Although it is sometimes claimed that Irenaeus believed Christ did not die until he was older than is conventionally portrayed, the bishop of Lyons simply pointed out that because Jesus turned the permissible age for becoming a rabbi ( 30 years old and above ), he recapitulated and sanctified the period between 30 and 50 years old, as per the Jewish custom of periodization of human life, and so touches the beginning of old age when one becomes 50 years old.

" The apologists as Justin Martyr and Irenaeus began to claim that Greek culture pointed to and was consummated in the Christian message, just as the Old Testament was.

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 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.

According to Irenaeus, the Judaistic Ebionites charged less than one hundred years after the Apostles that the Christians overruled the authority of Scripture by failing to keep the Mosaic Law ( see also Biblical law in Christianity ).

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.

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.

This belief was regarded as fairly orthodox in the early church ( e. g. it was held by Irenaeus, and Justin Martyr ), however, the later church came to view Revelation as more allegorical.

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 ).

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.

Irenaeus also reports that Polycarp was converted to Christianity by apostles, was consecrated a bishop, and communicated with many who had seen Jesus.

In his work, Hick identified and distinguished between two types of philosophy: Augustinian, which had dominated Western Christianity for many centuries, and Irenaean, which was developed by the Eastern Church Father Irenaeus, a version of which Hick subscribed to himself.

This allegorical reading was taught not only by ancient followers of Jesus, but it was virtually universal throughout early Christianity, being advocated by Irenaeus, Clement, and Origen, and in the fourth and fifth centuries by Chrysostom in Constantinople, Ambrose in Milan, and Augustine in North Africa.

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

The early apologists, including Justin Martyr, Tertullian and Irenaeus, frequently discussed the parallels and contrasts between Christianity, Paganism and other syncretic religions, and answered charges of borrowing from paganism in their apologetical writings.

His book An Historical Introduction to the Study of the Books of the New Testament, which was widely read, is an account of the reception and interpretation of the gospels in the early centuries of Christianity as seen through the writings of leaders such as Irenaeus and Eusebius.

Despite Irenaeus ' claims for Paul's non gnosticism, Valentinus, the leader of a large faction of gnostics, claimed that Paul had initiated his own teacher Theudas into the Deeper Mysteries of Christianity, which revealed a secret gnostic doctrine of God.

Irenaeus has been called the most important witness of the Christianity in the 2nd century.

* Sabbath and Sunday in Early Christianity, Part 3: Irenaeus, and " the Lord's Day "

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.

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 ).

Though correct in some details about the belief systems of various groups, Irenaeus ' main purpose was to warn Christians against Gnosticism, rather than catalog those beliefs.

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

Justin Martyr ( in his Apologies, and in a lost work against heresies, which Irenaeus used as his main source ) and Irenaeus ( Adversus Haereses ) record that after being cast out by the Apostles he came to Rome where, having joined to himself a profligate woman of the name of Helen, he gave out that it was he who appeared among the Jews as the Son, in Samaria as the Father and among other nations as the Holy Spirit.

Irenaeus the friend of Nestorius, with the cooperation of Theodoret, became bishop of Tyre, in spite of the protests of Dioscorus, Cyril's successor, who now turned specially against Theodoret ; and, by preferring the charge that he taught two sons in Christ, he secured the order from the court confining Theodoret to Cyrrhus.

* Irenaeus of Lyons: Irenaeus is best known for his writings arguing for the unity of God, and against Gnosticism.

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.

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.

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

In the quote below, one can see how passionately Irenaeus argues against this gnostic heresy from his book Heresies:

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.

Cited in support is the reference to a “ Gospel of Judas ” by the early Christian writer Irenaeus of Lyons, who, in arguing against Gnosticism, called the text a " fictitious history ".

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

There is some skepticism among scholars that the system actually originated with him, and many believe that the system Irenaeus was reacting against was that of the later Valentinians, and not Valentinus himself.

Irenaeus, who first used " gnostic " to describe heresies

Surviving traditions about Simon appear in anti-heretical texts, such as those of Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Hippolytus, and Epiphanius, where he is often regarded as the source of all heresies.

The great difference between the earlier and the later treatise of Hippolytus is that the former was a mere compilation, his account of the opinions of heresies being in the main derived from the lectures of Irenaeus ; but at the time of writing the latter, he had himself read several heretical writings, of which he gives an extract in his treatise.

Irenaeus ( died c. 202 ) gives a description of the origin of Gnostic heresies including the Ophites.

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.

Of those groups that Irenaeus identifies as " intellectual " ( gnostikos ), only one, the followers of Marcellina use the term gnostikos of themselves.

St. Irenaeus on the other hand does not speak critically of icons or portraits in a general sense, only of certain gnostic sectarians use of icons.

Thus Irenaeus provides the earliest witness to the assertion of the four canonical Gospels, possibly in reaction to Marcion's edited version of the Gospel of Luke, which Marcion asserted was the one and only true gospel.

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 likens death to the big fish that swallowed Jonah: it was only in the depths of the whale's belly that Jonah could turn to God and act according to the divine will.

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.

" 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.

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.

" Similarly, Irenaeus wrote that the Christian " will not be commanded to leave idle one day of rest, who is constantly keeping sabbath ", and Tertullian argued " that we still more ought to observe a sabbath from all servile work always, and not only every seventh-day, but through all time ".

* Irenaeus writes that there are only four Gospels ( approximate date ).

As with many Gnostic sects, we know of the Carpocratians only through the writings of the Church Fathers, principally Irenaeus of Lyons and Clement of Alexandria.

William Sanday describes him as " one of the precursors of that group of writers who, from Irenaeus to Cyprian, not only break the obscurity which rests on the earliest history of the Church, but alike in the East and in the West carry it to the front in literary eminence, and distance all their heathen contemporaries ".

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.

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.

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 ).

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.