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James says Abraham believed God, was counted righteous, and was called God’s friend. Irenaeus quotes this to argue that Abraham was justified by faith before circumcision rather than by the Torah.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
James 2:23
New Testament
22 You see that his faith was working together with his works and his faith was perfected by works. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Irenaeus Against Heresies 4.16
Early Christian
2 And that man was not justified by these things, but that they were given as a sign to the people, this fact shows — that Abraham himself, without circumcision and without observance of Sabbaths, believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God. Then, again, Lot, without circumcision, was brought out from Sodom, receiving salvation from God. So also did Noah, pleasing God, although he was uncircumcised, receive the dimensions [of the ark], of the world of the second race [of men]. Enoch, too, pleasing God, without circumcision, discharged the office of God's legate to the angels although he was a man, and was translated, and is preserved until now as a witness of the just judgment of God, because the angels when they had transgressed fell to the earth for judgment, but the man who pleased [God] was translated for salvation. Moreover, all the rest of the multitude of those righteous men who lived before Abraham, and of those patriarchs who preceded Moses, were justified independently of the things above mentioned, and without the law of Moses. As also Moses himself says to the people in Deuteronomy: The Lord your God formed a covenant in Horeb. The Lord formed not this covenant with your fathers, but for you.
Date: 175-190 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
... Similarly, Irenaeus uses the phrase, “behold the judge is near,” which echoes James 5:9. Irenaeus also says twice of Abraham, “he believed God and it was reputed to him as righteousness and he was called friend of God,” which echoes James 2:23. The possibility in this last instance that James was being used is muted by the fact that the designation “friend of God” was available elsewhere. But the question remains, where would it most likely have been available to Irenaeus? ...
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