Various fragments of other works by Irenaeus have been found, and many lost works by him are attested by other ancient writers.

Irenaeus pointed to Scripture as a proof of orthodox Christianity against heresies, classifying as Scripture not only the Old Testament but most of the books now known as the New Testament, while excluding many works, a large number by Gnostics, that flourished in the 2nd century and claimed scriptural authority.

The works of Hippolytus of Rome and Irenaeus greatly influenced Jerome's interpretation of prophecy.

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 ".

After Rufinus, Justin was known mainly from St Irenaeus and Eusebius or from spurious works.

It is noteworthy that in the " Dialogue " he no longer speaks of a " seed of the Word " in every man, and in his non-apologetic works the emphasis is laid upon the redeeming acts of the life of Christ rather than upon the demonstration of the reasonableness and moral value of Christianity, though the fragmentary character of the latter works makes it difficult to determine exactly to what extent this is true and how far the teaching of Irenaeus on redemption is derived from him.

Joseph is referenced in apocryphal and non-canonical accounts such as the Acts of Pilate, a text often appended to the medieval Gospel of Nicodemus and The Narrative of Joseph, and mentioned in the works of early church historians such as Irenaeus ( 125 – 189 ), Hippolytus ( 170 – 236 ), Tertullian ( 155 – 222 ) and Eusebius ( 260 – 340 ), who added details not found in the canonical accounts.

Several passages in the works of Irenaeus show an undoubted relationship to passages in one small section of the Apologia, but Harnack thinks it probable that the quotations, limited to two chapters, are not taken from the Apologia, but from Theophilus's work against Marcion In the West there are a few references to the Autolycus.

Among the very mixed bag of works classified as gnostic was a series of writings which could be associated with Valentinus, particularly the Coptic text called the Gospel of Truth which bears the same title reported by Irenaeus as belonging to a text by Valentinus.

Within the Pauline tradition, but after the time of the Apostolic Fathers proper, some authors addressed their works to people beyond the Christian community and defended the Christian religion against paganism, including Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian.

For this reason, and since also the first quotations from the Gospel of John appear in the anti-heresy works of Irenaeus, many scholars like K. G.

Irenaeus declares it one of the works of the disciples of " Valentinius ", and the similarity of the work to others thought to be by Valentinus and his followers has made many scholars agree with Irenaeus on this point.

See, for example: the Epistle to Diognetus, The Shepherd of Hermas, and works by Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Clement of Alexandria Hippolytus of Rome, Origen, Irenaeus, and Arnobius.

For who does not know the works of Irenaeus and of Melito and of others which teach that Christ is God and man?

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

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 ''.

The papal legates refused to attend the second session at which several more orthodox bishops were deposed, including Ibas of Edessa, Irenaeus of Tyre ( a close personal friend of Nestorius ), Domnus of Antioch, and Theodoret.

Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Hippolytus were among the greatest early Christian apologists who engaged in critical analyses of unorthodox theology, Greco-Roman pagan religions, and Gnostic groups.

During the early formation of Christianity, church authorities ( Fathers of the Church ) exerted considerable amounts of energy attempting to weed out what were considered to be false doctrines ( e. g. Irenaeus ' On the Detection and Overthrow of False Gnosis ).

Irenaeus asserted that four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were canonical scripture.

In his writing against the Gnostics, who claimed to possess 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 were Gnostic — and that the bishops provided the only safe guide to the interpretation of Scripture.

Irenaeus held to the old Jewish tradition that the first six days of creation week were typical of the first six thousand years of human history, with Antichrist manifesting himself in the sixth period.

In Rome there were many who claimed to be the rightful bishop though again Irenaeus stressed the validity of one line of bishops from the time of St. Peter up to his contemporary Pope Victor I and listed them.

Irenaeus, wrote of 2nd century believers with the gift of prophecy, while Justin Martyr argued in his Dialogue with Trypho that prophets were not found among the Jews in his time, but that the church had prophets.

Some believe that Hippolytus ' account is of a later, more developed form of Simonianism, and that the original doctrines of the group were simpler, close to the account given by Justin Martyr and Irenaeus ( this account however is also included in Hippolytus ' work ).

Irenaeus argued that human creation comprised two parts: humans were made first in the image, then in the likeness, of God.

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.

These public speeches were transcribed by Mark the Evangelist into Mark ’ s gospel and distributed immediately thereafter, as recorded by the early church father Irenaeus.

Saul of Tarsus, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and others often defended Christianity against charges that were brought to justify persecution.

In the Post-apostolic Age, he claims that Hermas, Clement of Rome, Polycarp, Polycrates and Ignatius, who lived between 90 and 140 A. D., and Irenaeus, who died about 200 A. D, were either Oneness, modalist, or at most a follower of an " economic Trinity ", that is, a temporary Trinity and not an eternal one.

The case was remitted to the East, and by an imperial commission, dated October 26, 448, Uranius of Himeria, Photius of Tyre, who was elected September 9, 448, on the deposition of Irenaeus, and Eustathius of Beirut were deputed to hear it, and Damascius, the tribune and secretary of state, was dispatched as imperial commissioner.

Of the mid-2nd century thinkers and preachers who were declared heretical by Irenaeus and later mainstream Christians, only Marcion of Sinope is as outstanding as a personality.

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 ).

They were mentioned by Tertullian and Irenaeus as existing in the eastern Roman Empire during the 2nd century.

Irenaeus and Tertullian argued against Marcionism's elevation of Paul and stated that Peter and Paul were equals among the apostles.

Against this view, Irenaeus of Lyons's Against Heresies 3. 12 section 12 ridiculed those who think they are wiser than the Apostles because they were still under Jewish influence.

100 AD or before ), as well as the various witnesses to canonicity extant among the writings of Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, etc., the four gospels and letters of Paul were universally held as scriptural, and only ~ 200 years were needed to finalize the canon ; from the beginning of the 2nd Century to the mid-4th Century, no book in the final canon was ever declared spurious or heretical, except for the Revelation of John which the Council of Laodicea in 363-364 AD rejected ( although it accepted all of the other 26 books in the New Testament ).

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.

( 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.

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

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.

Irenaeus, who first used " gnostic " to describe heresies

In a response to the Gnostic teaching, Irenaeus created the first document describing what is now called apostolic succession.

Irenaeus was born during the first half of the 2nd century ( the exact date is disputed: between the years 115 and 125 according to some, or 130 and 142 according to others ), Irenaeus is thought to have been a Greek from Polycarp's hometown of Smyrna in Asia Minor, now İzmir, Turkey.

Irenaeus is the first to draw comparisons between Eve and Mary, contrasting the faithlessness of the former with the faithfulness of the latter.

Irenaeus is also known as one of the first theologians to use the principle of apostolic succession to refute his opponents.

Irenaeus is the first of the church fathers to consider the mystic number 666.

In the 3rd century, Origen of Alexandria was the first ancient writer to have a comprehensive reference to Josephus, although some other authors had made smaller, general references to Josephus before then, e. g. Justin Martyr and Irenaeus in the second century, followed by Clement.

The concept of original sin was first alluded to in the 2nd century by Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons in his controversy ( written in Greek ) with the dualist Gnostics.

The doctrine of original sin was first developed in the 2nd-century Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons's struggle against Gnosticism.

Moreover, Irenaeus was not the first to write of Peter's presence in the early Roman Church.

" The Oxford Dictionary of Popes interprets Irenaeus as saying that Linus was the first bishop of Rome.

Cletus is given as Linus's successor by Irenaeus and the others cited above who present Linus either as the first bishop of Rome or, if they give Peter as the first, as the second.

" It notes that, " when the first direct evidence of infant Baptism appears in the second century, it is never presented as an innovation ," that 2nd-century Irenaeus treated baptism of infants as a matter of course, and that, " at a Synod of African Bishops, St. Cyprian stated that ' God's mercy and grace should not be refused to anyone born ', and the Synod, recalling that'all human beings ' are ' equal ', whatever be ' their size or age ', declared it lawful to baptize children ' by the second or third day after their birth '.

The sole surviving work attributed to his authorship is his Letter to the Philippians ; it is first recorded by Irenaeus of Lyons.

Justin and Irenaeus are the first to recount the myth of Simon and Helen, which became the center of Simonian doctrine.