Irenaeus of Lyons
Irenaeus (Active AD 175 - 195) was a student of Polycarp of Smyrna and was born into a Christian family in the early 2nd Century in Asia Minor. He moved to Lyons in France as a young man, where Christians from Asia Minor had already started churches. After persecution took the life of the Bishop of Lyons in 177, Irenaeus was elected in his place. His lengthy refutation of Gnosticism marks him out as one of the most significant 2nd-century Church Fathers.
One of St. Irenaeus' famous works is Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies).[1] It tells us, among other things, the names of the Gospel writers, the place and time of the composition of the Gospel accounts, the circumstances, and the local Churches they wrote to.
Lacking modern tools of analysis, Irenaeus mistakenly felt that the Gospel of Matthew was written first, when the evidence is overwhelming today that the Gospel of Mark was chronologically first. See, e.g., Markan priority and the Gospels.
External links
- Irenaeus of Lyons, New Advent (Catholic website)
- Iranaeus, Britannica
- Saint Irenaeus, Franciscan Media
