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.

In Book I, Irenaeus talks about the Valentinian Gnostics and their predecessors, who go as far back as the magician Simon Magus.

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.

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 ' point when refuting the Gnostics was that all of the Apostolic churches had preserved the same traditions and teachings in many independent streams.

The central point of Irenaeus ' theology is the unity and the goodness of God, in opposition to the Gnostics ' division of God into a number of divine " Aeons ", and their distinction between the utterly transcendent " High God " and the inferior " Demiurge " who created the world.

In the passage of Adversus Haereses under consideration, Irenaeus is clear that after receiving baptism at the age of thirty, citing Luke 3: 23, Gnostics then falsely assert that " He preached only one year reckoning from His baptism ," and also, " On completing His thirtieth year He suffered, being in fact still a young man, and who had by no means attained to advanced age.

" Irenaeus argues against the Gnostics by using scripture to show that Jesus lives at least several years after his baptism by referencing 3 distinctly separate visits to Jerusalem.

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.

All the early Gnostics of whose opinions Irenaeus gives an account, in a section ( i. 23 sqq.

In the eighth sphere, these Gnostics taught, dwelt the mother to whom all these archons owed their origin, Sophia or Prunikos according to the version of Irenaeus, Barbelo according to that of Epiphanius.

This is part of a belief held by some Gnostics that Jesus was not of flesh, but only took on the appearance of flesh ( see also Basilides and Irenaeus and Swoon hypothesis ).

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 early Gnostic use is referred to by Irenaeus and Origen in quoted commentary made on John by the Gnostics Ptolemy and Heracleon.

Gnostics were known for quoting this part of 1 Corinthians, infuriating Christians such as Irenaeus who wished to claim that the dead were physically, rather than spiritually, resurrected.

The doctrines of Marcion were so similar to the Gnostics that the church father Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp in the 180s regarded him as one of them.

Gnostics were condemned as heretics, and prominent Church fathers such as Irenaeus of Lyons and Hippolytus of Rome wrote against Gnosticism.

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

( 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 also refers to a succession of presbyters who preserve the tradition " which originates from the apostles ".

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.

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.

The Latin translation, confirmed by Hippolytus, makes Irenaeus state that according to Cerinthus ( who shows Ebionite influence ), creation was made by a power quite separate from the Supreme God and ignorant of Him.

Theodoret, who here copies Irenaeus, turns this into the plural number “ powers ,” and so Epiphanius represents Cerinthus as agreeing with Carpocrates in the doctrine that the world was made by angels.

It is in the system of Valentinus that the name Dēmiourgos is used, which occurs nowhere in Irenaeus except in connection with the Valentinian system ; we may reasonably conclude that it was Valentinus who adopted from Platonism the use of this word.

Victor's attempted excommunication was apparently rescinded and the two sides reconciled upon the intervention of bishop Irenaeus and others, who reminded Victor of the tolerant precedent of Anicetus.

Irenaeus, who first used " gnostic " to describe heresies

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

Irenaeus was a student of Polycarp, who was said to have been tutored by John the Apostle.

Irenaeus also writes that " The Elders witness to this, who in Asia conferred with John the Lord's disciple, to the effect that John had delivered these things unto them: for he abode with them until the times of Trajan.

Irenaeus calls those " heretics " who maintain that the saved are immediately glorified in the kingdom to come after death, before their resurrection.

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.

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

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.

" Other scholars and historians disagree, citing the historical records of St. Ignatius of Antioch and St. Irenaeus who recorded the linear succession of Bishops of Rome ( the popes ) up until their own times.

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.

Fra Marino also claims to have been alerted to the existence of the Gospel of Barnabas, from an allusion in a work by Irenaeus against Paul ; in a book which had been presented to him by a lady of the Colonna family ( Marino, outside Rome, is the location of the Palazzo Colonna ).

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.

According to some biblical scholars, the findings at Nag Hammadi have shown Irenaeus ' description of Gnosticism to be largely inaccurate and polemic in nature.

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

Based on the arguments Irenaeus made in support of only four authentic gospels, some interpreters deduce that the fourfold Gospel must have still been a novelty in Irenaeus ' time.

Irenaeus believed that Christ would always have been sent, even if humanity had never sinned ; but the fact that they did sin determines his role as a savior.

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 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.

" The books considered to be authoritative by Irenaeus included the four gospels and many of the letters of Paul, although, based on the arguments Irenaeus made in support of only four authentic gospels, some interpreters deduce that the fourfold Gospel must have still been a novelty in Irenaeus's time.

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.

To achieve moral perfection, Irenaeus suggested that humans must have free will.

This man, said in one document to be the author of two of the Epistles of John, was supposed to have been the teacher of the martyr bishop Papias, who had in turn taught Eusebius ' own teacher Irenaeus.

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.

Correspondences among the lists of St. Irenaeus, Africanus, and Eusebius cannot be assumed to have come from the lost list of Hegesippus, as only Eusebius mentions his name.

The section of Hippolytus appears to have given a condensed account of the mythological story told by Irenaeus.

In giving the name Ophite, however, he appears to have brought into greater prominence than Irenaeus the characteristics of the sect indicated by the word, their honour of the serpent, whom they even preferred to Christ, their venerating him because he taught our first parents the knowledge of good and evil, their use of the references to the brazen serpent in the Old and New Testament, and their introduction of the serpent into their Eucharistic celebration.

Irenaeus only gives the name of their chief, but that one is enough to establish a more than accidental coincidence, since it is a name we should not have expected to find as the name of a demon, namely, Michael.

Although, following Theodoret, we have given the name Ophite to the system described by Irenaeus, it will have been seen that not only does the doctrine concerning the serpent form a very subordinate part of the system, but also that the place it assigns the serpent is very different from that given it by those whom we count as properly to be called Ophites.

In the passage immediately following the chapter we have analysed, Irenaeus shows acquaintance with a section of the school who may be called Ophite in the proper sense of the word, some teaching that Sophia herself was the serpent, some glorifying Cain and other enemies of the God of the Old Testament.