I don't need to know Latin to understand the clear teachings of one everyone regards as an Early Church leader. The "nice try" advice should be me telling you. The source I gave for the Irenaeus quotes goes much further than just his opinions on the matter. Did you by chance read it? Just in case you didn't bother, I'll share some more from it. And, BTW, saying that the Bible was not available to him and that he was only referring to the OT, is simply untrue. We have St. Peter referring to Paul's writings as "Scripture" way before there was an "official" canon. Here we learn a little more about Irenaeus' support of the Scriptures as the source of authority for "the faith": (from:http://www.christiantruth.com/scriptureandchurchfathers.html
We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith.
In Against Heresies, Irenaeus writes:
Suppose there arise a dispute relative to some important question among us, should we not have recourse to the most ancient Churches with which the apostles held constant intercourse, and learn from them what is certain and clear in regard to the present question? For how should it be if the apostles themselves had not left us writings? Would it not be necessary, [in that case,] to follow the course of the tradition which they handed down to those to whom they did commit the Churches?
Irenaeus proposes here a hypothetical situation. The Churches have received the tradition of the truth from the apostles. What, he asks, if they had not left us any writings? Then it would be necessary to follow the teaching, the tradition, of those Churches which have had direct contact with the apostles. The operative phrase here is, ‘what if the apostles had not left us their writings.’ But in point of fact they have left us their writings. And the point he makes is that while the Church does preach and teach orally, the doctrinal content of that preaching and teaching is directly verifiable from the written Scriptures. Irenaeus is not affirming the existence of oral tradition. He is simply presenting a hypothetical situation as a way of combating the Gnostic heretics.
The Bible is the means by which the traditio (tradition), or teaching of the apostles is transmitted from generation to generation and by which true apostolic teaching can be verified and error refuted. Irenaeus actually uses a form of the word ‘tradition’ to convey this idea.
And to dispute your assertion that Irenaeus was only referring to the Old Testament, he says:
Since, therefore, the entire Scriptures, the prophets, and the Gospels, can be clearly, unambiguously, and harmoniously understood by all, although all do not believe them; and since they proclaim that one only God, to the exclusion of all others, formed all things by His word, whether visible or invisible, heavenly or earthly, in the water or under the earth, as I have shown from the very words of Scripture; and since the very system of creation to which we belong testifies, by what falls under our notice, that one Being made and governs it—those persons will seem truly foolish who blind their eyes to such a clear demonstration, and will not behold the light of the announcement [made to them]; but they put fetters upon themselves, and every one of them imagines, by means of their obscure interpretations of the parables, that he has found out a God of his own.
Let's skip over to Tertullian, and see what his opinions are on the subject:
Tertullian was born in Carthage in North Africa and practiced law before his conversion to Christianity ca. A.D. 193. He was a prolific writer and has been called the ‘Father of Latin Christianity.’ He was most likely a layman and his writings were widely read. He had a great influence upon the Church fathers of subsequent generations, especially Cyprian. The teaching of Tertullian on apostolic tradition and its relationship to Scripture is a mirror image of Irenaeus. Like him, Tertullian believed the revelation of God to be the ultimate authority for the Church. This revelation was handed down in the Old Testament Scriptures and through Jesus Christ to the apostles who in turn faithfully handed on this teaching to the churches which they founded. Tertullian referred to the doctrine which the apostles taught as tradition,48 and equated this apostolic teaching with the fundamental doctrines of the faith and the gospel. Initially, this tradition or teaching was given orally by the apostles and later inscripturated in their Gospels and epistles:
Now, what that was which they preached—in other words, what it was which Christ revealed to them—can, as I must here likewise prescribe, properly be proved in no other way than by those very churches which the apostles founded in person, by declaring the gospel to them directly themselves, both viva voce, as the phrase is, and subsequently by their epistles.
Because scripture contains the revelation and is part of tradition, it has of course absolute authority...And therefore, if a doctrine or precept is written in the Bible, it cannot be but true, and if a dogma needs to be proved true, it is entirely sufficient to show that it is written. And even more important, scripture is not only sufficient evidence, but strictly necessary evidence for proving the truth of a dogma.
I really recommend you read the rest of this well done article. It may help clear up the misunderstanding concerning the role of Holy Scripture in the lives of all Christians. It includes the teachings of Clement of Alexandria and Origen as well as Cyril of Jerusalem, Athanasius, John Chrysostom, Augustine and other notables.
i really recommend you read all of those Catholic church fathers and you will see what Baptism, the Eucharist, Apostolic Succession , the Sacrifice of the Mass and other Catholic doctrines really mean and how your beliefs were unknown to these great men of faith!
I have read the early church fathers and found them to be excellent in regarding to testifying to the veracity of the Bride of Christ the catholic Church.
I would encourage you to read all of these fathers as they have some wonderful theological ideas and most Catholics are the richer for having read them and their thoughts.
Reading them in Latin will insure you obtain their exact meaning not some mistranslated version .
It is important to remember that defense of Scripture by these fathers must be distinguished from advocacy of the heretical myth of Sola scriptura which allows the over 30,000 plus cults to follow Harold Camping and pervert and desecrate the word of God.Trust in Jesus as your personal Savior.