2.34. Irenaeus

Irenaeus (c. 130 - c. 200) wrote his most famous work Against Heresies in opposition to Gnosticism, a major theological threat to the Church in the second century. His writings against the Gnostics are among the earliest which appeal to the New Testament as having apostolic authority. He was appointed bishop of Lyons, France in A.D. 177-178.¹ Crutchfield gives the following dates for Irenaeus: 120-202.²

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Notes

¹ Everett Ferguson, “Irenaeus: Adversary of the Gnostics,” in John D. Woodbridge, ed., Great Leaders of the Christian Church (Chicago, IL: Houghton Mifflin, 1993), 43-47.

² Larry V. Crutchfield, “Revelation in the New Testament,” in Mal Couch, ed., A Bible Handbook to Revelation (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2001), 24.