Nope. I think it's both the translation and the clarity of his thought.
"Nope. I think it's both the translation and the clarity of his thought."
Agreed, though I think it may actually be a bit more the modern translation. I can tell you though that his clarity is eveident in the original.
I would point put that as with all the Fathers, one has to be careful "proof texting" them. The Fathers say a lot of things and not all of what they say are within the consensus patrum. Consequently, a given remark might be just plain wrong either factually or theologically. For example, +John Chrysostomos opined that the Theotokos sinned at the Wedding Feast at Canna and here we see +Irenaeos stating that the Church of Rome was the most ancient of the churches when one assumes, perhaps incorrectly, that he knew that many churches in the Middle East, Jerusalem and Antioch spring almost immediately to mind, were older.