Strong opponent to Gnostics

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

	St. Irenaeus When: c. 125 - c. 203 Where: Gaul What: Bishop and theologian Feast: June 28 Other: Strong opponent of the gnostics

Recently, some heretics from the early church - gnostics - have been in the news because of The Da Vinci Code book and movie and the publication of the Gospel of Judas.

The term "gnostics" is a catch-all that describes various sects that began in the second century. The gnostics, who combined Christian belief with pagan speculation and theories, held that only a few select people could be saved because they knew and accepted certain divinely revealed mysteries known only by them. "Gnosis" is the Greek word for knowledge.

The strongest opponent of the gnostics was St. Irenaeus, a late second century bishop in Gaul (present day France). Irenaeus, who wrote five books to explain Christianity and to refute Gnosticism, is considered the first great Catholic theologian.

Irenaeus was born in Asia Minor, probably in Smyrna (now Izmir, a port in western Turkey). St. Polycarp, who had been a pupil of St. John, sent Irenaeus to Gaul as a missionary.

Irenaeus was named Bishop of Lyons in 178, after the city's bishop was martyred during a persecution of the Christians.

Irenaeus had studied the Gnostics, who were strong in Gaul, and became a fierce opponent. He argued against Gnostic teachings that the material world is evil and that the Creator God of the Jews is evil and not the same as the Father of Jesus.

Irenaeus was the first person to give a coherent rationale for a Christian Bible made up of Old and New Testaments. He also was the first to comprehensively argue for the Christian belief in the universal and providential redemptive acts of God, which were realized in Jesus - the Second Adam.

Irenaeus helped draw the various regional churches into a single church by outlining their common beliefs. He developed the idea of apostolic succession, which means that bishops carry on in an unbroken line the teaching authority given to the Apostles by Jesus, thus guaranteeing that the bishops are teaching the truths of the faith.

Irenaeus also was a peacemaker. In 190, he convinced Pope Victor III to lift the excommunication of a group of Christians who refused to accept the date of Easter set by the Western Church because it was not an essential matter of faith. (A century later, this group accepted the Western date for Easter.)

Irenaeus died in the early third century perhaps martyred, though that is a later tradition.

While, 1,800 years later, Irenaeus may seem far removed from us, his teachings have formed a foundation for much of what we believe as Catholics.

The popularity of The Da Vinci Code and interest in the gnostic gospels of Judas, Thomas and Mary Magdalene prove that the issues Irenaeus so strongly opposed are still with us.