Irenaeus of Lyon

Raised in Asia Minor, where as a boy he heard Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who had known the apostle John. As bishop of Lyon in Gaul he wrote Against Heresies, the most important early refutation of Gnosticism, and Catholic tradition counts his writings among the church fathers. He insisted from the Scriptures that the one God who made the world is the Father of Jesus Christ. He also argued from the succession of bishops in churches founded by apostles, especially Rome, an argument later used to support the claims of the Roman see.

Early life

A Boy Who Heard Polycarp

Irenaeus was born in Asia Minor around 130, probably at Smyrna or nearby. As a boy he sat under the preaching of Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who had known the apostle John. Late in life, writing to a friend named Florinus who had drifted into Gnostic teaching, Irenaeus recalled those days vividly: the place where Polycarp sat as he taught, how he came and went, and how he described his conversations with John and with others who had seen the Lord. Irenaeus said he had kept those memories not on paper but in his heart.

That link matters for understanding him. Irenaeus believed that the faith he taught was the faith the apostles had preached openly, handed down by men he could name, and he set it against teachers who claimed a secret tradition.

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