Irenaeus’s Against Heresies Book 4

This episode contains part of a voluminous work by Irenaeus. He was a disciple of Polycarp, placing him two generations from the apostles. He lived between A.D. 120 and A.D 202. Irenaeus wrote as a bishop in Lyons, France, and found himself part of a global church embroiled in heresy and schism. Because of this he devoted much of his life to understanding and refuting the heretics of his day. This has been preserved in a five volume series, titled “Against Heresies.”

In this fourth book, while Irenaeus continues to refute specific heresies in the Church of his day, the questions being addressed are alive and well today. Is the God of the Old Testament really the same as the God of the new? How can Jesus be God and Man? And how can man be responsible for sin if God created him?

In addressing these questions, Irenaeus takes a winding road through Scripture. He demonstrates that the old testament writers spoke of one God and Father. He draws heavily upon the teachings of Jesus and the apostles to show the nature of Christ along with the continuity between the old and the New testaments. And he spends no small portion of time describing the nature of man, our capability to sin, and how God is still just and good.

If you would like to read more of the writings of the Early Christian Fathers, please visit ccel.org to view the full collection.