Irenaeus of Lyons · a new plain-English translation from the original language
The question of what it means when he says: I confess to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Moses, then, recapitulating the whole law, says: 'Heaven, and I will speak; and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.' And again the same is said elsewhere: 'Listen, O heaven,' he declares, 'and attend closely, O earth, for it is the Lord who has spoken.' And again: 'Thus says the Lord God, who made the heavens and stretched them out, who established the earth and the things that are in it, who grants breath to the people dwelling there, and life-spirit to those walking upon it.' Once more, our Lord Jesus Christ acknowledges this very Father, saying, 'I confess to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.' Which Father, then, do these most perverse sophists of the unknown God want us to listen to? Their unknown God — whom we have shown by many arguments not to be God at all — or, as is true, the Maker of heaven and earth? Him whom the prophets proclaimed, whom Christ confesses as his own Father, and whom the Law announces, saying: 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord is God.' [This shows that the giving of the Law through Moses consists in the words of Christ; and here follows the exposition of the parable of the Rich Man and poor Lazarus.]
That the writings of Moses are in fact Christ's own words is stated by him to the Jews, as John recounts in the Gospel: 'Had you trusted Moses, you would have trusted me as well, since he wrote concerning me; but since you give no credence to his writings, how will you give credence to my sayings?' This most clearly signifies that the writings of Moses are his own words. Therefore, if the words of Moses, and without doubt of the rest of the prophets, are his own, as we have shown. And again, the Lord himself shows that Abraham said to the rich man, concerning those who were still living: 'If they will not heed Moses and the prophets, they will not be won over even should a man come back from among the dead to visit them.'
He did not relate to us a mere fable about a poor man and a rich man; rather, he first taught that no one ought to indulge in luxuries, or, living amid worldly pleasures and abundant feasts, become a slave to his own desires and lose sight of God. As the account goes: a certain wealthy man dressed himself in purple garments and fine cloth, feasting lavishly day after day. Of such people the Spirit also spoke through Isaiah: 'They drink wine to the sound of harps, timbrels, lutes, and pipes, giving no heed to the deeds the Lord has done, nor weighing the works his hands have made.' So that we might not fall into the same punishment as these, the Lord showed their end, at the same time signifying that those who obeyed Moses and the prophets would believe in him whom they themselves had foretold as God's own Son, raised up from among the dead and granting us life, demonstrating that all these share one and the same substance — namely Abraham, together with Moses and the prophets, and likewise the Lord in his own person, who was raised from among the dead, in whom many even from among the circumcised likewise believe, hearing Moses and the prophets proclaim the arrival of God's Son. Yet those who claim these belong to a different substance, refusing to acknowledge him as firstborn of the dead, treat Christ as one figure — supposedly incapable of suffering — and separately regard Jesus as the one who suffered. For they do not receive knowledge of the Son from the Father, nor do they learn the Father from the Son, who plainly and without parables teaches that he alone is truly God.