I consider Irenaeus to be the father of church theology. Here's why: When we look at the early days of the church, we see that the Apostolic Fathers wrote primarily to encourage and exhort Christian churches during the transitional time after the apostles' death. Their letters were very brief, and though somewhat theological in nature, they were by no means an extensive development of Christian thought and doctrine. For a brief introduction to he Apostolic Fathers, go here.
As far as the Apologists go, in our recent posts, we have seen that they wrote to non-Christians in order to defend and explain Christian beliefs and practices. Like their fathers before them, they barely scratched the surface in explaining the intricacies of Christian belief as a whole. So, the Apostolic Fathers and the Apologists laid the foundation of theology, but Irenaeus comes along and gives it its depth and breadth. This is why I consider him the father of church theology and the first "official" church theologian. Again, not to diminish the works of those who went before him, but as we shall see, no one up unit lIrenaeus ever came close to developing the depth of theological though that he did.
So, if there is one person in church history that you should spend some time reading and studying about, it is Irenaeus. That is why we are going to do a three part series of posts on him. In this first post, we are going to talk about his life. In the subsequent post, we will talk about his fights with the Gnostic heresies and his theology.
The Life of Irenaeus of Lyons
IIrenaeus was born in Asia Minor around the town of Smyrna in about 120 A.D. He was discipled by the bishop Polycarp of Smyrna, who was discipled by the Apostle John. Sometime around 150 A.D., he was sent to Gaul (modern day France) to be a presbyter among the Christian immigrants there. He settled in a town called Lyons, and quickly flourished as a leader of high regards.
In 177, the current emperor, Marcus Aurelius, let loose a horrific persecution on the Christians in the Rhone Valley (where Lyons is located). Hundreds and thousands of Christians and presbyters were killed for their faith. The persecutions during this time were extremely sadistic. For example, one popular method was to pack Christians into small rooms without windows and to close the door so they would slowly suffocate. Another method entailed sewing the Christians up in fresh animals skins and then put them out in the hot sun to die by asphyxiation.
By the providence of God, Irenaeus escaped this persecution because he had been sent to Rome to protest the heresies that were being brought to the Christians in Gaul. After several journeys to Rome, he began to acquire quite a reputation as one who was skilled in mediation and diplomacy.
But that wasn't the only thing that happened in Rome...
While he was there, he met a former disciple of Polycarp who had converted to the dreaded cult of Gnosticism, particularly the Valentinus school. To say that Irenaues was shocked is an understatement. To make matters worse, when he returned to Gaul, he discovered that Gnosticism was catching on there as well! This lead to his five volume work, Against Heresies.
This work was the first exhaustively critical refutation and examination of Gnosticism by such an influential church leader. His work carried even more clout because of his link through Polycarp to John. Both Irenaeus' argument and apostolic succession lead to the decline of Gnosticism. Irenaeus also wrote a little handbook called the Proof of the Apostolic Preaching,which was a brief summary of his Against Heresies.
While Irenaeus providentially escaped persecution once, he finally died as a martyr in Lyons during a large massacre of Christians in 202 A.D. We don't know the particulars around his death, but he was considered both a martyr and a saint by Greek speaking church in the East and the Latin speaking Church of the West of the Roman Empire.
As far as the Apologists go, in our recent posts, we have seen that they wrote to non-Christians in order to defend and explain Christian beliefs and practices. Like their fathers before them, they barely scratched the surface in explaining the intricacies of Christian belief as a whole. So, the Apostolic Fathers and the Apologists laid the foundation of theology, but Irenaeus comes along and gives it its depth and breadth. This is why I consider him the father of church theology and the first "official" church theologian. Again, not to diminish the works of those who went before him, but as we shall see, no one up unit lIrenaeus ever came close to developing the depth of theological though that he did.
So, if there is one person in church history that you should spend some time reading and studying about, it is Irenaeus. That is why we are going to do a three part series of posts on him. In this first post, we are going to talk about his life. In the subsequent post, we will talk about his fights with the Gnostic heresies and his theology.
The Life of Irenaeus of Lyons
IIrenaeus was born in Asia Minor around the town of Smyrna in about 120 A.D. He was discipled by the bishop Polycarp of Smyrna, who was discipled by the Apostle John. Sometime around 150 A.D., he was sent to Gaul (modern day France) to be a presbyter among the Christian immigrants there. He settled in a town called Lyons, and quickly flourished as a leader of high regards.
In 177, the current emperor, Marcus Aurelius, let loose a horrific persecution on the Christians in the Rhone Valley (where Lyons is located). Hundreds and thousands of Christians and presbyters were killed for their faith. The persecutions during this time were extremely sadistic. For example, one popular method was to pack Christians into small rooms without windows and to close the door so they would slowly suffocate. Another method entailed sewing the Christians up in fresh animals skins and then put them out in the hot sun to die by asphyxiation.
By the providence of God, Irenaeus escaped this persecution because he had been sent to Rome to protest the heresies that were being brought to the Christians in Gaul. After several journeys to Rome, he began to acquire quite a reputation as one who was skilled in mediation and diplomacy.
But that wasn't the only thing that happened in Rome...
While he was there, he met a former disciple of Polycarp who had converted to the dreaded cult of Gnosticism, particularly the Valentinus school. To say that Irenaues was shocked is an understatement. To make matters worse, when he returned to Gaul, he discovered that Gnosticism was catching on there as well! This lead to his five volume work, Against Heresies.
This work was the first exhaustively critical refutation and examination of Gnosticism by such an influential church leader. His work carried even more clout because of his link through Polycarp to John. Both Irenaeus' argument and apostolic succession lead to the decline of Gnosticism. Irenaeus also wrote a little handbook called the Proof of the Apostolic Preaching,which was a brief summary of his Against Heresies.
While Irenaeus providentially escaped persecution once, he finally died as a martyr in Lyons during a large massacre of Christians in 202 A.D. We don't know the particulars around his death, but he was considered both a martyr and a saint by Greek speaking church in the East and the Latin speaking Church of the West of the Roman Empire.