THE USE OF THE ANTI-GNOSTIC POLEMICS OF ST. IRENAEUS OF LYONS AGAINST THE DOCTRINE OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES ABOUT THE “SPIRITUAL BODIES” OF THE RESURRECTED

Evgeny Gennadievich Veselov

Kostroma theological seminary, Kostroma, Russia

Email: ev23@yandex.ru

ORCID: 0000-0001-5141-1879

Issue: № 1 (25), 2024

Pages: 24

Annotation

The theological polemics with Jehovah's Witnesses remain relevant, despite their recognition as an extremist organization in 2017. An essential element of the doctrine of the “witnesses” is the idea of the resurrection of the elite class of “anointed Christians” in certain spiritual bodies that are not identical to earthly ones. This doctrine reproduces the ancient Gnostic teaching about the salvation of only the spiritual essence of man, with which he polemicized in the 2nd century. sschmch. Irenaeus of Lyon. The article analyzes his main anti-G nostic arguments: about the bodily communion of the Body and Blood of Christ; about the omnipotence of God, Who resurrects decayed flesh; about the bodily ascension of Elijah and Enoch, as well as the bodily salvation of the prophets from disasters; about the posthumous appearances of Jesus Christ; about the complete man as a union of soul and body; about the presence of the pledge of the Spirit in the mortal bodies of Christians; about the concept of a spiritual person. An interpretation of a number of key texts is also provided (1 Cor. 15:50, etc.). Despite the discrepancy between the teachings and practices of the “witnesses” and the general church (for example, they prohibit the acceptance of symbols for the vast majority of believers; the soul is denied as a substance separate from the body), these arguments generally retain their polemical significance, since they reveal the method of our salvation, distorted by the “witnesses”.

Keywords

Irenaeus of Lyon, patrolology, Christian anthropology, sectology, Jehovah's Witnesses, eschatology, resurrection of the dead

For citation

Veselov E. G., priest. The use of the anti-gnostic polemics of St. Irenaeus of Lyons against the doctrine of Jehovah's Witnesses about the “spiritual bodies” of the resurrected // Ipatievsky vestnik. 2024. № . 1. Р. 24–39 (In Russian). https:// doi.org/10.24412/2309– 5164–2024–1–24–39