it produces a great plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky.”
Irenaeus, Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching 44
Early Christian
43 So then we must believe God in all things, for in all things God is true. Now that there was a Son of God, and that He existed not only before He appeared in the world, but also before the world was made, Moses, who was the first that prophesied says in Hebrew: Baresith bara Elowin basan benuam samenthares. And this, translated into our language, is: “The Son in the beginning: God established then the heaven and the earth.” This Jeremiah the prophet also testified, saying thus: Before the morning-star I begat thee: and before the sun> (is) thy name; and that is, before the creation of the world; for together with the world the stars were made. And again the same says: Blessed is he who was, before he became man. Because, for God, the Son was (as) the beginning before the creation of the world; but for us (He was) then, when He appeared; and before that He was not for us, who knew Him not. Wherefore also His disciple John, in teaching us who is the Son of God, who was with the Father before the world was made, and that all the things that were made were made by Him, says thus: In beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made: showing with certainty that the Word, who was in the beginning with the Father, and by whom all things were made, this is His Son.
Date: 175-190 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Lactantius, Divine Institutes 4.8.3
Early Christian
Whence it is thus spoken by Jeremiah: Before I formed You in the womb I knew You. And likewise by the same: Who was blessed before He was born; which was the case with no one else but Christ. For though He was the Son of God from the beginning, He was born again a second time according to the flesh: and this twofold birth of His has introduced great terror into the minds of men, and overspread with darkness even those who retained the mysteries of true religion.
Date: 300-310 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... Even in the case of certain church fathers, such as Irenaeus and Clement, who are likely to post-date Thomas, there remains the muddy question of whether the author knows Thomas or both share a common source. [...] Later, in the Demonstratio, a parallel to GTh 19.1 (‘Blessed is he who has come into being before he has come into being’) is quoted, but attributed to Jeremiah: ‘Blessed is he who was, before he became man’ (Dem. 44; tr. Robinson). [...] In this as in the other cases, however, there remains doubt about whether there is even indirect influence from Thomas. [...] Something like this is cited also by Lactantius (Div. Inst. 4.8.1), who applies it to Jesus alone: ‘Blessed is he who was, before he was born’ (beatus qui erat antequam nasceretur). A looser parallel exists in Gos. Truth 27,30–28,4. ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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