Account of the Life and Writings of St. Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons and Martyr

9781417947478

1417947470

1841. Intended to illustrate the doctrine, discipline, practices, and history of the church and the tenets and practices of the Gnostic heretics during the second century. Beaven's gives an account of St. Irenaeus one of the most important theologians in the early Church. After becoming Bishop of Lyons, Irenaeus was instrumental in leading the fight against the heresy of Gnosticism. The Gnostics claimed that only those who had secret knowledge, and who renounced all material things as evil (including the human body), could be saved. Irenaeus opposed them by developing the concept of apostolic succession (in which Church teaching is guaranteed to be authentic when Church leaders can trace their authority back to the Apostles), and by emphasizing the incarnational principle (which states that God's creation is good, and that He can use physical or material items as a source of grace). He is said to have been martyred during the persecution of the Emperor Septimus Severus, though details are unknown.