* Against Heresies, Online-text, Irenaeus, Against Heresies

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.

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.

Against the Gnostics, who said that they possessed a secret oral tradition from Jesus himself, Irenaeus maintained that the bishops in different cities are known as far back as the Apostles — and none of them was a Gnostic — and that the bishops provided the only safe guide to the interpretation of Scripture.

Irenaeus wrote a number of books, but the most important that survives is the " Against Heresies ", normally referred to by its Latin title Adversus Haereses which is an important source regarding the Gospel according to the Hebrews.

The purpose of " Against Heresies " was to refute the teachings of various Gnostic groups ; apparently, several Greek merchants had begun an oratorial campaign in Irenaeus ' bishopric, teaching that the material world was the accidental creation of an evil god, from which we are to escape by the pursuit of gnosis.

* Payton Jr., James R. Irenaeus on the Christian Faith: A Condensation of ' Against Heresies ( Cambridge, James Clarke and Co Ltd, 2012 ).

Eusebius implies that other works were in circulation ; from St Irenaeus he knows of the apology " Against Marcion ," and from Justin's " Apology " of a " Refutation of all Heresies ".

The Against Marcion is lost, as is the Refutation of all Heresies to which Justin himself refers in Apology, i. 26 ; Hegesippus, besides perhaps Irenaeus and Tertullian, seems to have used it.

A four gospel canon ( the Tetramorph ) was asserted by Irenaeus, who refers to it directly in his polemic Against the Heresies, " It is not possible that the gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are.

In 189, assertion of the primacy of the Church of Rome may be indicated in Irenaeus of Lyons's Against Heresies ( 3: 3: 2 ): " With Church of Rome, because of its superior origin, all the churches must agree ... and it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition.

* Irenaeus, second bishop of Lyon, author of Against the Heresies

In Against Heresies, Irenaeus relates how Polycarp told a story of

Irenaeus says that the Gnostic Valentinus came to Rome in Hyginus's time, remaining there until Anicetus became pontiff ( Against Heresies, III, iii ).

Irenaeus, in Against Heresies 3. 1. 1, says " Matthew also published a gospel in writing among the Hebrews in their own language, while Peter & Paul were preaching the gospel and founding the church in Rome.

For example, Irenaeus dedicates an entire chapter in Against Heresies to the defense of Isaiah 7: 14, one of the chief prophecies used to validate Jesus as the Messiah.

Irenaeus of Lyons wrote in the late 2nd century that since there are four quarters of the earth ... it is fitting that the church should have four pillars ... the four Gospels ( Against Heresies, 3. 11. 8 ), and then shortly thereafter made the first known quotation from a fourth gospel — the canonical version of the Gospel of John.

The earliest and most vivid account of Carpocrates and his followers comes from Irenaeus ( died 202 ) in his Against Heresies including an account of the theology and practice of the sect.

* Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book i. xxv

And Irenaeus ( c. 184 ), in Against Heresies 3: 10. 6, explicitly cited Mark 16: 19, stating that he was quoting from near the end of Mark's account.

The group is mentioned by Irenaeus in Against Heresies ( I. 30 ).

In the fifth book of Against Heresies, Irenaeus concentrates primarily on eschatology.

Irenaeus opposed Gnosticism, including the teachings of Cerinthus, in Against Heresies.

Many of the writings of these Gnostics, and a large number of excerpts from the writings of Valentinus, existed only in quotes displayed by their orthodox detractors, until 1945, when the cache of writings at Nag Hammadi revealed a Coptic version of the Gospel of Truth, which is the title of a text that, according to Irenaeus, was the same as the Gospel of Valentinus mentioned by Tertullian in his Against All Heresies.

* The ancient primary sources for Valentinus are: Irenaeus, Against Heresies I. 1 seq.

This occurs in the context of Irenaeus ' work On the Detection and Overthrow of Knowledge Falsely So Called, ( Greek: elenchos kai anatrope tes pseudonymou gnoseos genitive case, ἔλεγχος καὶ ἀνατροπὴ τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως ) where the term " knowledge falsely so-called " ( nominative case pseudonymos gnosis ) covers various groups, not just Valentinus, and is a quotation of the apostle Paul's warning against " knowledge falsely so-called " in 1 Timothy 6: 20.

Some scholars, for example A. Rousseau and L. Doutreleau, translators of the French edition ( 1974 ), consider that Irenaeus sometimes uses gnostikos to simply mean " intellectual ", as in 1. 25. 6, 1. 11. 3, 1. 11. 5, whereas his mention of " the intellectual sect " ( Adv.

This last phrase ( from 1 Timothy 6: 20 ) is the origin of the title of the book by Irenaeus, On the Detection and Overthrow of False Knowledge, that contains the adjective gnostikos, which is the source for the 17th Century English term " Gnosticism.

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.

Adversus Haereses ( 1: 23-28 ) gives, in what seems intended for chronological order, a list of heresies, beginning with Simon Magus and ending with Tatian, and adds in a kind of appendix a description of a variety of Gnostic sects deriving their origin, as Irenaeus maintains, from the heresy of Simon Magus.

* Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, Book III ( Chapter II, § 1 ; Ch.

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Apart from Papias ' comment, we do not hear about the author of the Gospel until Irenaeus around 185 who remarks that Matthew issued a written Gospel of the Hebrews ( Against Heresies 3. 1. 1 ) Pantaenus, Origen and other Church Fathers also believed Matthew wrote the Gospel of the Hebrews ( Church History 5. 10. 3, 6. 25. 4 ) None of these Church Fathers asserted that Matthew wrote his Gospel in Greek.

Irenaeus believed Matthew issued a written Gospel of the Hebrews in their own language while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome and laying the foundations of the Church ( Against Heresies 3: 1 ).

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.

( 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.

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.

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 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.