salonians. He is the product of
the 4th Kingdom, that is, the Roman empire; but at the same time springs
from the tribe of Dan (V. 30. 2), and will take up his abode in
Jerusalem etc. The returning Christ will destroy him, and the Christ
will come back when 6000 years of the world's history have elapsed; for
"in as many days as the world was made, in so many thousands of years
will it be ended" (V. 28. 3). The seventh day is then the great world
Sabbath, during which Christ will reign with the saints of the first
resurrection after the destruction of Antichrist. Irenaeus expressly
argued against such "as pass for orthodox, but disregard the order of
the progress of the righteous and know no stages of preparation for
incorruptibility" (V. 31). By this he means such as assume that after
death souls immediately pass to God. On the contrary he argues that
these rather wait in a hidden place for the resurrection which takes
place on the return of Christ, after which the souls receive back their
bodies and men now restored participate in the Saviour's Kingdom (V. 31.
2). This Kingdom on earth precedes the universal judgment; "for it is
just that they should also receive the fruits of their patience in the
same creation in which they suffered tribulation"; moreover, the promise
made to Abraham that Palestine would be given to him and to his seed,
i.e., the Christians, must be fulfilled (V. 32). There they will eat and
drink with the Lord in the restored body (V. 33. 1) sitting at a table
covered with food (V. 33. 2) and consuming the produce of the land,
which the earth affords in miraculous fruitfulness. Here Irenaeus appeals
to alleged utterances of the Lord of which he had been informed by
Papias (V. 33. 3, 4). The wheat will be so fat that lions lying
peacefully beside the cattle will be able to feed themselves even on the
chaff (V. 33. 3, 4). Such and similar promises are everywhere to be
understood in a literal sense. Irenaeus here expressly argues against any
figurative interpretation (ibid, and V. 35). He therefore adopted the
whole Jewish eschatology, the only difference being that he regards the
Church as the seed of Abraham. The earthly Kingdom is then followed by
the second resurrection, the general judgment, and the final end.]

[Footnote 625: Hippolytus in the lost book [Greek: hyper tou kata
Ioannen euangeliou kai apokalupseos]. Perhaps we may also reckon Melito
among the literary defenders of Chiliasm.]

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