Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

To: NYer

The Gospel of Judas was examined and dismissed as gnostic fraud 1827 years ago!

http://www.orthodoxwiki.org/Irenaeus_of_Lyons

Irenaeus of Lyons

The holy and glorious, right-victorious Hieromartyr Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130-202) was bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, which is now Lyons, France. His writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology. He was a disciple of Polycarp of Smyrna, who himself was a disciple of the Apostle John the Theologian. His feast day is August 23.

Irenaeus is thought to have been a Greek from Polycarp's hometown of Smyrna in Asia Minor, now Izmir, Turkey. He was brought up in a Christian family, rather than converting as an adult, and this may help explain his strong sense of Orthodoxy. Irenaeus was one of the first Christian writers to refer to the principle of Apostolic Succession to refute his opponents.
Irenaeus is remembered as the second bishop of Lyons, although there is no clear evidence that he ever officially assumed the episcopal duties. The first bishop, Pothinus, was martyred around 177 during persecutions under Marcus Aurelius, when Irenaeus was visiting Rome.
Irenaeus is remembered as a martyr, although there is no evidence for how he died, presumably shortly after the turn of the third century. He was buried under the church of Saint John in Lyons, which was later renamed St. Irenaeus. His tomb and his remains were destroyed in 1562 by the Calvinist Huguenots. (The remains of Leonardo da Vinci and Kepler, among others, also were lost in the religious wars of those times.)
[edit]
Writings

Irenaeus wrote a number of books, but the most important that survives is the five-volume On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis, normally referred to as Adversus Haereses (in English, Against Heresies). Only fragments in its original Greek exist, but a complete copy exists in a wooden Latin translation, made shortly after its publication in Greek, and Books IV and V are present in a literal Armenian translation.
The purpose of Against Heresies is to refute the teachings of various gnostic groups. Until the discovery of the Library of Nag Hammadi in 1945, Against Heresies was the best surviving description of Gnosticism. Additionally, Irenaeus' descriptions of Gnostic teachings had long been doubted by scholars as the product of polemical hyperbole, but the find at Nag Hammadi confirmed Irenaeus' descriptions in the words of the Gnostics themselves.
Irenaeus cites from most of the New Testament canon, as well as works from the Apostolic Fathers, I Clement and the Shepherd of Hermas, however he makes no references to Philemon, II Peter, III John and Jude, which isn't surprising, since the canon of the Holy Scriptures had not yet been set. Irenaeus was the first Christian writer to list all four and exactly four of the canonical Gospels as divinely inspired, possibly in reaction to Marcion's edited version of Luke, which Marcion asserted was the one and only true gospel.

His works were published in English in 1885 in the Ante-Nicene Fathers collection.


6 posted on 04/12/2006 8:39:47 AM PDT by x5452
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]


To: x5452
The Gospel of Judas was examined and dismissed as gnostic fraud 1827 years ago!

Long before the advent of television and its talking heads. The MSM loves nothing more than to plant seeds of doubt into the minds and hearts of its gullible fans.

12 posted on 04/12/2006 10:06:37 AM PDT by NYer (Discover the beauty of the Eastern Catholic Churches - freepmail me for more information.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson