Excerpt from my Church History assignment on Irenaeus. I've been encouraged by reading his work, and am stunned by the amount of goodness to be found in the primary writings of early church fathers!
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That Irenaeus is considered a significant Church History figure could be considered remarkable considering the lack of recorded history on the man. As Donovan (1997, 7) states; “keen detective work is required to know a man for whom no bibliography exists, of whom there is no portrait, whose letters have been reduced to scraps [and] whose sermons were neither taped nor – as far as anyone knows – transcribed.” However, it was his “struggle against heresy and his concern to strengthen the faith of Christians” which cemented Irenaeus’ importance in the history of Christian thought (Gonsalez, 1970, 158) and it was from this point that Irenaeus wrote his five books
Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies) in c177
Irenaeus is first known to history as the presbyter of the church at Lyon in Gaul (Walker, 1986). From his writings it is seen that Irenaeus was a native of Smyrna in Asia Minor and had known Polycarp during his youth, however Gonzalez (1970, 157) remarks that “he must have been a young man when the aged bishop ended his life in martyrdom” (c155). Theologically Irenaeus was typical of the teaching of Polycarp and the School of Asian Minor, which was “the outcome of [the apostle] John’s ministry, and was distinguished by a firm grasp of Scripture, solid faith, conciliatory treatment of those within, and energetic polemics against heretics” (Neve, 1946, 79).
The churches in Gaul were associated with the church of Smyrna and as the presbyter of the church at Lyon Irenaeus “represented an important link between East and West” (Douglas, 1978, 516). Such distant travels to Smyrna and Gaul would have been obtainable during the period of the second century on account of the Roman Empire. Irenaeus himself stated that “The world is at peace because of the Romans, and we walk the roads without fear…” (Against Heresies, IV, 40,3). This peace benefited the spread of Christianity, as missionaries travelled easily, though Donovan (1997, 8) confirms this also abetted the spread of Gnosticism as well.
It was against this heresy from the Gnostics that Irenaeus aimed his writing Adversus Haereses. Irenaeus warns of his own work not to “expect of him the art of discourse” (Against Heresies, I, preface, 3) but he writes from a pastoral concern for the church as a whole. Irenaeus set out to refute Gnostic teaching specifically by appealing to “prophetic and apostolic Scriptures, which he was convinced would themselves confute the heretical teachings directly…” (Walker, 1996, 78).
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references:
~Donovan, M A, 1997, One Right Reading? A Guide to Irenaeus, Liturgical, Collegeville.
~Neve, J L, 1946, A history of Christian thought, vol. 1: history of Christian doctrine, Muhlenberg, Philadelphia.
~New Advent website, 2009, accessed 10 August 2009, “Against Heresies”, New Advent, online:
~Stevenson, J, 1987, A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrating the History of the Church to AD 337. (2nd Edition), SPCK, London
~Walker, W, 1986, A History of the Christian Church (4th Edition), St Edmundsbury, Suffolk
