( c. 4 ), who likewise follows Hippolytus's Compendium, adds some further particulars ; that ' Abraxas ' gave birth to Mind ( nous ), the first in the series of primary powers enumerated likewise by Irenaeus and Epiphanius ; that the world, as well as the 365 heavens, was created in honour of ' Abraxas ;' and that Christ was sent not by the Maker of the world but by ' Abraxas.

Irenaeus ( c. 115 – 202 ) assumes it as a conceded point.

Those who favour the later date appeal to the earliest external testimony, that of the Christian father Irenaeus ( c. 150-202 ), who wrote that he received his information from people who knew John personally.

The English term " Gnosticism " derives from the use of the Greek adjective gnostikos (" learned ", " intellectual ", Greek γνωστικός ) by St. Irenaeus ( c. 185 AD ) to describe the school of Valentinus as he legomene gnostike haeresis " the heresy called Learned ( gnostic )".

The Church Fathers, witnessed by the Muratorian Canon, Irenaeus ( c. 170 ), Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Tertullian, held that the Gospel of Luke was written by Luke.

A four gospel canon ( the Tetramorph ) was in place by the time of Irenaeus, c. 160, who refers to it directly.

Irenaeus, ( c. 130 – 202 ) in his Against Heresies ( 1: 25 ; 6 ) says scornfully of the Gnostic Carpocratians, " They also possess images, some of them painted, and others formed from different kinds of material ; while they maintain that a likeness of Christ was made by Pilate at that time when Jesus lived among them.

St. Irenaeus (; Greek: ), ( 2nd century AD – c. 202 ) was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire ( now Lyons, France ).

Irenaeus ' best-known book, Adversus Haereses or Against Heresies ( c. 180 ) is a detailed attack on Gnosticism, which was then a serious threat to the Church, and especially on the system of the Gnostic Valentinus.

Even earlier than this collection, it is referred to by Procopius of Gaza ( c. 465-528 ), and Methodius appeals to Justin in support of his interpretation of 1 Corinthians 15: 50 in a way which makes it natural to assume the existence of a treatise on the subject, to say nothing of other traces of a connection in thought both here, in Irenaeus ( V., ii .- xiii.

For between Nero and Domitian there is no mention of any persecution of the Roman Church ; and Irenaeus ( 1. c., III, iv, 3 ) from among the early Roman bishops designates only Telesphorus as a glorious martyr.

Irenaeus ( c. 130 – 202 ) speaks not only of children but even of infants being " born again to God " and three passages of Origen ( 185 – c.

Irenaean theodicy, posited by Irenaeus ( 2nd century AD – c. 202 ), has been reformulated by John Hick.

Clement is put after Linus and Cletus / Anacletus in the earliest ( c. 180 ) account, that of Irenaeus, who is followed by Eusebius of Caesarea.

Before the 18th century, the belief of many, including the Church Fathers Papias ( c. 60-130 ), Irenaeus ( c. 130-200 ), Origen ( c. 185-254 ), Eusebius ( c. 260-340 ) Jerome ( c. 340-420 ), and Augustine of Hippo ( c. 354-430 ), had been that Matthew was the first gospel to be written.

Their names are differently given ; Irenaeus ( c. 30 ) giving them, Ialdabaoth, the chief, Iao, Sabaoth, Adonaeus, Eloaeus, Oreus, and Astaphaeus.

A four gospel canon ( the Tetramorph ) was first asserted by Irenaeus, c. 180.

Irenaeus ( d. c. 202 ), Clement of Alexandria ( d. 215 ), Lactantius ( ca.

Perhaps no church father saw this concurrence of the unique and the universal as clearly, or formulated it as precisely, as Irenaeus.

As Origen interprets the end of history on the basis of its beginning, so Irenaeus portrays the story of Adam on the basis of the story of Christ.

Irenaeus does not regard Adam and Eve merely as private individuals, but as universal human beings, who were and are all of humanity.

Recent research on Irenaeus, however, makes it evident that he does not consistently maintain this distinction.

There is no justification for systematizing the random statements of Irenaeus about the image of God beyond this, nor for reading into his imprecise usage the later theological distinction between the image of God ( humanity ) and the similitude of God ( immortality ).

He was, in the words of Irenaeus, `` beguiled by another under the pretext of immortality ''.

Because he interprets the primitive state of man as one of mere potentiality or capacity and believes that Adam and Eve were created as children, Irenaeus often seems inclined to extenuate their disobedience as being `` due, no doubt, to carelessness, but still wicked ''.

It is probably fair to say that the idea of death is more profound in Irenaeus than the idea of sin is.

This emphasis upon death rather than sin as man's fundamental problem Irenaeus shares with many early theologians, especially the Greek-speaking ones.

In the system described by Irenaeus, " the Unbegotten Father " is the progenitor of Nous, and from Nous Logos, from Logos Phronesis, from Phronesis Sophia and Dynamis, from Sophia and Dynamis principalities, powers, and angels, the last of whom create " the first heaven.

69, 73 f .) appears to follow partly Irenaeus, partly the lost Compendium of Hippolytus.

By a probably euphonic inversion the translator of Irenaeus and the other Latin authors have Abraxas, which is found in the magical papyri, and even, though most sparingly, on engraved stones.

It was first used by Irenaeus late in the 2nd century.

) and Irenaeus ( 180 ) introduce explicitly the idea of the bishop's succession in office as a guarantee of the truth of what he preached in that it could be traced back to the apostles.

He adds that the idea cannot be squeezed out of Irenaeus ' words.

The earlier date, first proposed in modern times by John Robinson in a closely argued chapter of " Redating the New Testament " ( 1976 ), relies on the book's internal evidence, given that no external testimony exists earlier than that of Irenaeus, noted above, and the earliest extant manuscript evidence of Revelation ( P98 ) is likewise dated no earlier than the late 2nd century.

In the 2nd century, with his theory of " recapitulation ", Saint Irenaeus connected " Christ the Creator " with " Christ the Savior ", relying on (" when the times reach their fulfillment – to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ ") to gather together and wrap up the cycle of the Nativity and Resurrection of Christ.

For Irenaeus the imitation of Christ is based on God's plan of salvation, which involved Christ as the second Adam.

For Irenaeus, salvation was achieved by Christ restoring humanity to the image of God, and he saw the Christian imitation of Christ as a key component on the path to salvation.

Additionally, the earliest manuscript of the Gospel, dated circa AD 200, ascribes the work to Luke ; as did Irenaeus, writing circa AD 180 ; and the Muratorian fragment from AD 170.

The writings of the Church Father Irenaeus who wrote around AD 180 reflect a belief that Peter " founded and organised " the Church at Rome.

The earliest witness is Irenaeus, who in about the year 180 wrote: " The blessed apostles, then, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate.

Korah is also mentioned by Irenaeus in his anti-Gnostic work Adversus Haereses ( Against Heresies ), written in about 180.

Gnosticism and the New Testament is the connection between the Christian sects described by Irenaeus ( c. 180 ), and other writers, as gnostikos, and the New Testament, and also the use of the New Testament in the Nag Hammadi texts ( c. 300-400 ).

Since it was known to the church father Irenaeus, it must have been written before around AD 180.

The doctrine that Eve mated with the serpent, or with Satan, to produce Cain also appears in early Gnostic writings such as the Gospel of Philip ( c. 350 ); however, this teaching was explicitly rejected as heresy by Irenaeus ( c. 180 ) and later mainstream Christian theologians.

It is believed to have been written by Gnostic followers of Jesus, rather than by Judas himself, and, since it contains late 2nd century theology, probably dates from no earlier than the 2nd century ( which is much later than the dating attributed to the 4 gospels of the modern Bible Gospel # First accounts ) In 180 A. D., Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyons, wrote a document in which he railed against this gospel, indicating the book was already in circulation.

The Gospel of Judas was condemned by Irenaeus in his anti-Gnostic work Adversus Haereses ( Against Heresies ), written in about 180.

The genuineness of Pauline authorship was accepted by Church orthodoxy as early as c. 180 AD, as evidenced by the surviving testimony of Irenaeus and the author of the Muratorian fragment.

However, Irenaeus ( writing c. 180 CE ) is the earliest author to clearly and unequivocally describe the Pastorals.